So you’ve had your home on the market for 3 months, and it hasn’t sold and nothing seems to be happening.
Assuming you had it professionally photographed, should you continue to use the same photos of your home?
It can be a good idea to start afresh with new photos, even if you had a professional real estate photographer shoot your place the first time. Why?
Buyers who have been looking at homes for a while will be familiar with the old photos. They would have seen them for a while, and they often won’t go back to a house again if they keep seeing the same photos over and over again. However, when you incorporate new photos that can be enough to make them look at your property a second time, and they might even see it in a new way. I would suggest getting photos from different angles, or perhaps include different features of the home.
Another really good option is to shoot at a different time of day. For example, if your first set of images were taken during the middle of the day, try an evening shoot to give a really different look to the home (and if you started out with twilight shots then switch around to a daytime photo shoot).
You could also try adding in some new tools to the marketing of your home, such as a video tour. These can really help potential buyers fully appreciate the style and layout of your home in a way that your original photos might not.
You might also like to try a floorplan, as that will show buyers what the home is really like in a way that photos on their own just can’t. Another benefit is that buyers LOVE floor plans, and according to Australian property website RealEstate.com.au floor plans are opened 7.5 times more often than maps on their site, and 93% of buyers say they are more likely to spend time looking at a property with a floor plan (C.A.R Home Buyers Survey 2009).
What others are saying you should do if a house won’t sell?
In this example the agent suggested that the photos are more important than the price of the home, and says:
“Goodhart relisted an affordable condo that had been on the market for 157 days but should have sold much faster. She says they cleaned it and took new photos, and it sold in four days.
This article recommends the same thing and they give 7 tips:
- Refresh your advertising (including new photos).
- Change your price.
- Take a break from the market.
- Give your property a makeover.
- Go comparison shopping (check out other homes).
- Be open to advice.
- Don’t blame yourself.
I found this agent in North Carolina saying much the same thing:
As he says in the above video:
“If your house has been sitting on the market for 3 months – nothing – I highly recommend switching up the pictures … You could also ask your realtor to upgrade your listing to a feature listing.”