Why You Cannot Sell Your House in This Hot Sacramento Market

You cannot sell your house in our hot Sacramento real estate market for any number of reasons. Let’s look at a few. First, it is not always price. You might own a unique home, unlike anything else on the market. Unique homes appeal to a unique buyer. They do not appeal to your normal run-of-the-mill buyers. Sometimes we get lucky and a unique buyer pops up right away. Sometimes it can take 6 months to a year to find that needle-in-a-haystack buyer.

Another reason you cannot sell your house in our seller’s market might be due to improvements. Your home might be over improved for the neighborhood or under improved. If it is over improved, a price adjustment or outright patience will move that listing. Buyers want fixed-up, turnkey properties. If it is under improved, it might not sell at all at the price a seller wants.

Unless, of course, if it is a major fixer. Major fixers always have plenty of buyers fighting for the right to turn their lives upside down by trying to become a flipper. I’ve noticed hard-money lenders sourcing get-rich-quick seminars, trying to educate would-be flippers on how to do an incredibly difficult job fairly poorly. These same lenders also pull in investors to fund hard-money loans to their flipper audience. What a racket.

Sometimes sellers try to be helpful; they want to share tips they just pulled out of thin air to their Sacramento Realtor. Agents need to show compassion. Sellers don’t see where they might be disrespectful. Once a seller asked if I could put up 3×5 cards at a laundromat. Because they are not in the business, they do not realize all effective marketing is online. It’s not in that magazine at the beauty salon. It’s on the internet.

Another seller asked why aren’t visitors to Zillow clicking on his listing. What was wrong? When your marketing verbiage is excellent and the photos superb, it is probably because buyers aren’t looking for homes on Zillow. Or, there is not a big market for your house. Maybe too much competition in a particular neighborhood. Not to mention, interest rates are increasing, thereby reducing buyers’ purchasing power.

One of the things I do when I take a listing is look at how long it took to sell that particular home the last few times. Doesn’t matter when. I’ve got 4 decades in the real estate business, and I remember all of our markets. If I see a home sold near its original price in a super hot market with really long days on market, it’s a problem property. Odds are it may sell over a similar time frame again.

But do not ever be afraid to talk to your Sacramento Realtor about why you cannot sell your house. If you have a competent listing agent, I can promise you this, it is not your agent. That is not the reason. Also, anything will sell if it is priced right.

Please be aware that I predict we are moving away from a seller’s market in Sacramento. Time-tested strategies that have worked for the past 6 years are no longer applicable to today’s real estate market. Is your agent aware of the shift? Buyers are saying enough is enough. Besides, markets change all the time. Get ready, Sacramento! Change is on the horizon. I can feel it.