Does this sound familiar? You are sitting at your kitchen table wondering why your Buffalo home has not sold in the past 6 months. You are ready to move on, you found the perfect home but you cannot make an offer until you sell yours.

So instead of packing you are searching for the reason for the fact that it is still on the market. Some houses stay on the market for a long time regardless of the market conditions. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons homes do not sell in Western New York.

In real estate, three most important factors are location, location, and location.

It is no surprise that homes that are located in undesirable locations are hard to sell and will sell for less than homes in desirable neighborhoods. Factors that affect location desirability are:

• high crime areas
• school districts
• busy roads
• poorly maintained neighboring homes
• lack of public transportation
• poor shopping
• power lines
• poor parks

Ninety nine percent of the home buyers want to move in and start enjoying their new WNY home. There are so many homes on the market that they can say NEXT! The more obstacles you can remove from potential buyers, the quicker your WNY home will sell. So make those minor repairs, clean up the yard, plant some flowers and paint your home in neutral colors. Get rid of the clutter and set the stage for potential buyers to see your home as theirs.

There are many homes on the market and if a home is difficult to show, many agents will say NEXT! Your home needs to be ready to show on a moments notice and you need to understand that this is only temporary. The minute your home has gone under contract it will be worth all the hassles to you.

It is important to remember that it is winter here in Western New York. Remember to have your driveway and walks shoveled out. Make sure that the Buyer feels welcome, if they have to walk through snow to see your home, they are going to skip your home.

Buyers are hyper sensitive. There are many reasons why they will reject a home, but many times they may be simple things a seller can do remove obstacles to potential buyers. One such aspect is how your house smells. I can’t tell you the number of times that someone has complained about the smells of:

• Pet odor
• Smells of unique food
• Cigarette/Cigar smoke

With competition for qualified buyers and the large number of homes for sale in Western New York, it is important that you hit the market with the right listing price from the beginning. That means not padding your price so you have room to negotiate. Homes that are overpriced often do not appraise and deals will fall through. Many times buyers will opt to deal with homes that are well priced rather than getting their hopes up.