What You Should Know About: What Buyers Look For in a Listing

Trying to sell your current home and upgrade to a new home?  Here are 5 secret reasons buyers hate homes and will shy away from your listing.

There can be a thin line between love and hate when it comes to buyers’ responses to properties. Even if the home seems like a great fit on paper, sometimes there are issues that cause a reaction among buyers. Here are some common issues and how you and your realtor can help you to deal with them.

1. The neighbors freak them out.

No matter how beautifully a home is or how it is staged, there’s a factor that will always be beyond your control: the neighbors. Whether it’s their junky property, scary pets, or just plain bizarre behavior, would-be neighbors can quickly (and irreversibly) turn off prospective buyers. As soon as they start envisioning the years of bitter battles over tree roots and worse, buyers will see turning down a property as dodging a bullet.

2. They’ve heard rumors.

Before buyers commit to a property, they want to be sure about what they’re buying. That means they want to know if the area is about to be rezoned or otherwise transformed by new building and development. Sometimes rumors can be just that. You and your realtor can get ahead of the chatter by including current information about any proposals in the online listing or by marketing the home to buyers who would be excited about the possible developments. If a home has a truly checkered past, neutralize buyer concerns by offering them upgrades that seem likely to create a money-saving fresh slate for the next residents.

3. It’s not what they expected.

If a buyer is excited to see an authentic Victorian but the interior has been completely gutted and modernized, they’re going to be disappointed. Your listing agent may be able to silence the haters with honest information about the positive improvements made to your home.

4. Their furniture won’t fit.

It’s sounds crazy, but it’s true -- Some buyers will turn down a property because their furniture won’t fit, either in size or style. Clean, subtle home staging is the best defense against this issue. More importantly, home decluttering—can help buyers better visualize the home with their own furnishings.

5. They’re worried about competition.

The home-buying process can be so emotional that it’s natural for buyers to want to avoid unnecessary heartbreak. While a bidding war sounds great to you as a seller, the fear of competition is why some prospective buyers shy away from properties in a hot market. Listing agents can help keep competition fears from ruining good offers keeping buyer’s agents up-to-date on plans for accepting offers and what the competition level truly is.