Your House Has Been on the Market for 6 Weeks. What Should Happen Next?

You put your home on the market with plenty of optimism.

The photographs looked good.
The advert went live.
The portals started generating views.
Maybe there were a few enquiries and some early viewings.

Then a few weeks passed.

And now you're approaching the six-week mark without an acceptable offer.

So, what happens next?

Do you give it more time?

Reduce the price?

Change the photographs?

Change estate agents?

Or simply keep everything as it is and hope the right buyer eventually comes along?

There isn't one automatic answer.

But after several weeks on the market, there should normally be enough information available to start working out what the market is actually telling you.

And that's the important part.

Six Weeks Doesn't Automatically Mean Something Has Gone Wrong

Firstly, not every property sells within days.

Different homes attract different numbers of buyers, and some properties naturally take longer to find the right person.

The market can also change.

School holidays, mortgage rates, the time of year, local competition and even several similar properties arriving on the market at once can all affect activity.

So reaching six weeks without a sale isn't necessarily a reason to panic.

But it is a reason to review.

By this stage, your estate agent should be able to look beyond simply saying:

"We haven't found the right buyer yet."

There should be evidence to examine.

Start With the Sales Funnel

One of the simplest ways of diagnosing why a property hasn't sold is to look at where buyers are dropping out.

Lots of online views but very few enquiries?

This could suggest that buyers are seeing the property but something is stopping them from taking the next step.

Possible reasons could include:

• The asking price

• The main photograph

• Presentation

• Location

• Layout

• The description

• A feature buyers perceive as a drawback

• Competition offering more for similar money

The important point is that people are finding the property.

They just aren't being persuaded to enquire.

That is very different from nobody seeing the advert at all.

Enquiries but very few viewings?

This can suggest that buyers initially like what they see but something changes once they obtain more information.

Perhaps the room sizes aren't suitable.

Maybe there is something about the location.

Perhaps the property is unusual in some way.

Or buyers may simply be comparing it with another home they feel offers better value.

Again, that tells us something.

Plenty of viewings but no offers?

This is particularly important.

If buyers are regularly coming through the door but nobody is prepared to make an offer, we need to understand why.

Viewing feedback becomes extremely valuable here.

Are buyers repeatedly mentioning the same issue?

Is it condition?

Parking?

Garden size?

Layout?

Work required?

Or are people simply saying:

"We like it, but not at that price."

One comment can be personal preference.

The same comment from several unrelated buyers starts to become market evidence.

What Else Has Come Onto the Market?

Your property doesn't exist in isolation.

Buyers compare.

A house that looked very competitive when it launched six weeks ago may now be competing against three new properties.

Or perhaps one of those properties has reduced its price.

Another may have sold.

One may have been withdrawn.

This changes your position.

That's why pricing a property isn't something that should only be discussed on valuation day.

The market is constantly moving around you.

At SA Property, we believe sellers should periodically review:

• New properties competing in the same price range

• Properties that have recently reduced

• Properties that have sold subject to contract

• Similar properties that are still struggling

• Actual completed sale evidence where available

That can help establish whether your original strategy is still appropriate.

The Asking Price Isn't Just About What Your Home Is Worth

This is one of the most misunderstood parts of property marketing.

An asking price doesn't simply tell buyers what you hope to achieve.

It can also determine which buyers ever see your property.

Property portals allow buyers to search within price brackets.

Imagine your home is marketed at £475,000.

A buyer whose maximum search is set at £450,000 may never see it.

Reducing from £475,000 to £470,000 might technically make the property cheaper, but it could make almost no difference to the audience seeing it.

A move to around £450,000, however, could place the property into a completely different search bracket and expose it to buyers who haven't previously seen it.

That doesn't mean every seller should immediately make a substantial reduction.

It means that if a price change is required, it should usually have a reason and a strategy behind it.

Changing a price simply so the advert displays the word Reduced isn't necessarily enough.

Beware of the Token Price Reduction

This is something sellers understandably struggle with.

Nobody wants to reduce their asking price more than necessary.

But if the evidence suggests the current price isn't generating the right response, a very small reduction can sometimes achieve very little.

For example, if buyers are consistently comparing your home with properties £20,000 cheaper, reducing by £2,000 or £5,000 may not materially change their decision.

You're technically doing something.

But you're not necessarily changing the result.

Sometimes a meaningful adjustment is more effective than several small reductions spread over months.

The question shouldn't simply be:

"How little can we reduce by?"

A better question is:

"What change gives us the best chance of reaching a new group of buyers?"

Don't Automatically Blame the Price

Price is important, but it isn't the answer to everything.

Before recommending a reduction, the whole marketing package should be reviewed.

Photography

Does the main image make somebody want to click?

Could the photographs be reordered?

Would a brighter photograph or different angle perform better?

Has the property changed since the original photographs were taken?

Description

Does the advert explain what makes the property different?

Or could the description apply to almost any house in the area?

Floorplan

Can buyers easily understand how the accommodation works?

Presentation

Could relatively simple changes improve the way the property appears during viewings?

Advertising

Has the property simply been uploaded to the portals and left there?

Or is your agent actively looking for ways of putting it back in front of potential buyers?

A successful sale is usually the result of price, presentation, marketing and negotiation working together.

What About Changing Estate Agents?

Sometimes sellers assume that if their home hasn't sold, the solution must be to change agents.

Sometimes that absolutely can be the right decision.

But before doing so, ask a few questions.

Has your current agent:

• Kept in regular contact?

• Followed up every viewing?

• Given you honest feedback?

• Discussed your portal statistics?

• Reviewed competing properties?

• Suggested changes?

• Explained why they believe the property hasn't sold?

• Put forward an actual plan?

If the answer to those questions is yes, then simply moving the identical property, at the identical price, with identical photographs to another agent may not solve the underlying issue.

However, if weeks are passing with little communication and no strategy, then it is reasonable to question whether you are receiving the service you expected.

A good agent shouldn't simply tell you what you want to hear.

They should be prepared to have the more difficult conversations too.

The Launch Period Matters

A new property naturally attracts attention.

Buyers who already have s set up see it.

Applicants on an estate agent's database are contacted.

Social media can generate another burst of interest.

Existing buyers who have been waiting for something suitable may act quickly.

That initial period is valuable.

Once a property has been available for a number of weeks, buyers start to recognise it.

Some may even begin wondering:

"Why hasn't that one sold?"

That doesn't mean the property has suddenly become undesirable.

But it does mean the strategy may need refreshing.

You cannot recreate being completely new to the market, but you can create a reason for buyers to look again.

A new price.

New photographs.

A different marketing angle.

Additional advertising.

A change in how the property is positioned.

Sometimes several of those things together.

Don't Make Changes Just for the Sake of It

There is another side to this.

Sometimes the evidence says the property is actually performing reasonably well.

Perhaps viewings are happening.

Buyers are showing genuine interest.

There has been an offer that's close to an acceptable level.

In that situation, patience might genuinely be the right recommendation.

The important thing is that the decision should come from the evidence — not frustration.

Doing nothing can be a strategy.

But only when there is a good reason for doing nothing.

Ask Your Estate Agent One Simple Question

If your home has been available for several weeks, ask:

"Based on everything we've learned since launch, what would you change if we were putting the property on the market today?"

It's a surprisingly useful question.

Because the answer might be:

"Nothing — we're getting the right activity and just need a little longer."

Or:

"I'd change the first photograph."

"I'd reposition how we're advertising it."

"I'd recommend moving into the next portal price bracket."

"I'd change several things and relaunch the marketing."

Whatever the answer, there should be a reason behind it.

Our View

We've worked in estate agency long enough to know that sometimes a buyer does appear unexpectedly.

That happens.

But relying purely on that happening isn't much of a marketing strategy.

If something isn't producing the result we expected, we believe in reviewing the evidence, being honest about what we're seeing and deciding whether something needs to change.

Because if you keep doing exactly the same thing, with exactly the same strategy, you're largely relying on luck to produce a different result.

And when somebody is trying to move home, we think they deserve something better than luck.

Is Your Property Currently on the Market?

If your home has been available for several weeks and you're unsure what the next move should be, we're happy to give you a second opinion.

That doesn't automatically mean we'll tell you to reduce the price.

And it doesn't automatically mean we'll tell you to change estate agents.

We'll look at the property, the competition, the marketing and the activity you've received so far and give you our view on what — if anything — we would do differently.

SA Property
89 High Street, Gorseinon, Swansea SA4 4BL

01792 893000

info@saproperty.co.uk

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