Not every property sells in the first few weeks — nor should sellers expect it to.
The time it takes to sell will vary depending on the property, price range, location, method of sale and current buyer demand.
What matters more than simply counting the days on market is understanding whether your campaign is progressing towards a sale.
Are buyers engaging? Are the right people inspecting? Are contracts being requested? Are buyers returning for second inspections? Are you receiving genuine offers?
If those signs aren’t there — or activity has noticeably slowed — it’s time to look closely at what the evidence is telling you.
And while it can be tempting to blame the agent or assume the price needs to come down, neither is necessarily the answer.
Look at the whole campaign
When I review a campaign that isn’t progressing as expected, I don’t start by deciding who or what is at fault.
I look at the numbers.
How many people are viewing the property online? How many enquiries are being generated? How many groups are inspecting? Are contracts being issued? Are buyers returning? Have there been offers?
Where buyers are dropping away can tell us a lot.
If plenty of people are seeing the property online but very few are enquiring or inspecting, something may be stopping them before they even walk through the door.
If inspection numbers are reasonable but buyers aren’t progressing to contracts, second inspections or offers, that’s a different problem.
The important thing is to understand where the campaign is losing buyers before deciding what needs to change.
Before blaming the agent, consider the preparation
The agent is often the first person blamed when a property isn’t selling.
Sometimes that criticism is justified. Buyer follow-up may be poor, communication may be lacking or the strategy may not be adapting to what the market is telling them.
But sometimes the agent is doing a good job and something else is holding the property back.
One area sellers can overlook is property preparation.
Were there recommendations before going to market to paint tired interiors, improve the gardens, replace worn flooring or professionally style the property?
And were those recommendations followed?
I completely understand why sellers question how much they should spend before selling. I regularly advise my own clients not to spend money where I don’t believe they’ll see a return.
But there’s a difference between avoiding unnecessary expenditure and cutting back on preparation that could materially affect how buyers perceive the home.
Saving several thousand dollars by not styling or painting may seem sensible at the time. But if the property then struggles to compete with better-presented homes, that decision needs to form part of an honest assessment of the campaign.
Changing agents won’t fix a presentation problem.
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Remember, buyers are comparing your home
Buyers don’t inspect your property in isolation.
They may leave your open home and walk straight into another property around the corner that has been freshly painted, professionally styled and beautifully photographed.
Even if the two homes are fundamentally similar, they may not feel comparable.
Presentation can affect how spacious a home feels, how emotionally connected buyers become and ultimately how they perceive its value.
That doesn’t mean every property needs renovating.
Sometimes painting, styling, garden work or a few minor repairs can make a significant difference. Other times, very little needs to be done.
The key is making those decisions strategically.
Pay attention to patterns in buyer feedback
One buyer disliking your kitchen isn’t necessarily meaningful. Nor is someone wanting another bedroom or deciding the location doesn’t suit them.
You can’t make your property appeal to everyone.
What matters are patterns.
If several genuine buyers independently raise the same concern, I pay attention.
Price feedback also needs to be considered carefully.
Buyers don’t determine a property’s value simply by telling an agent what they think it’s worth. But if genuine buyers consistently believe your home represents poor value compared with the alternatives — and nobody is prepared to make an offer — that is information you shouldn’t ignore.
And make sure the feedback you’re receiving is meaningful.
An agent saying an open home was “good” or that buyers “liked the property” tells you very little.
Were the buyers followed up? What did they say? Who is genuinely interested? Who might return? Were any encouraged to make an offer?
Good buyer follow-up is an important part of a successful campaign.
What do buyers think when a property sits unsold?
Then assess the price — and the agent
If the presentation, marketing and buyer follow-up are working but buyers consistently don’t see value at the current level, the pricing strategy may need to change.
That doesn’t mean you’re “giving the property away”.
Adjusting the price guide can change which buyers are encouraged to consider the property, sometimes bringing a completely new group into the conversation.
But changing agents isn’t automatically the answer either.
Ask whether your agent is following buyers up properly, communicating honestly, providing detailed feedback and adjusting their advice as new evidence emerges.
If they are, replacing them may achieve very little.
If they aren’t — and weeks are passing without a clear explanation or strategy — then there may be a genuine issue that needs addressing.
Don't let the campaign drift
A property doesn’t need to sell immediately for a campaign to be successful.
But I would be concerned if weeks were passing without anyone being able to clearly explain what the buyer activity and feedback were telling us.
Sometimes the right decision is to stay the course.
Sometimes it’s to adjust the price, improve the presentation or change the marketing.
And sometimes the agent isn’t the right person to continue with the campaign.
The objective isn’t to find someone to blame. It’s to identify what needs to change.
An independent set of eyes can help
When you’re the seller, assessing your own campaign objectively can be difficult. You’re financially and often emotionally invested in the outcome.
That’s why we offer a Strategic Sale Review for homeowners who are already on the market but aren’t happy with how things are progressing.
We independently review the campaign — including the original property preparation, presentation, pricing strategy, marketing, buyer activity and feedback, agent communication and current competition.
Sometimes the conclusion is that the agent needs to change.
Sometimes it isn’t.
The purpose is to identify what is standing between the property and a sale — and what can realistically be done about it.
Because when a property isn’t selling, the most useful question isn’t:
“Whose fault is it?”
It’s:
“What is the evidence telling us we need to do differently?”
Is your property already on the market?
If your campaign isn’t progressing as you’d hoped and you’re unsure whether the issue is the price, presentation, strategy, buyer follow-up — or something else — an independent review can help you work out what needs to change.
Our Strategic Sale Review gives you an objective assessment of your campaign and practical recommendations on the next steps.
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