House not selling? What to do next

Is the timing working against you?

Sometimes nothing is wrong with the house, the price or the agent, and the market is simply slow where you are. If you don’t have to move, one option is to take the house off the market for a while and relaunch later with fresh photos and a refreshed description. A relaunch also gives you a natural point to review the price and the agent. If you do have to move by a certain date, work out how long you can realistically wait, and what each extra month costs you, before choosing your next step.

Is it time to change estate agent?

If the price is realistic and the house looks its best, the marketing may be the problem. GOV.UK suggests asking whether a different agent could offer a better marketing package, or has sold more homes like yours nearby recently.

Before you switch, read your current contract carefully. GOV.UK warns that you could end up paying fees to two separate agents when you sell, and suggests checking whether you have to give your first agent notice and whether you can instruct another without penalty.

Two terms matter most. The Estate Agents (Provision of Information) Regulations 1991 set out the explanations agents must give:

• Sole agency. You pay the agent if contracts are exchanged with a buyer they introduced during the period of their sole agency.
• Sole selling rights. You pay the agent if contracts are exchanged during the period of their sole selling rights, even if the buyer wasn’t found by them.

Check how long any sole agency period lasts, how much notice you need to give, and whether your contract says you’ll owe the first agent if you later sell to a buyer they introduced.

In Scotland, many solicitors also act as selling agents, and a home that’s publicly marketed for sale generally needs a Home Report. Our guide to selling a house in Scotland explains how it works there.

Is there something about the property itself?

Sometimes the problem isn’t the price or the agent, but the home. Buyers who need a mortgage depend on their lender being willing to lend, and some properties are harder to lend on. Common examples include short leases, non-standard construction, Japanese knotweed, subsidence, cladding issues, flood risk and problems with the title.

If your agent’s feedback points to something like this, our guides to hard-to-sell homes explain each issue and the options, including our guide to homes that need renovation.

Would an auction work?

Auction can suit homes that need work, unusual properties, or sellers who want a fixed timetable. RICS explains that at a traditional auction, the fall of the hammer creates a binding contract, and where the auctioneer uses the RICS common auction conditions, completion is 20 working days later. You agree a reserve price in advance, and the auctioneer’s terms must set out its commission and any extra charges. Your solicitor will usually need to prepare a legal pack before the sale.

The modern method of auction works differently, with different fees and timescales. Our guide to the modern method of auction explains how.

When does a cash buyer make sense?

A cash buyer isn’t the first answer for most people whose house hasn’t sold. If you have time and the problem is price or presentation, fixing those will usually get you more.

A cash sale can make sense if you’ve run out of time, if a chain keeps collapsing, or if the property has a problem that mortgage lenders won’t accept. A chain-free cash buyer doesn’t depend on a lender or an onward sale. Completion can be possible in as little as 7 days in some cases, but it often takes longer because of searches, the buyer’s checks, your solicitor and any mortgage to repay.

Be realistic about price: a quick sale to a cash buyer usually means accepting less than full market value in return for speed and certainty. If your house hasn’t sold because it was priced too high, expect a cash offer to reflect what buyers think it’s really worth, and the buyer’s own costs and risk, rather than the original asking price. Our comparison of cash buyers, estate agents and auctions sets out the differences.

If you’d like to compare, you can tell us about your property and, with your consent, we’ll pass it to vetted cash buyers on our panel. We don’t buy or value homes ourselves, and you’re under no obligation to accept any offer. Check your agency contract before accepting an offer from a buyer you found another way.