From tired decor and the smell of your beloved pet, to the clutter you consider to be family heirlooms or the punchy price you believe your home is worth, there are many factors that could be standing in the way when it comes to selling your home.
Here, five leading estate agents give their take on the home truths that vendors need to take on board to find a buyer in the current market.
The price is too high for 2025 buyers
“Pricing is everything. If a property has been on the market and it’s not selling, 99 per cent of the time it’s because of its price. And you have to address it,” says Bobby Geraghty of Hunters Estate Agents.
“When you first view a property you’re all enthusiastic and complimentary about the house. If the property isn’t bringing in viewers or any bidding, then you have to reverse from that. External forces such as [Donald] Trump are easy to explain. But that the market has rejected a vendor-set price, that it’s been tested and they’re not biting, is more difficult.”
If the price was vendor-driven then the approach to take is that “my valuation was lower and we can have the conversation now, and we might get two bidders and achieve the asking price you wanted in the first place, or we can wait another three months and the market will change again. The underbidders will have moved on and likely bought elsewhere so you may not achieve the same result”.
Some vendors’ expectations are “wild”, he says. “In those instances, you just offer a low valuation and a strong fee and that will ‘walk’ them away from you.”
Your decor is tired or, whisper it, downright ugly
Dated interiors deliver a drop in viewer numbers both online and also in real-life viewings, says Ronan Crinion of Drumcondra-based MoveHome Estate Agents, who recently brought a handsome redbrick in Dublin 9 to market that had red walls in the diningroom and interconnecting livingroom. “I asked the client to paint the walls white. They didn’t. While the price was realistic, the sale fell through,” Crinion says.
Large-print, loud 1970s wallpaper appeals to very few, he continues. In a former local authority house in Dublin 5 he advised the vendors to paint the place all white, describing the then red interior of the property as a turn-off for prospective purchasers. “For an outlay of between €3,000-€5,000 in paint and labour, depending on the size of the house, this can make a difference of between €10,000-€20,000 to the final asking price,” he says.
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Leave avocado or other tired-looking bathrooms in situ, he advises, as these will most likely be replaced by the new owners. “Carpets are the first thing to go in the buyer’s skip so unless they are a plain colour and clean, remove them to show off any original floorboards. It sounds so basic, but a clean and bright space really enhances interest from buyers,” he says.
Your pet stinks
David Dobbs, partner at DNG, is no pet hater but sometimes you have to speak out, he says. “Owners can be immune to the smells of dogs and it’s a topic an agent needs to be conscious of,” Dobbs says. As a parent to four children and the owner of two black Labradors, he is only too aware of the need for caution when talking to vendors about their beloved pets.
In relation to dog hair and dog smells, he says the best approach is something along the lines of: “You’ve a beautiful dog, but do you mind cleaning up a bit?”
Dobbs also advises vendors to do a deep clean before viewings and to make sure that any vacuum cleaner being used doesn’t also smell of dog. “If it uses a bag then change it before you do the vacuuming,” he says.
Dog poo in the garden or any outside space is a complete no, Dobbs says, recalling the one request a recent buyer had of his vendor, when purchasing a large house with a big price tag in south county Dublin. “There were several issues with the house but before contracts were signed the buyer’s one request was, ‘can you please ask your client to remove any dog poo in the garden?’”
It can ruin a viewing too. “You can step on it and bring it into the house. It stinks,” Dobbs adds.
For the duration of the sale process, Dobbs suggests that the vendor’s dog lives somewhere else or at least is kept out of the house during viewings.
The same applies to cats and any other animals, including snakes and spiders, he says. “The only acceptable pet to have in a home that is for sale is a goldfish.”
Your clutter gives buyers the ‘ick’
West Cork-based Charles McCarthy sells all manner or properties to both Irish and international buyers. While a lot of market activity in the area depends on what’s happening politically and economically at a global level, marketing remains important, he says.
“You’ve got to create an interest in the property. Part of that is putting the price at a reasonable level, offers in excess of or in the region of, for example. We sell one-off houses and privacy is becoming another big factor. But no matter what level of the market the house is on, clutter is an absolute no-no. We will clear it out and stage it for selling,” McCarthy explains.
“We just make it more presentable for sale by dressing it up,” he says. “It’s no different to going to a dance in your best bib and tucker.”
McCarthy avoids going into the gory detail of any of the properties he’s decluttered over the years, but it’s not unheard of for estate agents to come across properties filled to bursting point with all manner of their owners’ belongings, from newspapers and files stacked to ceiling height to several decades worth of clothing and bed linen. While McCarthy keeps his own counsel on the matter, he says that decluttering can go all the way to including the removal of old cars or plant machinery.
Does anyone ever take offence? Not the way he presents it, he says. “‘Tis a commercial decision. That is all it is.”
Get out of the house
In the country-home market, some owners like to remain in situ while the viewings take place. This is counterproductive, says Roseanne De Vere Hunt, head of country homes and estates at Sherry Fitzgerald. She recently had an owner who remained in the sittingroom of a large house reading their newspaper while she and the would-be buyers toured the residence.
“It made the buyers feel uneasy. They might have known them and they feel they can’t be honest with the agent about how they feel about the property, or disclosing their situation. They want these conversations to be private,” De Vere Hunt says.
“By all means leave the freshly baked scones but allow us to warm them and serve the coffee and tea and give the would-be buyers time to drink in the surroundings and imagine themselves living in your home. It also allows them to ask the difficult questions, without fear of insulting you.
“We are there to do a job,” De Vere Hunt says. Her tactic is to suggest to the vendor that it is best to head away and that she’ll call them afterwards, or sit down with them to tell them how it went.
