10 Reasons Your Property Isn’t Selling – And How To Fix It
Selling your home should be exciting, not stressful. Yet too many sellers across Sittingbourne, Sheppey and Faversham find themselves stuck on the market, watching weeks slip by with no serious offers.
The reason? Most estate agents still follow the same outdated playbook: throw your property on Rightmove as quickly as possible, cross their fingers, and then start blaming the “market” when it doesn’t sell.
At Harrisons Homes, we’ve seen first-hand how frustrating it can be when a property doesn’t sell. The truth is, it’s rarely just “the market”, more often, it’s about how the sale is planned and launched.
Harrisons has been part of Sittingbourne since the 1980s. Over the years we’ve helped thousands of local families move, using many of the traditional methods that still matter today, but with a modern uplift that makes all the difference in how buyers engage. Our structured 12-Step Launch Strategy combines proven fundamentals with innovative thinking, giving sellers the best chance of attracting serious buyers, achieving the highest price, and completing the sale in the quickest time.
Here are 10 of the most common reasons properties struggle to sell and how to avoid them.
- Poor First Impressions
Over 70% of buyers scroll on their phones. You have just two seconds to catch their attention. A dull photo or untidy garden can put people off before they’ve even clicked through.
Harrisons Way: Professional photography, staging advice, drone and twilight shots – so your property stands out instantly.
- Lazy Marketing
The days of relying on Rightmove alone are gone. Properties with video, floorplans and virtual tours get up to 145% more detail views and sell 50% faster.
Harrisons Way: Every Harrisons listing includes full professional marketing – floorplans, video, social media campaigns and more.
- No Off-Market Strategy
Off-market homes sell on average 23 days quicker and for 5% more. Yet only 6% of sub-£1m homes are sold this way.
Harrisons Way: Our unique Heads Up Alerts match your home with motivated buyers before it hits the portals. Because we take the time to really understand our buyers — and actually pick up the phone — we’re able to connect homes and people in a way that’s becoming a lost art in estate agency.
- Overpricing From Day One
Price reductions kill momentum. Nationally, reduced properties take three times longer to sell and achieve just 84% of the original asking price. BLOG LINK HERE
Harrisons Way: We price right from the outset, using data and advanced negotiation skills, so you don’t end up chasing the market down.
- Rushed Launches
List too fast and you risk underselling. The best prices are usually achieved 8–14 days after launch – once buyer demand has been built properly.
Harrisons Way: Our 12-Step Launch builds anticipation and competition so you don’t just sell quickly, you sell for more.
- Slow Response to Enquiries
More than half of portal enquiries go unanswered. Buyers expect a reply within 24–48 hours – miss that and you may miss your buyer.
Harrisons way: Dedicated staff handle enquiries immediately so no opportunity slips through the net.
- Weak Negotiation
This is where many agents fall short. In the last three months alone, Harrisons achieved an average uplift of £14,290 per sale – a 5.44% improvement on negotiated offers.
Harrisons way: Every team member is trained in advanced negotiation, ensuring we secure not just a sale but the best possible price.
- Tired Listings
After 90 days on the market, the average seller accepts just 95% of asking price – and fall-through risk rises sharply.
Harrisons way: We track engagement daily and refresh listings constantly to keep your property front and centre.
- Lack of Buyer Targeting
For many agents, marketing a home means little more than uploading it to the portals and waiting. It’s the same approach for every property, no plan, no build-up, no strategy. The problem? That’s not marketing, that’s hoping and hoping doesn’t sell homes for the best price.
Harrisons way: We don’t just list your property, we launch it with premium placements, targeted ads and tailored database marketing.
- Choosing the Wrong Agent
A brand-new listing has a 59% chance of selling. Switch agents and it drops to 44%. Many homes don’t sell simply because they were handed to the wrong agent.
Harrisons Way: When sellers switch to Harrisons, they benefit from our proven approach – and our results speak for themselves.
- Ready To Sell With Confidence?
If your property isn’t selling – or you want to make sure it does – don’t settle for the “stick it on Rightmove and hope” approach.
With our 12-Step Launch Strategy, off-market buyer alerts, and advanced negotiation skills, we’ll help you move with confidence, and achieve the very best result for your home.
👉 Book your free Home Consultation today and let’s get you moving.