You find a house online.
It’s cute.
The kitchen works.
The yard works.
The location works.
You scroll down and see:
Days on market: 67.
And suddenly your brain goes:
“Okay…what’s wrong with it?”
😂
I get it.
When a house has been sitting on the market longer than the others around it, buyers naturally get suspicious.
Why hasn’t somebody bought it?
But here’s the thing:
A house that’s been sitting on the market isn’t automatically a bad house.
Sometimes it’s actually an opportunity.
The trick is figuring out why it’s still available before you decide which one it is.
Days on Market Is a Clue. It Isn’t a Diagnosis.
I don’t want buyers ignoring days on market.
It’s useful information.
But I also don’t want you assuming:
Long days on market = bad house.
There are plenty of reasons a perfectly good house might sit.
Maybe it started out overpriced.
Maybe the photos were terrible.
Maybe it was difficult to show.
Maybe the listing went live during a slower period.
Maybe another house nearby was a better deal.
Maybe it went under contract and came back.
Maybe buyers simply overlooked it.
Or…
yes.
Maybe there actually is something about the house we need to investigate.
That’s why we ask questions instead of letting the little DOM number make the decision for us.
First Question: Has It Been Sitting—or Did It Come Back?
This matters.
A house showing 60 days on market may not have actually been available for buyers to purchase for 60 uninterrupted days.
It could have:
- Gone under contract
- Fallen through
- Been temporarily withdrawn
- Had financing fall apart
- Had an inspection issue
- Had a buyer change their mind
I want to look at the listing history, not just today’s number.
If it went under contract quickly and came back on the market, my next question is:
Why?
And no, “buyer financing fell through” and “the foundation slid down the hill” are not the same category of problem.
😂
We need context.
Look at the Price History
This is one of the first places I go.
Let’s say a house is currently listed at $399,000.
Looks reasonable.
But then we look back and discover:
It originally listed for $475,000.
Then $450,000.
Then $425,000.
Then $410,000.
Now $399,000.
That tells us a story.
The house may have spent its first several weeks simply chasing the market down.
Buyers at $475,000 compared it with other $475,000 homes and said no.
Buyers at $450,000 did the same thing.
By the time the seller finally reaches the range where the property makes sense, the listing has accumulated a lot of days on market.
That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything wrong with the house.
It may mean there was something wrong with the original pricing strategy.
A Price Reduction Doesn’t Automatically Mean “Desperate Seller”
I know buyers love seeing:
PRICE REDUCED
because somewhere inside your brain a tiny negotiator immediately appears.
😂
But don’t assume every price reduction means:
“They’ll take anything! Offer them $75,000 less!”
A price reduction might simply mean the seller has adjusted to the market.
What I want to know is:
How large was the reduction?
How recently was it made?
How many reductions have there been?
How does the current price compare with recent sales?
How does it compare with active competition?
And has activity changed since the reduction?
A seller who reduced yesterday may actually be getting more attention now, not less.
That matters when we’re deciding how aggressive to be.
Why Did Other Buyers Pass on It?
Now we’re getting somewhere.
If a house has had a lot of showings and nobody has written an offer, I want to know what buyers are saying.
Maybe:
The primary bedroom is upstairs.
The backyard is steep.
The house backs up to a road.
The kitchen needs updating.
There’s only one garage bay.
The bedrooms are smaller than buyers expect.
There’s an unusual floor plan.
None of those automatically makes it a bad house.
They make it a house with tradeoffs.
And here’s the important part:
A problem for everybody else may not be a problem for you.
You don’t care that the primary bedroom is upstairs?
Great.
You don’t have children and don’t need a giant backyard?
Fine.
You work from home and don’t care about the commute?
Wonderful.
Sometimes the feature that caused other buyers to pass is completely irrelevant to your life.
That’s when a stale listing can get interesting.
But Sometimes There Really Is a Problem
This is where we don’t get carried away because we think we’ve found a bargain.
Long days on market can occasionally point us toward something that deserves a closer look.
Maybe there are:
- Foundation concerns
- Water or drainage issues
- Septic problems
- Roof concerns
- Insurance issues
- Easement questions
- Unpermitted additions
- Property-line disputes
- Appraisal challenges
- Title issues
- HOA concerns
- Difficult financing conditions
That doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t buy the house.
It means:
Investigate first.
A discounted house isn’t a deal if you’re inheriting a $40,000 problem you didn’t understand.
Read the Seller’s Property Disclosure
When available, this can give us important information about the property’s history and known conditions.
But I don’t want buyers treating the disclosure like a substitute for doing their own due diligence.
The seller tells us what they’re required to disclose and what they know.
Your job is still to investigate the property for yourself.
That’s why inspections matter.
That’s why title work matters.
That’s why surveys sometimes matter.
That’s why septic inspections, specialist evaluations and other property-specific due diligence can matter.
We’re not buying a house based solely on:
“Seller says it’s fine.”
😂
Don’t Skip the Inspection Because the House Looks Good
This deserves its own section.
Fresh paint is lovely.
Granite is lovely.
A perfectly staged living room with three karate-chopped pillows is lovely.
None of those things tells me what’s happening in the crawl space.
😂
Especially when a house has been sitting—or has gone under contract and returned—I want buyers thinking carefully about inspections and due diligence.
We want to understand what we’re buying.
Not just what it looks like on Instagram.
A Longer Market Time May Give You Negotiating Room
May.
That’s the important word.
A house that’s been sitting longer can sometimes create opportunities to negotiate things that would be much harder on a brand-new listing.
Possibilities might include:
- Purchase price
- Seller-paid closing costs
- Repairs
- Closing timeline
- Personal property
- Other contract terms
But I don’t automatically throw every request imaginable into the offer because the house has been listed for 70 days.
The seller still has a number they need.
The house still has a market value.
And another buyer can still show up tomorrow.
We want to negotiate from information—not arrogance.
This Is Where Seller Motivation Matters
Days on market tells us how long the house has been listed.
It doesn’t necessarily tell us what’s happening with the seller.
Those are different things.
A seller may have already moved.
They may be relocating.
They may have purchased another house.
They may have inherited the property.
They may be completely comfortable waiting six more months.
We don’t assume.
But your agent can often gather useful information from the listing agent about the seller’s timing and priorities.
And sometimes what matters most to the seller isn’t even price.
Maybe they want a quick closing.
Maybe they need more time.
Maybe certainty matters.
Maybe they’re tired of repairs.
That information can help us build an offer that solves their problem while still protecting you.
Don’t Make the Mistake of Waiting Too Long
This happens more than people think.
A buyer watches a house.
Day 35.
Still available.
Day 42.
Still there.
Day 51.
Price reduction.
And now the buyer thinks:
“I’m going to wait. They’ll reduce it again.”
Day 54:
Under contract.
😭
A house being on the market for a while doesn’t guarantee it’ll continue sitting there until you’re emotionally prepared to make a decision.
Once the price reaches the point where buyers see value, activity can change quickly.
If you like the house, we investigate it.
If the numbers make sense, we decide what we’re willing to pay.
And then we make our decision based on our information, not on trying to perfectly predict what the seller will do next.
Sometimes the Ugly Duckling Is Just…Bad Marketing
This is one of my favorite possibilities.
Because occasionally I’ll open a listing and think:
Oh no.
😂
Dark photos.
Toilet seat up.
Trash cans featured prominently.
Blinds half open.
A mysterious close-up photo of the water heater.
And somehow the best feature of the entire house is Photo #37.
The house itself may actually be great.
Buyers are shopping online first.
If the listing doesn’t get them through the front door, they may never discover that the house is much better than the pictures.
That’s one reason I don’t want buyers dismissing a property solely because the listing isn’t pretty.
Sometimes we go see it anyway.
And occasionally…
that’s where the opportunity is.
Ask Yourself Whether the Problem Matters to YOU
This is ultimately the question.
Suppose buyers keep rejecting the house because it’s 25 minutes from Cartersville.
But you work from home and specifically want more privacy.
That isn’t necessarily your problem.
Suppose the kitchen is dated.
But the price leaves you room to update it later.
Maybe that’s fine.
Suppose the yard is too small for the family who looked yesterday.
You hate yard work.
Congratulations.
😂
Real estate isn’t about finding the house that every buyer wants.
It’s about finding the house that works for your life at a price that makes sense.
Here’s What I Want to Know Before We Write the Offer
If we’re looking at a house that’s been sitting on the market, I want to investigate:
1. Listing history
Has it been continuously available?
2. Price history
Where did it start and what’s changed?
3. Contract history
Has it gone under contract before?
4. Seller disclosures
Are there known property concerns?
5. Comparable sales
Does the current price make sense?
6. Current competition
What else can you buy for similar money?
7. Property condition
What do we see—and what needs professional inspection?
8. Seller motivation
Is there useful information about timing or priorities?
9. Your priorities
Does whatever caused other buyers to hesitate actually matter to you?
Then we decide whether we’ve found:
A problem.
An opportunity.
Or occasionally…
a problem that can become an opportunity at the right price.
A Front Porch Rachel Thought
Buyers spend a lot of time trying to figure out what everybody else thinks about a house.
Why hasn’t anybody bought it?
Why did somebody back out?
Why has it been listed so long?
And those are good questions.
But eventually I want you to ask a different one:
Does this house make sense for me?
Because sometimes a house sits because it’s overpriced.
Sometimes it sits because it has a legitimate issue.
Sometimes it sits because the listing didn’t show it well.
Sometimes it sits because it has one weird thing that 15 other buyers hated…
and you couldn’t care less about.
Those are very different situations.
So don’t automatically run away from the house that’s been sitting.
And don’t automatically assume you’ve discovered the deal of the century either.
Get curious.
Look at the history.
Inspect the property.
Understand the numbers.
Figure out why other buyers passed.
Then decide whether their reason needs to become your reason too.
Sometimes the house everybody overlooked is exactly the one worth looking at twice.
Real Estate. Real Life. Rachel.
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