It’s a question we hear all the time. Many buyers fall in love with a property, only to feel disappointed or suspicious when they discover it’s been on the market for a while. They start to wonder: Is something wrong with the house? Is the location a problem? Is it overpriced?
No formula
Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that time on the market doesn’t always mean anything negative. The home my family bought had been for sale for five years before we found it. That didn’t put us off for a moment—because the house was exactly what we wanted. Fourteen years later, we’re still living there and still completely in love with it. I like to think that the house was simply waiting for us… though maybe that sounds a bit kooky!
The truth is, there’s no simple formula for how quickly a home will sell. At Wheeler property, every house we list is unique, which makes perfect price comparisons difficult. Prices reflect a mix of interior specification, location, and the character (and sometimes quirks!) of the surrounding landscape. This isn’t like London, where you can have 100 near-identical houses on a single street and easily predict market behaviour.
Is it the right house for you?
Sometimes a property that seems “almost perfect” can sit on the market inexplicably. Other times, a home we expect to take a while finds its buyer almost immediately. There’s rarely a clear pattern.
So if you’ve found a house you love—and then discover it has been on the market longer than you expected—don’t let that discourage you. Instead, consider this: maybe it was simply waiting for you.
