SYNOPSIS: You were so excited to put your home on the market, but now, after weeks of dead-end showings and open houses, you’re beginning to worry. A recent MSN.com article discusses six reasons why your home isn’t selling.

The beautiful house you and your family fell in love with is stirring up little to no interest in buyers. Sure, it may need a few touch-ups here and there, but nothing a visit to Home Depot or Lowe’s couldn’t fix. An article from MSN.com explores six reasons why the sale of your home has fizzled.

Too Expensive If your home is priced at a higher price than buyers are willing to pay, it will never sell. Overpricing is the most common reason a home stays on the market. Chances are, your inflated asking price has priced out buyers who could have realistically bought your house. Conversely, buyers who could qualify for the price will not go through with the purchase if it appraises at less than you are asking. Another issue is your competition. “If you have a house that really should be priced at $200,000 and you’ve got it listed at $260,000, you are trying to compete against homes that really are worth close to $300,000,” says Jeri Fisher of Jeri Fisher Real Estate in Missoula, Montana. “You want to compete with what is available out there among houses similar to yours.”

Shows Poorly Even the best older house will need a few touch-ups to make it buyer-ready. A few coats of paint, a thorough cleaning of carpets and floors and a neatly kept front yard will all make a difference in buyers’ first impressions. Consult your real estate agent on where your money is best spent in sprucing up your house.

Bad Location Everyone has heard the real estate mantra, “location, location, location.” The truth is that location has a huge effect on your home’s value. Since you cannot move your entire house to a better place, you can counteract a bad location by having a good real estate agent, who will do his or her best to help accentuate the positives and downplay the negatives. Some of the best things you can do to balance out a bad location are to reduce your asking price or offer attractive incentives, such as a lease option with rent credit or seller financing.

Lousy Agent You may think it wouldn’t happen to you, but bad real estate agents do exist. They might allow you to overprice your home or they might keep you in the dark during the entire selling process, fail to screen for qualified buyers or simply not market your home properly. Finally, if your agent’s personality isn’t up to par, other agents might not bother with dealing with him or her to show your home to prospective buyers.

Competition and Market Conditions If you’re selling in what is known as a “cold,” “flat” or “buyer’s” market, home sales will not be plentiful overall and buyers pretty much have their pick of properties. If you’re selling in this kind of market, you are competing against rentals and vacant new constructions, as well as homes that are similar to yours. In this case, be prepared to lower your asking price or to take your home off the market and wait for a better time to sell.

Ineffective Marketing If your home is placed just on the local multiple listing service, chances are, it won’t sell. You and your agent will have to be a lot more aggressive in marketing your home. A good agent might routinely purchase newspaper or TV ads, hold weekend open houses and conduct listing tours for area agents. The Internet is another great tool. The best realtors use the Internet to their advantage, being readily available via e-mail and having your listing in color on their laptop and/or website. An agent who puts a lot into marketing his or her listings will reap the rewards, and a partnership with such an agent will place your home in the spotlight.