Trying to sell a home can be frustrating if you aren’t getting the results that you want. The Central Ohio housing market is fairly strong at the moment, so watching other homes quickly sell for asking price or higher can be downright maddening. If your house isn’t selling and has been on the market for longer than you’d like, there are a few things that you can try.

Here are five ways to bring in the right buyers:

1. Lower the price. No one wants to lower the price of their home, but if you notice that you’re getting a lot of online views or buyers coming to look at your home but not making an offer, it could be that your home is overpriced for the market. Ask your real estate agent to prepare a comparative market analysis for you so that you can see what other similar homes in the area are selling for. Unless your home has some spectacular features, you can expect to get an offer in the range of what others are getting for their homes as well. If your real estate agent has suggested a lower asking price in the past, speak with them about it. Ask them why they feel that way and then really listen to what they have to say. They are market experts and might be able to offer you useful advice about how to add value to your home.

2. Take it off the market and wait. If you’ve seen the market analysis and don’t like how low the average selling price is, consider taking your home off the market and waiting until the market has improved a bit. If you live in an area that doesn’t see a lot of market change, you might be out of luck, but if your market often fluctuates, you might have a better chance of getting closer to your asking price if you wait. (For example, if you live in an area where vacation homes are popular, you’ll notice that there are typically certain times of year where the market spikes.)

3. Fix any and all major problems. If your home is priced correctly for the market, but you still aren’t seeing any offers, it could be that your property has problems that buyers don’t want to deal with. Take the time to make any cosmetic repairs as soon as possible. If you know about any obvious or major repairs that need to be made to the home, consider biting the bullet and repairing them now. Many buyers would much rather move into a home that is ready to live in as opposed to one they have to do work on, and they’ll often pay more for a move-in ready home.

4. Stage it. Staging homes has been shown to help them sell faster, so it might be worth it to invest in a home stager. Don’t just choose anyone to do the job. Instead, choose a stager or staging company with a track record of success. There is an art to successfully staging a home, and it’s better to spend more on a qualified company than waste money on one that doesn’t perform.

5. Find out if you’re letting emotion get in the way of business. We love our homes, and it can be hard to look past our emotions during a sale. If you’ve put a lot of work into a home, you’re more likely to feel a stronger connection to your property, but you have to remember that this is a business transaction. Lowering the price or selling to someone who doesn’t seem like they appreciate all the work you’ve done can be difficult, but if you’re waiting for a buyer who loves your home as much as you do, you might be waiting for a while. It’s possible that you’ve over updated or that your market just isn’t strong enough for you to get what you want. Remember to compromise and always think about what the best course of action for the deal is.

Hopefully the steps listed above make it easier for you to bring in a good buyer. Check in with your real estate agent to find out what’s happening on their side of the table, and listen to the advice that they give you. It might not always be what you want to hear, but well-maintained homes that are priced correctly for the market should have no problem selling. If your house isn’t selling, it’s time to figure out why.

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