What to do when your Maryland house doesn’t sell

A house that does not sell is almost never a mystery. It is priced above what buyers in that market will finance, or it has a condition problem that a financed buyer’s lender or inspector will not accept, or both. Once the listing has expired, a Maryland seller has a short list of real choices, and the right one depends on which of those two problems you have. This is how we walk sellers through it when they call us after a listing has run out.

First, read what your old listing agreement still controls

Almost every Maryland listing agreement has a broker protection clause. For a period after the listing ends, commonly 30 to 90 days, you still owe the commission if you sell to someone the agent showed the house to or introduced during the listing. The clause exists to stop a seller from waiting out the listing and then closing privately with a buyer the agent found. It does not stop you from selling to a buyer who never came through the agent, including a cash buyer who contacts you after the listing expired, but read the clause and the dates before you sign anything. If your listing has not expired yet and you want out, a listing can be withdrawn with the broker’s agreement; withdrawn and expired are different statuses, and an agent can refuse to release you early.

Option one: relist, but change something

Relisting the same house at the same price with new photos rarely works, because the buyers who passed the first time are still the buyers. Relisting works when something real changes: a price that reflects the last three months of comparable sales rather than the spring, a repair that clears the inspection item that killed the last contract, or a different agent with a different plan for a house that was mismarketed. Ask the agent who lost the listing for the showing feedback before deciding. If every comment was about price, it is price.

Option two: rent it

Renting turns a house you could not sell into a business you did not ask for. In Baltimore County, Baltimore City and Prince George’s County a rental license, with an inspection, is required before a tenant moves in, and Annapolis has its own. A house built before 1978 needs a lead risk-reduction certificate. Prince George’s caps rent increases. The upside is real if the numbers work and you have the temperament for tenants. If you are renting only because you could not sell, run the math with vacancy, repairs, and the license and inspection costs included, and remember that a tenant-occupied house is harder to sell later, not easier.

Option three: sell as-is to a cash buyer

This is the option for the condition problem. When the last contract fell apart over a roof, a foundation, a septic system, knob-and-tube wiring, mold, or an appraisal that would not come in, the issue is that a financed buyer cannot buy the house as it stands. A cash buyer can. We make a written offer usually within a day, buy the house in its current condition with the contents left inside, pay the standard closing costs, and close on a date you pick with a licensed Maryland title company. The price is below full retail. Our costs page lays out the trade honestly, and for a house that needs work, the net after a retail sale’s commission, repairs, credits and carrying costs is often closer to our offer than the headline suggests.

Option four: wait

Waiting is a decision too, and it costs the mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities every month, plus whatever a vacant house does to itself over a winter. A house that sat all summer in a good market does not usually sell itself in the fall. If you are waiting for rates to fall or spring to come, put a date on it and a number on what the wait costs, and compare that number to the gap between your price and the offers you turned down.

If the house is underwater

If the payoff on the mortgage is more than the house will sell for, none of the options above work without the lender. A short sale, where the lender agrees to accept less than the balance, is a negotiation with the servicer that takes months and requires a hardship. If you are behind on payments, Maryland’s foreclosure timeline gives you more room than most states, and we cover it on our foreclosure page. Call before the notice of intent arrives, not after.

How to decide in one afternoon

Get the showing feedback from your former agent. Pull the last three months of sold comparables, not listed ones. Write down the two or three inspection items that came up. If the comments were about price and the house is in retail condition, relist at the comparables with a new agent. If the comments were about condition, get a written cash offer and compare the net, not the price. We give that offer in writing, with no obligation, and if listing would clearly net you more we will tell you so. The principals here are licensed Maryland agents and the comparison costs nothing.