The buyers are looking at your stuff and can't see the house.

I toured a relocating first time buyer out yesterday.  Doing both a relo AND buying your first home is quite daunting.  Not only are you acclimating to a new job, a new area - you also have the heavy weight of buying for the first time and all the big decisions, soul searching, number crunching, pro/cons lists etc, that go with it.  I showed this buyer 7 houses in 4 different towns in Northern Virginia.  He did focus on one house in particular and it was the one in the location he preferred, but was also presented the best.  We looked at 3 houses in the same community and the way they were presented is worth comparing.   

House #1 - Completely cluttered and loaded up with stuff.  Dirty clothes on the floor, doilies on the windows, way too much furniture and custom stuff.  Mind you, this house was fine if you were just visiting or having friends over, but NOT at all okay for showing.  He had trouble envisioning himself there.  

House #2 - Less cluttered, but the seller could not leave because of her baby being tired, so her barking dogs were also there.  I can't tell you how hard it is for a buyer who already has 100 different things he's trying to figure out, to see himself in your house if there's a big old angry dog in a crate barking his head off at you.  I think if the dogs were gone, he might of liked this one.

House #3 - No kids, no dogs, owner left and let us look around.  Had hardwood floors, which were a big plus for him, but also, was not cluttered, very well put together, quiet and calm.  

I bet you all can guess which one he liked.  

Sellers, please de clutter your house and leave for showings.  I know it's been written about approximately 1000000 times, and that's for a reason.

I can't tell you how many sellers I've heard say:  I will just leave things the way they are, the buyer can do whatever they want with it when they move in.   The only problem with that theory is, they will never move in.  The buyers are looking at your stuff and can't see the house. 

In a hot market like we are having in Northern VA, if your house is sitting for 60 plus days.  You need to look at what you are doing and make some changes.  The most basic of things: declutter, quiet, easy to show, make all the difference.