Home sellers—here are the top seven mistakes that you should avoid making when you’re looking to list your home for sale:
1. Failing to choose the proper real estate agent. When you have a listing appointment with a real estate agent, do they show you how many buyers they already have on their database for your home? Do they walk you through their entire marketing plan, including how much money they’ll put toward the sale of your home? If not, they should.
2. Pricing your home too high. If you list your home at a price that’s well above its market value, it’ll sit on the market for a long time, even if you’re in a great market. In the long run, you’ll lose money that way; buyers will assume there’s something off about your listing if it’s been on the market for longer than normal.
3. Not preparing your home for sale. Having a clean home is your No. 1 piece of “sweat equity.” Even if your home is dated or has other issues, if it’s clean, it should sell. Further to cleaning, if your home needs some extra work to make it look market-ready, consider staging it or doing renovations. You’ll get more money for your home that way.
4. Limiting the number of showings you hold once your home is on the market. Some sellers require potential buyers to call at least 24 hours in advance to schedule a showing for their listing—don’t do that. It’s really important that you get those buyers through your front door, so even if it’s a pain to hold last-minute showings, that’s minor compared to the difference in price that you can get by allowing buyers to view it on their time.
“Some sellers require potential buyers to call at least 24 hours in advance to schedule a showing for their listing—don’t do that.”
5. Not knowing the seller costs. As a real estate professional, nothing would be worse for me than to have my seller tell me at the closing table that they weren’t expecting some of the costs that sellers have to pay. A great broker will go through those costs with you well in advance of the closing process so that you can properly manage your expectations and your budget.
6. Not understanding the home-selling process. Throughout the process of selling your home, you’ll interact with 20 or more people who are all overseeing the various steps of the way. That includes not just agents, but also inspectors, appraisers, title companies, mortgage lenders, and more—a real estate team alone has multiple players. Circling back to point No. 1, be sure to hire a great agent who will walk you through each step of the process so that you understand what comes next and when.
7. Being close-minded about offers. For example, if an offer comes in with a lower price than the seller was expecting, they shouldn’t dismiss it out of hand; perhaps the offer has a really quick escrow period that would help you move on faster than other offers. While price isn’t unimportant, it’s not necessarily the most important aspect of an offer, so be sure to look over them all with your agent to make sure you really understand which offer will be in your best interest to accept.
Avoiding these mistakes can help you save thousands of dollars in the sale of your next home. If you have any questions about this or real estate in general, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be glad to be your real estate resource..
