Six Mistakes Home-Sellers Make and How To Avoid Them
You’re selling your home! It won’t be long before you’re selling the house keys for a sweet pile of money to fund your next great adventure. But real estate is one of the most expensive items you’ll ever sell. Messing it up will make you anxious, and it’ll drop a bomb on your other financial goals. These days homeowners make it seem unbelievable because they are making some prevalent home selling mistakes. By skipping home selling mistakes, a home seller improves the chances that their home selling experience is relatively stress-free and, most importantly, successful.
As a real estate agent in St. Catharines, Ontario, who has helped many local home sellers over the years, it’s sad to hear home sellers speaking about the home-selling mistakes they are making. They are unaware that they are even making any mistakes in most cases! Below, you will find the top six home selling mistakes that home sellers need to avoid. Find out what blunders can make the home selling experience a genuinely unfortunate one and, likely, an unsuccessful one. By learning about and dodging these mistakes, I am sure you will have a pleasant home selling experience.
1. Not hiring a professional
It is natural to get tempted with all those “for sale by owner” signs on people’s ads. The right agent will help you set a reasonable and competitive selling price for your home, improving your odds of a quick sale. An agent can also help while interacting with potential buyers and eliminating those who only want to see your property but have no intention of buying it. Finally, the most critical aspect of having an agent is their expertise. They are acquainted with all the paperwork and pitfalls involved in real estate transactions and ensure the procedure goes smoothly. This means there won't be any uncertainties or glitches in the deal.
2. Incorrectly pricing your home
Pricing a home can be challenging! If you price it too cheap, you could miss out on making thousands of bucks in returns. Price is too expensive, and you could turn away potential buyers or run the risk of wasting weeks or months on showing the property and spending on marketing and staging before you have to lower the price to get an offer. Don't count the internet. Ask a real estate agent for comparative market research that will show you how much residences like yours are selling for in your area. Establishing the right price from the start can make all the difference in how fast you sell your house and how much cash ends up in your pocket at the closing table.
3. Neglecting necessary repairs
You might assume that your buyer won't notice that sink leak or about the bug problem? But think again. If your buyers are intelligent, they'll likely get a home assessment after you accept their offer. And if a significant problem with your house comes up during the review, it could hinder your closing date or even conclude the deal altogether. Firstly the buyer won't like the fact that you were not honest enough about the house and the problems, and secondly, why would anyone put an offer to a place that would increase their budget? It is advisable to get a home inspection before you list your home to ensure it's in great shape for your buyer.
4. Selling the house “as is”
Staging a home is like a great deal, but skimping on this step is a vast home-selling mistake. Marketing your home in its normal state of use can detract from the house’s best features and limit a buyer’s ability to visualize living there. It’s essential to showcase your home at its absolute best, which likely means you’ll need to stage it. Optimize the usage of every space for the typical buyer. Professional staging can add tens of thousands of dollars to your sale price. The staging process can involve anything from the easy addition of accessories right up to hiring a staging company. Either way, the result is better pictures for the all-important listing “first impression.”
5. Taking negotiations personally
Remember, a buyer’s offer does not reflect their view of your home or your housekeeping abilities. The sale of your place is a business transaction. If a seller feels insulted by the low bid on their home, they need to remember that sometimes buyers start and become very different. Emotional detachment can go a long way toward getting the seller’s desired outcome. The key is to treat it like a business transaction and look to their professional negotiations skills. When you get a bid starting with a low offer, it’s time to negotiate, make your counteroffer. If they’re truly curious, the potential buyer will improve their offer.
6. Limiting showing
As you’ve put your home on the market, you’ll have to try to cooperate when your agent wants to show it. That could mean rushing out at dinnertime for a private showing or vacating for several hours or for a weekend open house. Depending on your situation, it may take more time to prepare your place for showings. Selling is inconvenient. From work you’ll do to get your home ready for sale, dealing with showings and open houses, keeping your home in the best shape every day to missed showings, offering disappointments and closing issues, and be ready to be bothered. Keep your eye on the prize: The goal is to accommodate as many buyers as possible, even if their timing is inconvenient.
To avoid these and other mistakes made in selling your property, reach out to the experts at Tracy Phelan Broker RE/MAX Garden City Realty Inc. Brokerage. I’m proud to be the real estate agent of choice for those who want a great experience purchasing or selling a home and have been assisting families to buy, sell and invest in Real Estate for over 30 years. My “clients-first” policy means that you’ll be working with a specialist who attends to you, provides expert advice, and works hard on your behalf, and utilizes up-to-date marketing to get the results you’re looking for.
For a complete list of services we provide, please click here. If you have any questions about Tracy Phelan, Broker RE/MAX Garden City Realty Inc. Brokerage. We’d love to hear from you. Contact us here.