Have you decided to sell your home and want to avoid any bumps in the road? In this video, I’m going to share the biggest mistakes people make when selling their homes. We’ll look at everything from choosing a real estate agent to home improvements so you can have a successful and smooth transaction.
Choosing Your Agent
Over my 12-year career in selling real estate, the first biggest mistake I’ve seen is that a lot of people choose their agent based on the listing price the agent gives them. I’m here to tell you that the agent is not buying your house, so they do not determine the price. Rather, the market does.
The strategies that an agent uses to expose your house to multiple buyers is what’s going to determine the price. Because of this, I recommend picking the agent based on their strategy and how they’re going to market and advertise the house, rather than a number they give you.
Pricing Your Home
The next biggest mistake I see is pricing your home too high or building negotiation room into your asking price. I know this may sound crazy, but the higher you price your house, the less it’s going to sell for. The lower you price it, the more it ends up selling for.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen this in my career. Whether it was intentional or a mistake to price a house very low, it always sells for way more than it ever should have sold for. Starting off at such a low price creates a bidding war, where the buyers take over and drive the price up significantly.
The opposite is also true. When you price too high, all of the buyers ignore the property. You get no exposure, and it sits on the market for months. Later down the road, you may get a lowball offer from somebody that’s probably not what you want as a seller.
Advice From The Experts
Another big mistake that we see is taking advice from somebody who is not a real estate expert. As realtors—depending on who you hire—we’re selling one or more homes every single week. The average person sells one, two, or maybe three houses in their entire lifetime. For whatever reason, we see a lot of folks that are selling their houses choose to get advice from a family member, a friend, or a professional in a different line of work.
These people do not sell houses every day. Taking their advice causes the seller to lose confidence in their own strategy or their own decisions that they made before talking to that person. My advice would be to be completely open and transparent with your real estate agent.
Follow their tried and true methods that they have used to successfully sell homes in the past, rather than taking advice from somebody who’s never done this before or maybe has only done it a few times in their life.
Waiting Too Long
Another big mistake that we see is waiting too long, and this could mean a few different things. It could be waiting too long to list the house and missing the market. Or, it could mean putting the house on the market and waiting too long to accept an offer or trying to delay negotiations.
A big mistake that we see is when sellers are negotiating with a buyer. If you take too long to get back to them, you may think that is going to cause the buyer to come up in price. However, the exact opposite happens. A lot of times, the buyer gets frustrated and just leaves the negotiation—leaving you without a buyer.
I’d recommend not waiting too long. In fact, in most negotiations, the more time that’s introduced, the worse that works out for you.
Home Improvements
The last mistake I often see has to do with the condition of your home. Have you ever seen the TV commercial for Febreeze? They say that you are “nose blind” to your house, and we see that every day in real estate. You live in your house every day. So while it’s not your fault, you may no longer notice the smells or the condition of the house.
Additionally, there may be scratches and dings and dents in places that you just haven’t noticed or forgotten about. However, I promise you that as soon as a buyer walks through the door, they see those things right away. It could be the real estate agent or it could be somebody else, but bring in somebody who has not been in your home on a daily basis and get their honest opinion on the house.
This person may be able to pick out some things that stick out like a sore thumb that you never notice. And again, it’s not offensive. This happens to all of us. We all do it with our own house and we all have an opinion that our house shows better or is in better condition than it really is. Don’t get offended if the real estate agent gives you some tips, tricks, or suggestions to improve the house. It’s only to help you sell it for more money.
I’m Here To Help
Now that you know the things not to do when selling your house—including some of the biggest mistakes we’ve seen sellers make over the years—I’d be happy to help you avoid these pitfalls. If you’d like some more advanced strategies on the best ways to sell your house, you can reach me at 609-604-5958. I look forward to connecting with you and sharing my advice.
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