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10 Worst Things You Can Do When Selling Your Home

by | Sep 19, 2023 | Real Estate, Seller Tips

 

If you want to sell your home quickly for top dollar and net the most money, avoid the 10 worst things you can do when selling your home.

 

1. Over Pricing

  • Pricing your home too high is the biggest mistake you can make when selling your home. It’s also one of the most common mistakes. Many homeowners think that their home is worth what they paid for it, plus how much they spent maintaining it and upgrading it while they lived there. Ultimately, your home is worth what buyers are willing to pay for it – right now! And if you price your home too high, you’ll discourage buyers from scheduling showings and writing offers. That’s why it’s crucial to get a professional market analysis before listing your home for sale.

2. Neglecting Repairs

  • If there are things that need to be fixed before someone moves into your home, it’s best to get these repairs done before starting the process of selling your home. If you market your home in a condition that’s not “move-in ready”, buyers’ perception of your home’s value will be negatively impacted. However, you may not need to upgrade outdated paint colors, flooring, or finishes if housing inventory is low and buyer demand is high. Seek professional advice to determine what needs fixing and what doesn’t.

3. Poor Presentation

  • Since buyers can only judge what they see, failing to present your home properly will discourage them from scheduling showings and writing offers. Your goal in marketing your home is to showcase your home in its best condition online and in-person. Cleaning and staging, along with professional photography and videography, will help you to achieve this goal and will result in more showings and offers.

4. Inadequate Marketing

  • The goal of any marketing campaign is to generate as much interest as possible. The marketing of your home is no different. If your home isn’t presented in its best condition and/or your marketing efforts don’t reach all potential buyers, your home will take longer to sell and will sell for less money. I’ve written other blog articles and recorded other YouTube videos that dive much deeper on this topic. Check them out if you want to net the most money when you sell your home.

5. Limited Accessibility

 

  • Restricting available hours, requiring advance notice, replying to requests slowly, or otherwise making it difficult for buyers and their agents to schedule showings at your home will have a significantly negative impact on the sale of your home. To the extent that it’s possible, it’s best practice to make your home available for showings from 8 AM – 8 PM every day, with no required notice and no other restrictions. If you make scheduling showings convenient for buyers, you’ll sell your home much more quickly.

6. Ignoring Curb Appeal

  • It may sound obvious, but curb appeal is still very important to your success in selling your home quickly for top dollar. Sometimes homeowners get caught up with a million things to do inside the house to get it ready to sell and they forget about the first impression. If the buyers have a bad taste in their mouths when they arrive at your home, it’s easy for those negative vibes to spiral out of control. Cutting the grass, re-painting the front door, and mulching the flower beds are just a few examples of how you can boost your curb appeal and create a great first impression for buyers.

7. Inadequate Disclosure

  • This may be the least interesting item on our list, but it may be the most costly mistake. If the buyers of your home discover a material defect (AKA major problem) with your home and they think you knew about it and didn’t disclose it, they may file a lawsuit against you. Required disclosures vary by state, but when in doubt about whether or not you need to disclose something, it’s usually best to disclose it. Being honest now may save you from a painful legal battle later.

8. Poor Negotiation Skills

  • There are a few steps in the home selling process that require negotiation – initial offer terms, post-inspection repair requests, and challenging the appraisal (if necessary). And each of these steps can be approached in several ways, with varying degrees of success or failure. If you’re not an expert negotiator (meaning that you do it every day and your livelihood depends on it), it makes the most sense to hire professional help. Along with marketing expertise, negotiation skills are the most valuable assets that a real estate agent can offer a homeowner. Getting the price and terms you want for the sale of your home (and getting the deal closed) relies heavily on your ability (or your agent’s ability) to negotiate.

9. Emotional Attachment

  • Selling a home is much more emotional than selling nearly anything else, because you’ve lived there and made memories there with your family. But in order to get the best results, you need to separate your emotions about your home from the process of selling it. The other parties involved – buyers, agents, inspectors, appraisers, lenders, title companies – can’t fully understand your personal feelings about your home. To them, it’s all business. And although that may feel odd to you if you’re emotionally attached to your home, you’ll have to adopt their perspective. Having a trusted professional in your corner will help you to make rational (not emotional) decisions that are in your best interest.

10. Lack of Professional Guidance

 

  • Without extensive experience in selling homes on a regular basis, homeowners (and even some inexperienced agents) risk making several mistakes throughout the process. Even one big mistake can cost a homeowner tens of thousands of dollars or several more months on the market. Regardless of how you feel about hiring a real estate agent vs. selling your home on your own, it’s hard to argue against the benefit of having a full-time professional with years of experience and expertise to guide you through the process of selling your home. Interviewing a few real estate agents will help you to determine which of them, if any, offers you enough value to justify their cost.

If you want some help selling your home or if you have questions about the process, click the link to schedule a call.

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