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7 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN SELLING YOUR HOME

7 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN SELLING YOUR HOME

7 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN SELLING YOUR HOME

Selling your home requires a lot of preparation. It’s not enough just to list a great house on the market — you have to make sure it’s priced right, staged correctly, and marketed well in order to sell quickly and for the best price.

Many homeowners who have never been through the selling process are eager to find a buyer and as a result make common mistakes that end up delaying the sales process or impacting the amount of money they get in exchange for their home.

If you’re looking to sell your house, be sure not to make any of these common home selling mistakes.

1. Pricing Your Home Too High

This common mistake is one that many homeowners feel is a good marketing strategy. If you price your home too high, they believe the best-case scenario is, you find a buyer right away. Worst case scenario, you lower your price and get exactly what your home is worth. It’s a win-win strategy, right?

Unfortunately, pricing your home too high is a huge red flag for buyers. In fact, homes that are initially priced too high often end up sitting on the market longer and ultimately sell for less than they would have if they were listed at the right price. Think about it — if you’re a buyer and you see a home over asking price, you’re more likely to ignore it. Even when you lower the price, buyers may be reluctant to view your home. Buyers seeing homes that have sat on the market for a long time and have been consistently repriced tend to believe there’s something wrong with the property, and ultimately pass it over.

Price your home at a fair price to start to avoid this rookie mistake.

2. Ignoring Important Repairs

When selling your home, it’s fine to skip the kitchen renovation you always dreamed of, but it’s not okay to skip out on necessary repairs. Ensuring the plumbing and HVAC systems are in working order is crucial to the sale of your home. On the other end, it’s also important to fix small issues — fix the broken lock on your back door, swap out cracking hardware on your cabinets, and replace the broken ceiling fan in your guest bedroom. These repairs will help your home sell faster and for a higher price.

3. Listing at the Wrong Time

Listing your home during a month when buyers aren’t looking for property can lead to your home sitting on the market for months. When this happens, once buyers are ready to purchase, they may wonder why your home has been sitting and ultimately decide not to consider your property.

In general, late spring is considered the best time to list a home, with the highest bids and number of buyers closing in June. However, it’s always important to do market research before listing your home, since cities have their own trends to help you forecast when buyers are pulling the trigger.

4. Not Decluttering Your Home

You could have an incredible home with a great floor plan and amenities to spare, but if it’s not decluttered and looks messy, buyers are less likely to bite. Once you decide to sell, it’s important to declutter and pack away any furniture and items you won’t need during the selling process.

All of that clutter is likely making your home look smaller and less open that it would if you could remove it from sight. Decluttering will improve the overall look and feel of your house, making it more attractive to buyers.

5. Not Staging Your Home

Along the same lines, many homeowners might declutter, but don’t stage their home correctly. Staging is a huge part of the selling process and is often what first catches buyers’ attention. You don’t have to rent modern furniture and interesting art pieces to stage, though. It’s all about viewing your home from the buyers’ points of view.

For instance, just because your couch has always sat against the wall doesn’t mean it should stay there. Try moving it to open up the space or create a conversation nook that breaks up an open floor plan. Experiencing your home through the eyes of different buyers always helps when making staging decisions.

6. Not Posting Professional Listing Pictures

Spending time and money on professional listing photos is an essential step in the buying process. A quick search on the homes available in your local market will show you what other homeowners are doing. Many homes have gorgeous pictures highlighting the best features of their home and others even include virtual tours.

Homes with high quality photography always stand out against homes with few pictures, no pictures, or less impressive pictures.

7. Working with the Wrong Agent

Not all real estate agents are cut from the same cloth. Listing agents, for instance, will help you list your home on the MLS and may assist with photography. Discount agents may provide a wider range of services, but are often less invested in your home, because they have many clients to help. Full-service agents provide comprehensive services, including helping you with all of the above common homeowner mistakes. However, as a result, many full-service agents come with a hefty commission fee.

Luckily, if you partner with Titan Real Estate, you can avoid this large fee, while still teaming up with a highly qualified agent from one of the top real estate franchises in the Fraser Valley. In return you get an experienced agent who can navigate you through every step of the home selling process, to maximize your home price and find qualified buyers more quickly.

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