Selling a home is something most of us will need to do at one point or another. It can be a long process, full of many different meetings, negotiations and contracts to be signed. While many people successfully sell a home and get what they feel like is a fair value for it, this isn’t always the case.
Unfortunately, there are many mistakes that a person can make when selling a home. These can often reduce how much you end up making from the sale or make the process even longer. It could even impede your ability to sell the home as well. In an effort to help, we are going to go over 4 common mistakes that you need to avoid when selling a home.
Automatically Using a Real Estate Agent
When most people sell a home, their first instinct is to reach out to an agent. While this is the right choice for many people, this isn’t always the case. If you have sold homes in the past, or have a friend or family member with experience willing to help you, you might be able to sell your home by yourself.
You could also enlist the help of FSBO (For Sale By Owner) websites such as Houzeo. They can provide you a lot of assistance or resources that can aid in your journey of selling a home on your own, for an affordable cost.
Selling without an agent has the potential to save you thousands of dollars, so it is certainly something to consider. Now, this isn’t to say that real estate agents don’t perform an incredible service. To many people they are worth the money, but to automatically assume every seller always needs one is simply wrong.
Setting the Wrong Price
Arguably one of the most harmful mistakes you can make as a home seller is setting the wrong price. If you set the price too low, you may end up with a bad deal and be unhappy with the profit. On the other hand, a price that is too high can lead to a lack of interest and a much longer selling process.
Arriving at the right price can take a lot of research, but is well worth it. Be sure to look at what comparable homes have sold for in your area, to start. From there, judge the quality of your homes vs. the quality of the other home that have sold. It is important to be honest and realistic here, and not overrate the quality of your home and let your emotions get in the way.
Having a Lackluster Online Listing
Many people start their search for a new home online, which makes your online listing that much more important. You are in a direct competition with the homes of dozens (or even hundreds) of other sellers. Buyers will swipe through many houses on their phone or computer, and you need to do your best to make sure your home sticks out.
Your pictures should be high-quality and plentiful, and the description should be detailed. A person should get a good sense of your home and it’s many features by reading your description. If your listing is lacking photos or detail, you might not be able to convince many people to reach out for a viewing.
Hiding Major Problems
An unfortunately common mistake that many people will make when selling a home is hiding repairs. Home repairs can be quite costly, so it can be tempting for people to hold off on them and simply hope that potential buyers don’t notice. However, this likely won’t work as most buyers will hire an inspector that will surely notice things like a leaky roof or other major issues.
If they find out about your shady behavior, you can be sure that they won’t be buying the home, and will likely tell others about your dishonesty. While the home doesn’t need to be in pristine condition (as long as you are honest about it), you certainly don’t want to hide major repairs. If you don’t want to make the fix, be completely upfront about it and make sure to factor that into the price of the home.
If you can avoid these common home-selling mistakes, you will have a better chance of a smooth and successful sale.
