Mistakes To Avoid When Selling Your Home

One of the most important financial transactions you’ll likely undertake is the process of selling your home.  Though nothing can replace the expertise of a qualified Realtor, there are some things you can do to avoid common pitfalls that many home sellers fall into. 

Getting Emotionally Involved

Your home is precious to you.  However, it’s important to step back and view it as a property that’s on the market.  Your buyers will see its flaws as well as its virtues, and objectively evaluating the house before it is listed can help you fix problems and determine the most effective way to list it.

Not Hiring An Agent

While listing a home and marketing it yourself may seem like a cost-saving choice, in actuality, homes that are sold by their owner tend to sell for significantly less than a comparable home sold by a Realtor.  Showing and preparing your home means taking time off work and giving up a lot of weekends.  It’s much better to have a professional deal with the day-to-day of home sales.

Setting an Unrealistic Price

The first month of a listing is the time where most people are drawn to a home.  By starting with an unreasonable price, many potential home buyers will dismiss the property.  The market corrects a price set too low more easily than a price set too high.

Too Few Photos

Images are everything in today’s digital world.  Describing a “beautiful, rustic fireplace” may sound good, but a picture would capture that beauty.  Buyers tend to respond more to pictures, likely because they trust the image more than written descriptions.

Not Staging Your Home

A normal home is set up to be functional, clean, and livable.  A house for sale should be breathtaking.  Rearranging furniture, putting out attractive vases and flowers, and even stowing family pictures can enhance the wow factor, and result in higher offers.

Limiting Market Exposure

Just because your home is in one area of the state doesn’t mean your buyer is.  People relocate all the time, and ensuring that your home is listed nationally will open you up to significantly more buyers than a purely local listing.

Ignoring Web Appeal

Almost all house searches today begin on the web.  You can use this to your advantage by creating websites, posting videos, and listing your home on sites that will reach many people while showing your house very positively.

Poor Home Showing

During an open house or while a buyer is touring a home, it’s natural to want to hover around them and point out all the wonderful features the house has.  However, doing this can make the buyer feel pressured and uncomfortable, which will push them out the door faster.  If someone is viewing your home, make plans to be elsewhere for at least a few hours.

Marketing a Home Before It’s Ready

Preparing a home to be sold takes time.  Landscaping, staging, and de-cluttering should all be done before the home hits the market.  Rushing it makes that first month of listing less powerful and hurts the chances of getting your best offer.

Trying to Cover Up Problems

Just because the house has flaws does not mean it won’t get a great price.  Have your home inspected before it’s listed and either fix any problems found or offer some sort of credit for the problem.  Talk to your Century 21 Commonwealth agent to determine which problems should be fixed and which can be left.

For more advice on how to avoid the pitfalls common to home selling, contact a local real estate agent.  They are experienced in getting the most value from your home, and can help you enter the market confident that both you and your home are ready.