Home Selling Mistakes to Avoid

Home Seller Mistakes You Definitely Want to Avoid

With so much at stake, you want to avoid common errors while selling your home. Home selling mistakes are very easy to make when you let emotions get in the way of sound judgment.

You naturally hope to make as much money as possible from your sale—and not only make money but enjoy a relatively smooth sales process that gives you the results you are looking for.

Luckily, plenty of people have walked this road before you. The worst house selling mistakes are ones that you can avoid with a little foresight and planning.

Read on to learn the home selling problems you want to avoid.

1. Pricing The Home Incorrectly

The number one home seller mistake is overpricing. There is nothing that will stop a home from selling more than the wrong price. You may love your home and see it as one of the best houses out there. You might have a lot of good memories of your home, memories that leave you feeling like there is so much to appreciate about the property.

But it is important to remember that no matter how you feel about your home, the market is still the deciding factor in how much you can get for it. You have to price the house according to the market—failing to do so could leave you with a listing that sits for months or longer.

It is far better to price your home competitively than to try and get every last dollar from the sale. A competitive price will attract buyers. An amount that is too high will drive them away. Any real estate professional you talk to will tell you that pricing a home too high is the kiss of death.

If you come out of the gate at the wrong price, you’ll almost always sell for less than if you priced correctly from day one. Understanding how to price a home is vital to your success. Don’t follow one of the home pricing myths. You’ll surely be disappointed.

2. Failing to Prepare The Home For Sale

While some sellers think the world of their homes, others are only willing to do the bare minimum to complete a sale. The bare minimum—putting up a listing and wishing for the best—is not going to get you great results.

Instead, you should put forth your best effort to present an attractive, desirable piece of real estate. First impression matters and a great image requires a clean, well-maintained home. If there are obvious issues that need to be fixed, fix them.

Hire a cleaning company to give the home a deep clean, or do it yourself. Strive to put your best foot forward, and you will enjoy better results from your sale. If you’re unsure of your home’s condition, you may want to consider a pre-sale home inspection. By having an examination done, you can learn about the current state of your property. You will be able to fix any blatant issues that could cause the sale to fall through.

Being ready for a buyer’s inspection will ensure such a significant step in the home sale process happens without a hitch.

3. Not Hiring a Skilled Real Estate Agent

There are more tools than ever available for the motivated homeowner who wants to sell his or her home. The attraction of FSBO is obvious—you don’t have to pay a Realtor a commission, which means you keep more money from the sale. Selling a house as a for sale by owner, however, is not easy. In fact, a significant percentage of for sale by owners fail and end up listing with an agent.

The last reported statistics show that for sale by owners end up not completing a transaction over ninety percent of the time. Selling as a FSBO less than ten percent of the time of less is a poor success rate. In 2017, the National Association of Realtors reported that seven percent of all homes were sold as a for sale by owner.

The drawbacks to this approach are often not that blatantly obvious. It takes a ton of hard work to sell a home for an excellent price, hard work and time. Do you have the energy and the time available to do things right?

Even if you do have all the time in the world, do you have a robust network at your disposal to market the home? A reputable agent will be able to get the word out quickly and thoroughly and will be able to ensure a relatively seamless sales process.

For sale by owners do not have the marketing channels at their disposal that a real estate agent does. If your area is currently experiencing a seller’s market, you can kiss any chance of having a bidding war when you’re selling as a FSBO.

4. Hiring The Wrong Real Estate Agent

Hiring the wrong real estate agent should really be the number two reason on the list for home seller mistakes. An incorrect price for a home often goes hand in hand with picking a lousy real estate agent. Sorry but it’s true.

Pricing a home is a skill and an art. Something that many real estate agents don’t do well. You either have this skill, or you don’t.

Another problem is some real estate agents also offer little in the way of marketing skills. As someone who has been in this business for the past thirty-two years, I have first-hand experience seeing exceptional agents to the bottom of the barrel.

Not all Realtors are suitable to sell your home. Some real agents are not very good at what they do. Some agents are more suited to work with buyers.

Others are not experienced in modern marketing technologies. Still, others specialize in areas of real estate that may not match up with your target market.

It is a common problem for home sellers to pick the first agent they come across—especially if they already know someone who has a real estate license. Instead of going for the low-hanging fruit, try to seek out the right agent for your needs.

Interview potential real estate agents, ask plenty of questions, get referrals and take your time. Picking an agent is a critical exercise.

5. Letting Your Real Estate Agent Practice Dual Agency

A significant home seller mistake is not understanding the ramifications of allowing your real estate agent practice dual agency. If you are not familiar with the term, dual agency is when YOUR real estate agent represents both the buyer and seller in the transaction.

To be clear it is impossible for a real estate agent to “represent” both. You can’t serve two masters in the same deal. You want to sell your home for the most money. The buyer wants to do just the opposite.

When you allow dual agency your agent becomes a neutral party. They no longer represent you anymore. Do yourself a favor and read the article referencing dual agency and why it is so bad for sellers.

6. Thinking That Open Houses Are Important

Let me let you in on one of the dirty little secrets of real estate – open houses benefit agents, NOT sellers. Don’t let a real estate agent make you think open houses work. Any serious buyer will schedule a showing for a home they want to view.

Buyers accompanied by real estate agents are almost always vetted financially. It’s just the opposite with an open house. Many of the warm bodies visiting an open house will have no business being there.

Here is what you get when you have an open house:

• Those who are not financially qualified to purchase your home.
• Having your neighbors attending who have nothing better to do than be nosy.
• The Sunday tire kicker that has nothing better to do than look for open house signs.
• Experiencing the worst possible scenario –  someone who will come to steal your property. Yes, open houses are a magnet for crime.

Open houses were a viable marketing activity years ago before the internet when nobody knew your home was for sale. Everyone knows today, and when they want to look, they will schedule a showing.

7. Selling Before You Are Ready To Do So

Even when everything goes well, including having a great agent and selling for a reasonable price, it’s is still hard work. It takes time and energy. It involves stress. It requires finding a new place to live, whether you rent or buy.

It means packing up and moving all your stuff. There is a lot to the process. If you are not prepared for a significant life change, then selling your home may be something you should wait on. Do your research and be clear about what you are facing before you take the leap.

If you can wait until the prime selling season in your local market that’s what you should do to maximize the value. Find a real estate agent that will explain when it’s the best time to sell. Don’t work with the agent who’s answer is tomorrow is always the best time to sell. That’s the hallmark of an agent who thinks about what’s best for them.

6. Not Telling The Truth About Your Home

Homes are made up of a lot of different components. Some of these components are going to fail over time. It can be really tempting to try to divert attention from problem areas of your home to make your sale go easier.

In the pressure of the actual sales process, it can even be tempting to lie to make the sale and get it over with. But failing to be honest with buyers has a considerable chance of backfiring on you. It could kill your sale. It could lead to a lawsuit. Proper disclosures are super important when selling a house.

In the end, dishonesty is not worth it. Most states have laws about disclosure that you need to know and follow to the letter. You don’t necessarily have to tell buyers every little problem with the home. But if they ask about something, you definitely need to tell the truth.

One of the more common problems areas when selling a home is the lack of permits when they were required. If you didn’t get the necessary permits for work completed at your property, it is highly advisable not to lie about it. Doing so is asking for a lawsuit.

7. Not Being Flexible With Showings

I am going to be very clear about this – a missed showing is a missed opportunity. One of the more common home selling mistakes is not letting buyers in when they request a showing. Sure there are going to be times when showings are going to be difficult. You have a family and a life. Sometimes they get in the way.

If you want to sell your home, however, in the shortest amount of time for the most money, let the buyers come on their schedule! The more restrictions you put on your showing schedule, the more challenging it will be to sell.

8. Making Your Real Estate Agent Accompany Showings

I’m going to be brutally honest again – the listing agent should not be at the showings. The buyer and their agent are not going to want them there. Many homeowners are under the impression that a real estate agent can talk someone into buying a home. Real Estate agents don’t sell houses in that sense of the word.

I’ve been selling homes for thirty-two years and not once did I talk someone into purchasing a house. Buying a home is a substantial emotional purchase. The eventual buyer is either going to love your home or they won’t. Almost always the buyer will know it’s the one within minutes of walking around.

If you have hired a real estate agent who has that much time on their hands to accompany showings, then you’ve made a hiring mistake.

9. Hoping For Too Much, Too Quickly

Another problem home sellers run into is expecting the sales process to go through quickly and painlessly. The reality is that with such a significant transaction—typically involving a buyer having to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars—there are almost always hiccups.

Paperwork may not go through as quickly as you expect. Deals can fall through. Buyers can back out. Inspections can show something you were completely unaware of—something you have to fix to get the sale. You need to prepare yourself for some frustrations.

As long as you are prepared, you can weather them. And who knows, you may really sell your home fast, for good money and with no hurdles to speak of. It does happen. Just don’t assume it will happen to you. Be ready for everything because in real estate if it can happen, it just might.

10. Not Being Flexible in Negotiations

It is common for buyers to try and negotiate better terms before they agree to purchase. The conditions may or may not involve taking less money for the house than you wanted to. Try to listen to your agent during negotiations.

He or she can tell you the difference between a good deal and a bad one. If the agent thinks the deal is right, seriously consider it.

Bonus Home Selling Mistake

There is another home selling mistake worth discussing because so many people forget about it. You must be wondering what I’m talking about? It’s the costs to sell a home. Quite often homeowners will forget some expenses in the selling process. In doing the calculations of what they will come away with from the sale, something is often missed.

The above-referenced article gives all the costs and expenses for selling your property.

Additional Home Selling References Worth Reading

• More common home seller mistakes – see more blunders by home sellers in this article at Maximum Real Estate Exposure.
• The down payment you’ll need for your next house – see what you need to put down when buying your next home in this resource from Glenn Shelhamer.
• The importance of septic system inspections – see why having a septic system inspected when selling or buying a home is vital via Joe Boylan.
• Understanding VA mortgage property condition for sellers – homeowners need to know what type of shape a property needs to be in for a VA mortgage loan approval via Luke Skar.

Use all of these exceptional resources to learn about what it takes for your real estate transaction to go smoothly.

About the Author: The above Real Estate information on home selling mistakes to avoid was provided by Bill Gassett, a Nationally recognized leader in his field. Bill can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at 508-625-0191. Bill has helped people move in and out of many Metrowest towns for the last 32+ years.

Are you thinking of selling your home? I have a passion for Real Estate and love to share my marketing expertise!

I service Real Estate sales in the following Metrowest MA towns: Ashland, Bellingham, Douglas, Framingham, Franklin, Grafton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, Natick, Northborough, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Sutton, Wayland, Westborough, Whitinsville, Worcester, Upton and Uxbridge MA.