When it comes to selling your home, trial and error can sometimes (if not many times) be a factor. When a home sale is most successful, the process maximizes the seller’s proceeds in the shortest amount of time possible with the least amount of inconveniences. And, as all of us know, inconveniences happen. So, here are some ways to avoid those more commonly made mistakes to make your home sale a success!
Pricing too high
Recently, in light of the pandemic, low home inventory and high demand of housing have had a major contributing factor to the rising prices of homes. NAR reports that the median sales price is up 17.8% in the past year and CoreLogic recently released data that July set new record growth of 18% year over year. Numbers like these might give sellers a false sense of security about overpricing their home
When you price your home too high initially, it can limit activity on those wishing to view your home, attract the wrong buyers, and ultimately cause your home to sell for less than the market value. It’s actually a quite interesting dynamic to see this shortage of homes on the market, and then watch the “explosion” when a home first hits the market. Buyers who have been watching the market but have not yet purchased will rush to see the home. The longer they have been searching the market, the more proficient they are in knowing what homes are selling for, and possibly even have lost bids on one or more properties. Essentially, they know if a home is priced right – or not!
Failure to do Market Preparation
Maybe the home you’re looking to purchase is not completely “put together”. In other words, you know that work will need to be done. You would normally not pay top dollar for that home, knowing that you’ll be spending money to fix it up, correct? A home that is on the market that would need repairs such as these would, at least I would hope, have that price adjusted accordingly.
So when selling your home, to ask the highest price possible, the home needs to pretty much be spotlessly clean with everything in working order. The home also needs to be depersonalized which would allow it to appeal to a broader group of people. Clutter needs to be removed so it isn’t distracting or give a bad impression that counters, rooms or closets are small. If painting needs to be done, or light fixtures updated – that should all be taken into consideration as well.
Thinking the agent doesn’t matter
The average days a home is on the market right now is 17 days, plus 89% of homes are sold within a month. Some think that in most cases, an agent is not being utilized in selling or purchasing a home, but that is definitely a mistake.
Nine out of ten homeowners use an agent, and the four most important reasons were to help sell the home within a specific timeframe, help price the home competitively, help seller market the home to potential buyers and help the seller find ways to fix up home to sell it for more money.
Being present during showings
We know that it isn’t convenient, and we know it can drive you crazy, but sellers should try to leave the home when it is being shown. Buyers like to look at the home freely and ask questions or point out things to their agent. Sellers may have the best of intentions, but they have not established rapport with the buyer and don’t really know what is causing the questions.
Not letting your agent negotiate for you
One of the most important roles of an agent is that of negotiator. This role begins way before a buyer even makes an offer. Essentially, the buyer’s agent can go to the listing agent with questions which you may have as a buyer,and get back to you with the answers.
There are different objectives when it comes to buying and selling. A seller wants the highest price and a buyer wants to pay the least amount possible. Sellers want the terms of the contract in their favor and the buyers want the favor to be in their court. Buyers want many contingencies which would let them out of the contract, and sellers want the fewest contingencies as possible. Sellers want the most earnest money and buyers want to put up the least possible.
Not responding to offers in a timely manner
Ever heard the expression “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”? That reminds me that if you have received an offer, it can be withdrawn at any time up until the point that it is accepted by the seller. In other words, the offer you have is real (it’s your bird in your hand). Other offers may just be hanging out in the bush, never to come into play.
Here’s a common situation A large amount of activity is swirling around your home and an offer comes in quickly. Instead of negotiating on that offer, the sellers wait to see if a better one comes in. What can happen in that scenario? The buyer has that opportunity to change their mind, and the seller loses the offer.
Your agent is a valuable part of selling a home who can offer advice, bring perspective to the transaction, and suggest different ways to help you achieve your goals. Once you have the right agent, everything else will start to fall into place.
Ready to sell your home? Then we should talk. I’m always available to talk to you at 703-303-4010.
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