5 COMMON MISTAKES SELLERS MAKE
Hi Everyone!
There are a lot of things to consider when you decide that
you want to sell your home. What repairs should be done? What should I list it
for? Should I repaint? How do I go about listing it? These are all important
questions that you have to answer based on what your desired outcome is. You
would go about things differently if you wanted to get top dollar for your home
than you would if you just wanted it to sell quickly. In the midst of all the
excitement, it can be easy to miss critical things that can end up costing you
thousands of dollars, not to mention, countless headaches. My goal today is to
help point out some of the most common mistakes that seller’s make in order to
save you a lot of hassle down the road. Now aside from the obvious mistake of
pricing your house too high, there are 5 common mistakes that we tend to see
sellers make.
1.
This probably the biggest mistake of the 5!
People tend to get so excited to get their house on the market that they don’t
stop to look at their house through the lens of a buyer. We can become so
accustomed to things that we forget that those things could be off-putting to
other. Some great examples of this would be, clutter, old paint, or a leaky
kitchen sink. When buyers are walking through your home, they tend to look at
it both superficially and financially. The large majority of buyers can’t look
past mess and outdated features. Even something as simple to change as paint
color can cause them to reject a house. If they are able to look past any
superficial problems, they will always be looking for things that are going to
cost them money to fix. That is why it is so important to make sure that your
home is ready to show and at its best before you take the pictures and list it.
Here are a few tips of things that should be done before you list your home.
Keep in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive!
·
Organize closets, drawers, and cabinets
·
Declutter
·
Take down family pictures/sentimental items
(makes it hard for people to visualize themselves living there)
·
Lawn mowed
·
Landscape weeded, freshly mulched, and in good
shape
·
Drywall repairs
·
Leaky faucets
·
Fix needed repairs
·
Minimize toys
2.
Not making your home easy to show
Once your home hits the market, you
need to make sure your home is constantly ready to be shown at a moments
notice. The first week is when you see the most traffic through your home.
After that it starts to dwindle. It is imperative that you keep your schedule
flexible so that people can see your home when they request to. If you deny a
showing, the odds of those people making another request to look at it are
extremely low. Therefore, if you deny a showing, you essentially eliminating a
buyer
3.
Ignoring ROI (Return on Investment)
In an effort to make their homes show
worthy, some people go overboard and start fixing everything without thinking
about the kind of return that they could get for their money. While Italian marble
tiles might be lovely, depending on the neighborhood, you may not see the kind
of return that you are hoping for. Again, depending on the neighborhood, it may
be just a beneficial on the back on of your transaction to just install ceramic
tile. It is important when you are getting ready to sell you home to make smart
investment choices so that you don’t throw money down the drain. If you are
thinking about selling your home and want to do some updates to help increase
the value of your home, it is a good idea to speak with your Realtor to get a
better idea of what homes are selling for in your area as well as some
suggestions on what things would be the best to update and what things to skip.
Here are some projects that give you the greatest return for you money, but
remember to upgrade appropriately for you home’s price range (i.e. don’t spend
$20,000 on a new kitchen for a $100,000 home:
·
Kitchens and baths
o
When upgraded wisely they can often bring you
more money than you invested
·
Landscaping
·
Curb appeal
·
Storage solutions
·
Additional square footage
That being said, some repairs need to be
done even though you will not see any return. Things like a new roof, a waterproofed
basement, or a new furnace won’t make you any money, but if they aren’t done,
you will have a hard time selling your home and it may cost you buyers and
therefore, money.
4.
Taking negotiations personally
It can be really easy to look at an offer
that is submitted with it’s low price and long list of demands as a personal
assault. This is one of the easiest mistakes for a home owner to make. You love
your home and take great pride in it. When someone makes a low offer it can
feel like they are disrespecting not only your house that you have put so much
care into, but you as well. Please keep in mind that although there is an
emotional attachment to the property you listing, the bottom line is that this
is a business transaction. And like all business transactions, each side is
trying to get the best deal that they can. As Realtors, it is our jobs to help
the two sides to reach a common ground to result in a closed transaction. If
you shut down offers because you take the offer personally, you have a
guaranteed result of not selling your house. Before you shut the offer down
altogether, try negotiating with them. Everyone is just trying to feel
eachother out and see where everyone stands. Make a counter offer and see what
happens. In the end you may not be able to come to an understanding, but you
definitely won’t if you don’t try. Typically speaking, your first offer will be
you best offer, so be sure to keep that in mind when you are negotiating with
them.
5.
Not hiring a Realtor
By avoiding these mistakes you can save yourself thousands and a whole lot of headaches!
For more helpful guides and tips on selling your home visit ChrissyMyers.com/sellers
Happy Selling and have a great day!
 |
Chrissy
Myers
Realtor
937.241.7123
1365 E Michigan Ave Saline, MI 48176 ChrissyMyers@RealEstateOne.com |
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