11 Things to Avoid If You Want To Sell Your Home

If you’re planning on selling your home in the near future, there are some things you definitely DON’T want to do. In this article, we’ve identified 11 Things To Avoid If You Want to Sell Your House.

Don’t Neglect Curb Appeal

Never underestimate the impact that first impressions have on a potential buyer’s likelihood of making an offer on your home. A well-maintained exterior says to buyers that the home has been well maintained. Trim the trees, lay some fresh mulch, pressure wash the exterior and walkways. Even small improvements such as upgrading a dated light fixture, replacing a rusty mailbox, or painting the front door can go a long way towards making your home stand out. A good agent should be able to give you some pointers on getting your exterior where it needs to be.

Don’t Overprice Your Home

The biggest mistake we see in sellers is thinking their home is worth more than it actually is. It’s understandable, as we have an emotional connection to our home. But pricing your home too high WILL cause the listing to languish. And once a house has been on the market for several months, buyers think there’s something wrong with it, forcing you to drop the asking price to spark interest. Let your agent help you come up with a price that is high enough to meet your comfort level, but also low enough to generate interest. (A good way to know if your home is priced right is you’ll get showings the first week.)

Don’t Ignore Staging

Home staging is a method of decorating and arranging furniture meant to highlight your home’s most impressive assets and help buyers imagine themselves living there. Think: Clean, bright, uncluttered, open, neutral – these are the thoughts you want your potential buyers to have when walking through your home. Your Real Estate agent should be able to help you stage your home so that it shows at it’s best. If you’re selling in a higher-end market considering hiring a professional staging company. It will be worth the expense.

Don’t Over-Personalize the Space

Set the stage in your home to allow potential buyers to imagine themselves in your space. Even if you’re not hiring stagers, there’s plenty you can do yourself—such as hiding family photos, knickknacks, and personal memorabilia. Tone down distracting decor, bright colors, and anything else that would divert attention from the most important thing a buyer should be focusing on—the space itself.

Don’t Skimp on Listing Photos

In an age when buyers shop for homes on the internet, excellent listing photos are a MUST in order to sell your home for you. Hire a professional photographer who will take photo’s that will make your home shine. Many homes have virtual tours, even drone video footage of the outside of the home. Your agent should have one that they recommend. (We offer FREE HDR photo’s including a virtual tour for each of our listings – they look incredible!)

Don’t Neglect Repairs

Before buyers start filing in you’ll want to take care of any obvious repairs on the home. When potential buyers see obvious maintenance issues, they’ll see the house to be a renovation nightmare. Plus most buyers will have a home inspection done, and you’ll end up dealing with those problems anyway. Many sellers will invest in a home inspection before listing, which allows them to correct problems and prevent repairs from becoming an issue during negotiations.

Don’t Hide Problems in the Home

In North Carolina, all listings must have a home disclosure form filled out by the seller. Sellers are not required to disclose problems with the home on the form, but trust me when I tell you that it’s not in your best interest to hide anything. It will come back to bite you! Plus, your agent has a fiduciary duty to disclose anything they become aware of about your home. It’s called a ‘material fact’ and agents can be fined and disciplined for not being disclosing them. Be honest about problems you haven’t dealt with and price the home accordingly.

Don’t Refuse to Entertain Low Offers

It’s easy to get offended by lowball offers. However, take your emotions out of the situation and approach the offer as a business decision. Instead of walking away from a low offer, take the opportunity to negotiate. Your agent has done this many times, so let them guide you.

Don’t Show Up During Showings

This is one area where you should let the real estate agents handle on their own. Buyers need the freedom to walk around and imagine themselves in the space. It makes it awkward for buyers to discuss things they like or dislike about a home when the owners are hanging around. If you have animals its best to take them with you during showings. You don’t want any distractions when buyers are looking at your home.

Don’t Forget About Closing Costs

Before you start planning how to spend the profits on your home sale, remember to take into account the costs associated with selling your home. Figure out your real estate agent’s commission, attorney fees, and other administrative costs before putting your sale in motion. Your agent should prepare a “net proceeds” sheet that will show you how much you can expect to make on selling your home.

Don’t Ignore Your Agent’s Advice

Your real estate agent is a valuable resource in your quest to get the best possible price for your home. Indeed, that’s what you’re paying them for. Look at it this way: The average agent closes 10 or more transactions a year. The average homeowner sells 2-3 homes over the course of their entire life. Who do you think has more experience? Your agent is motivated to sell your home, and they’ve done it many times, so learn from their experience!

As always, we’re here to answer any questions you have about selling your home.

Email or call us anytime!

Clay Ritter / (910) 547-7184 / [email protected]

Tammy Ritter / (910) 279-7049 / [email protected]