4 Things to Avoid When Selling Your Home in Southie Before the Downturn

Even in Southie’s current seller’s market, selling your home isn’t exactly a walk in the park especially with the recent market changes. Not only will you have to declutter your home, there are finances to manage, hiring professional service providers (such as moving companies, lawyers and agents), and many, many details to remember. Juggling all of this means there are endless opportunities to slip up and make a mistake, especially if you're a busy person.

Living and working as a broker in South Boston for years, I’ve helped clients both sell and purchase homes in the neighborhood. However, there are four mistakes that I see sellers making that make the process much harder than it needs to be for both all parties involved. 

If you’re in the process of selling your home, or planning to do so down the road, here are four mistakes you can avoid to help sell your home for its full market value quickly and smoothly.

1. Overpricing Your Home

You owe it yourself to get the best price for your home, but in order to do so, it’s important to have a realistic sense of what your home is worth in this market. You might think your home is special and it very well may be, but incorrectly pricing a listing 10% or even 20% higher than true market value because of your incorrect Zestimate, or because you listened to the wrong agent can make it tough to sell it quickly. If you’ve got little to support your price point and your place sits for days on market, then it could become impossible to get close to your targeted sale price. 

Some sellers turn down perfectly good offers, either because they falsely believe their home is worth more than the offer, or because they think better offers will come down the line. I understand. It's tough not to look at your place with unbiased eyes especially when you keep hearing on how hot the market is or what your neighbor got for their place. Financial expectations and the constant reminder Amazon might be coming to town can cause owners to reach for more than the market allows. Don't leave yourself out to dry. Real estate is a cyclical market and has been changing as of late, if you have the chance to sell your home for a fair price when it makes sense for your life plan, it would be smart to do so.

2. Not Choosing the Right Agent

At the risk of sounding biased, one of the worst mistakes I’ve seen a seller make is using a list agent with very little knowledge of the neighborhood and very little value added. Not only do some sellers refuse to hire an agent at all—which I really don't recommend in a market like ours—but some will simply roll with the agent who gives them the highest property valuation.

Having a knowledgeable, experienced neighborhood expert guiding you through the process of selling your home is going to help you avoid all of the mistakes listed here, as well as others. A great agent will know your market inside and out, bring data to the equation and can help you advertise your home effectively with tech and digital marketing. They will also be able to tell you how best to prepare your house for selling, and advise you on pricing and showing etiquette. 

Southie has a lot of good agents to choose from, so when shopping around, you should look for signs that he or she is an expert in the market. Buyers are much more sophisticated than ever before, so your agent should be forward thinking and tech savvy. He or she should not only guide you through the process step by step, but bring value to the table, and be eager to make the process easy for all parties involved.

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Request a free, no-obligation listing consultation with your local expert.

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3. Improperly Preparing Your Home

HGTV trained buyers searching for a home have a much lower tolerance for living with broken or dated appliances, or ignoring leaking faucets than someone who’s been living in the home for a while, and things that might only be minor repairs might cost you dearly in time and money when you reach the closing table.

Since sellers are essentially competing with their neighbors. So, if your unit is a relatively new construction, with the number of brand new luxury condos and apartments to compete with in the Southie market, you can’t expect your home to make a favorable impression on buyers unless it looks its absolute best. 

With that in mind, you’re also going to want to make sure your home is clean, well furnished if needed, and welcoming. Put a buyer's mind at ease.

That means clearing out that pile of junk you’ve had sitting in your spare room for five years, and finally taking care of that pile of old mail that’s been sitting on your counter for three years.  

At the end of the day, the goal is to make your home as welcoming and appealing as possible, so you’ll have to analyze your personal situation to decide what is best. Your agent should be able to tell you what needs to be done to make your home look best for buyers

4. Having Poor Showing Etiquette

Showings are a vital step in selling your home, and no matter how great the pictures are, if buyers have a bad experience at the showing, you’re not going to be selling to them. 

For that reason, almost always, you shouldn’t be present at showings. When you’re hovering in the background, or following the buyers around the home like some helicopter parent, it can make them significantly uncomfortable, and make it impossible for them to envision the house as theirs. Your presence can also make them feel rushed, and they might not be as thorough with their examination as needed to get a good feel for the home. 

Additionally, don’t be picky about when you do showings. If your listing agent contacts you and tells you there’s an interested party that wants to come by that afternoon, do your best to be accommodating. 

When you’re selling a home, expect to be a little inconvenienced now and again, or you might find you’re turning off buyers who otherwise might think your house is their dream home.

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Speak with your agent to create a marketing plan that will get your listing in front of not just a lot of eyes, but the right pairs of eyes, and hyper target your home to the right buyers.

While selling a home isn’t exactly a walk around Castle Island, it doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Being educated about common mistakes and how to avoid them is a good step in the right direction.

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As an owner, is now a right time to sell and take tax free gains off the table? For a free consultation or if you have further questions feel free to message me directly.

Schedule a meeting or chat with me here or shoot me a message here [email protected]

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Chris Fitzpatrick is a licensed real estate broker in South Boston and is broker owner of Southiemap - the data driven real estate brokerage. Chris prides himself on his knowledge of South Boston nuances, off-market listings and new development projects that are rapidly shaping the neighborhood. He focuses on adding value in the form of creating proprietary real estate market data, predictive analytics, and technology helping sellers, buyers, and developers. Chris can talk your ear off about the benefits of yoga, loves to travel, is passionate about entrepreneurship, and loves rooting for the underdog.