How to Avoid the 10 Biggest Selling Mistakes If you're serious about selling your house, it's critical - before you sign anything - to know how to successfully sell in today's market. The secret sounds so simple. (Maybe that's part of the problem!) To beat the competition today, you simply must avoid the mistakes other sellers are most likely to make. Then you'll sell faster and get the best price, too! We'll Work Together Let us help you sell your house without a mishap. Working together, we'll avoid the common - and not-so-common - mistakes sellers often make. We can also advise you on the purchase of a new home. Please feel free to call us with all your real estate questions. Phone 604-859-2341 or Toll Free 1-800-668-8661 10 Biggest Selling Mistakes & How to Avoid Them Fault #1. Pricing too high can be as bad as pricing too low If the listing price is too high, you'll miss out on a percentage of buyers looking in the price range where your home should be. This is the flaw in thinking that you'll always have the opportunity to accept a lower offer. Chances are the offers won't even come in, because the buyers who would be most interested in your home have been scared off by the price and aren't even taking the time to look. By the time the price is corrected, you've already lost exposure to a large group of potential buyers. The listing price becomes even trickier to set when prices are quickly rising or falling. It's critical to be aware of where and how fast the market is moving - both when setting the price and when negotiating an offer. As a professional real estate consultant it is my business to always be in touch with market trends - often even to a greater extent than appraisers, who typically focus on what a property is worth if sold as-is, right now. Fault #2. Procrastination on fix-ups You want to make your home more marketable to maximize return (or minimize loss) and speed up the sale process. Most buyers are looking for an inviting home in move-in condition. Buyers who are willing to tackle the repairs after moving in automatically subtract the cost of needed fix-ups from the price they offer. Either way, you save nothing by putting off fix-ups and likely slow the sale of your house. Fault #3. Drive by appeal Most buyers today will do a drive by first. Your house will have about thirty seconds to make a good first impression. Spruce up the view of the house by cutting the lawns, trim shrubs and lawns, weed and edge gardens, pick up any litter, repairing or resurfacing a cracked driveway or sidewalk; clear walk and driveway of leaves, repair gutters and eaves, and touch up exterior paint. Add some "buy me" appeal by adding potted flowers out front, a wreath on the door, brass outdoor lighting fixtures, brass street numbers and a pleasing welcome mat. Fault #4. Inside appeal When the buyer walks in the front door you have 60 seconds to make that second impression, "could I live in this house?" A clean, bright décor is what buyers want. A few dollars spent on painting - either because the existing paint is in bad shape or is an unusual color; replacing carpets - again because of age, color or style; refacing kitchen cabinets; bathrooms must be spice and span clean, repair or replace old toilets, sinks, tubs, etc. While spending several thousand dollars on your home right before you sell it might not sound very appealing, it's not uncommon for the right work to more than pay for itself in a higher selling price and shorter marketing time. My experience of all the homes in the area can assist you with what improvements will make your home more marketable in comparison to similar properties that are now - or recently have been - on the market in your area. Fault #5. Over doing it. Spending too much on remodeling projects just drains money out of your pocket. If your improvements push your home's value more than 20% over the average neighboring home values, don't expect to recoup the entire cost. My experience of the homes in the entire area can assist you with what major projects will make you're home more marketable and allow you to recoup the cost. Some major projects like replacing a roof, up-grading windows, redoing the siding should be done if they are needed or if your home is the oldest looking in the neighborhood. Fault #6. Uncreative Financing. To have the buyer meet your asking price you must be prepared to offer some flexibility in financing. Consider offering seller financing, paying closing costs, including a one-year warranty on all appliances, one-year garden maintenance or other irresistible buyer incentives. My knowledge of what other homes in the area are being offered for will help you offer incentives that will cause your home to sell fast. Fault #7. Going it ALONE You go to a Doctor for advice when something seems wrong with your body. Your take your car to a mechanic. You go to a Lawyer for legal advice. You call a specialist when your computer fails. Should you call a Professional Real Estate Consultant when you wish to sell your biggest asset? Without a professional advisor, you probably won't sell. Even if you do sell, surveys show self-sellers often net less from the sale than sellers who use a real estate agent. Fault #8. Why are you hanging around? The presence of homeowners and/or family make the buyer feel like an intruder. They feel embarrassed to look in closets and drawers. They need to get the feeling of "this is home". As your real estate agent I'm charged with the responsibility of looking after your major asset when holding open houses or show prospective buyers through your home. Fault #9. My terms or no sale! You must approach negotiations in a positive frame of mind, not as an adversary of the buyer. After all, you both want the same thing - a sale. As your real estate agent leave most of the discussion of price, terms, possession and other conditions up to me. I'll make it my business to get you the best deal possible. Negotiations is what I do every day. Fault #10. No action when the iron is hot! One of the most important moves you can make is to reply immediately to an offer. When buyers make an offer they are, right then, in the mood to buy. Moods, as you know, change, and you don't want to lose a sale because you stall in replying. Back To Sellers Resources Copyright © 2006 RE/MAX Little Oak Realty. All rights reserved. Site design & development by Romeo Web Design.