Selling a property can be a time-consuming, complicated and stressful process, and there are a range of different traps and issues that you can easily fall into, particularly if it is your first time selling your home. To help you make sure that you’ve got everything covered, here are some common mistakes to avoid when selling your home.
Overpricing or Underpricing your Home
Getting your asking price right is a crucial element of the selling process. If you ask for too little, your home might sell quickly but you’ll be left feeling shortchanged and you may not have enough to buy the next property you are moving to. But if you overprice your home, you could find that offers are thin on the ground and your house could hang around on the market for a fairly long time, even if demand is high and inventory is low. A realtor has the experience necessary to help you price your home competitively.
Underestimating the Cost of Selling your Home
Many inexperienced home sellers quickly forget about the costs associated with selling a property, and if you aren’t prepared for this, you could end up with a final settlement that is much lower than you might expect. As a general rule, you should expect your selling costs to come in at around 5-6% of the total sale price of your home. This is because you will need to cover the commissions of both the seller and buyer agents. For example, if your home sells for around $300k, you can expect to pay anywhere from $18-20k in commissions.
Skipping a Pre-Listing Home Inspection
A pre-listing home inspection is an affordable, unbiased appraisal of your property that will tell you the condition of your home before you put it up for sale. This is important since it will highlight any potential problems that could affect the value of our property and give you the opportunity to sort them before you put your home up for sale. Examples of issues that could be identified at a pre-listing home inspection include mold, pests, cracked foundations, and subsidence.
Failing to Get your Mortgage Application Approved
Even though you are selling one home, it doesn’t automatically mean that you can afford another. Many people who sell property do so in order to upsize, and a larger house could mean that you need to borrow more. You will need to consult with your lender to make sure that you can genuinely afford the new repayments and get your mortgage in principle agreed to put you in a strong position to have a new offer accepted. If your new property costs the same or less, you will need to speak to your lender to see if you can simply transfer your mortgage instead.
Not Having a Great Property Listing Online
Everything is done online now, including shopping for a new home. Long gone are the days when you used to visit a realtor to look at paper brochures. Instead, most buyers start their search by browsing real estate listings online from the comfort of their own homes. Having a comprehensive listing with great photographs and videos is a great way to showcase the potential of your property and generate enough interest that buyers are prepared to shortlist it and arrange a viewing so that you can wow them in person. Your realtor will have the experience necessary to emphasize key features and make your home listing pop.
Not Prepping Your Home
Although buyers will have obtained first impressions of your home from your online listing, it’s in-person viewings that make or break getting an offer. Hopefully, you’ve already de-cluttered, de-personalized, and tidied up for your photographs, but you need to make sure you keep your home this way for your open house or Adhoc viewings. Make sure that any outstanding jobs are complete, your home is as clean as possible, and smells neutral to anyone new coming in. If you have the budget, consider hiring a professional home stager to prep your home.
Not Hiring a Realtor
One of the most common, and regretted, mistakes made by home sellers are failing to hire a great realtor. Realtors have unrivaled experience and understanding of the local market and can help you with the selling process in many ways including:
Pricing your home competitively
Effectively advertising and marketing your home
Placing your home on the national database of homes for sale (MLS)
Walk you through important aspects of the selling process, such as getting a home inspection
Arrange showings and open houses
Negotiate with buyers on your behalf
Be the point of contact for all paperwork
Guide you through the closing process
If you would like to find out more about the mistakes to avoid when selling your home, or if you would like to speak to us about the importance of using a realtor, please contact Texas Roadrunner Realty at 210-598-7600.
