Common Seller Mistakes |
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| 1. "Hard Selling" During Showings |
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People buy homes on emotion, not logic. Buying a home is always an emotional decision. People like to get a feel for a house to see if it is comfortable for them. It's difficult for them to get comfortable in a home if you follow them around, telling them all of the things that you've done to the house and pointing out every improvement that you've made. It may even have the opposite effect that you want to accomplish by making the prospective buyer feel that they are intruding into your private space.
Resist the temptation to talk to the buyer the entire time that they are in your home. Let them discover the home on their own. I recommend tasteful signs to point out hidden features that they might miss. Another good idea is to have a photo album on the kitchen counter with photos of the home during other seasons. |
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| 2. Using a real estate agent instead of a Realtor |
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When you're looking for help buying or selling property, it's important to remember that the terms "real estate agent" and "Realtor" are not synonymous. Realtors can provide an extra level of service, and to be a
Realtor you must be a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The equivalent organization in Canada is the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). Both are non-profit trade organizations that promote real estate information, education and professional standards. The National Association of Realtors also has earned a strong reputation for actively championing private property rights and working to make home ownership affordable and accessible. The NAR and CREA members adhere to a strict code of ethics founded on the principle of providing fair and honest service to all consumers. Realtor business practices are monitored at local board levels. Arbitration and disciplinary systems are in place to address complaints from the public or board members. This local monitoring keeps Realtors directly accountable to the individual consumers they serve and therefore the consumer is more likely to find better service and accountability by using a Realtor. |
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| 3. Failing To Prepare Your Home For The Buyer's Eye |
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Buyers look for homes, not houses. Buying a home is an emotional decision and they end up buying the home that makes them most comfortable. It's what I call the "Ah-ha" effect. I've watched dozens of times as buyers have walked in through the front door and gasped "Ah-ha," and immediately fall in love with the house.
Owners who fail to make necessary repairs, who don't spruce up the house inside and out, who don't do all the little things that make a house show like a million bucks will suffer from lower offers and longer market time.
Think about it this way: if you were selling a car, wouldn't you wash it and maybe even give it an extra good cleaning inside and out to get the highest possible price? That's because a buyer looking at your used car is purchasing on emotion, just like someone looking at your home.
The audio program "Selling Your Home… "Contains eight specific steps that you can take to make sure that your home sells on time, for top dollar." |
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| 4. Complacent marketing when selling a home |
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When selling your home there are no guarantees that the ultimate buyer of your home will have simply walked through the front door. In many cases you may have to bring your home to the buyer. Effective marketing will help ensure that your property receives maximum exposure to attract a ready, willing and able buyer in the shortest period of time. Ask your Realtor to list for you all of the ways he/she intends to market your home and on what time-line. Also, be sure to ask about the home being advertised on the Internet. |
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| 5. Basing Asking Price on needs or emotion not market value. |
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Many sellers base their pricing on how much they paid for their home. If your home is not priced competitively, home buyers will prefer larger or better homes in the same price range, increasing your time-to-sell. When your price is later lowered, buyers may be wary because they suspect other reasons the house has remained unsold so long. |
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| 6. Forgetting about health and safety issues |
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Be upfront and disclose to your Realtor any problems with the property. The problems are going to be discovered anyway. A decade ago, health and safety issues were rarely a part of the typical real estate transaction. Today, however, it's common for inspections relating to health, safety, and even environmental concerns to be a part of most sales contracts. Moreover, in many states, the seller must disclose to the buyer any knowledge of existing property problems. In many cases, these issues have been or can be factored into the home's listing price. |
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| 7. Not knowing how to price your home to sell |
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Perhaps the most challenging aspect of selling a home is listing it at the correct price. It's one of several areas where the assistance of a skilled real estate agent can more than pay for itself. Listing the home too high can be as bad as 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 who have most likely bought another home that was priced right. 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. Again, an experienced, well-trained agent is always 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. |
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| 8. Not planning your move earlier enough |
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Many sellers simply don't plan their move early enough and then feel totally overwhelmed at the time of moving out of the house. If you are able to move at any time of the year, don't wait until summer, the peak-moving season. Consider also that the first and last few days of the month are extra busy. If you plan to sell your house, get it on the market as soon as possible. Keep a record of all expenses related to the move, some of which may be tax deductible. Fill out the Personal Household Inventory for each room. This is important for establishing the amount of declared valuation for the shipment and as a permanent inventory for insurance purposes. List, as nearly as possible, the year of purchase and original cost of each item. Attach any invoices or records of purchase to the completed inventory. Prepare a separate high-value inventory if the shipment will contain articles of "extraordinary" value. The following list includes items that might fall into this category:-
- Antiques
- Art Collections
- Cameras
- China Collections
- Computer Equipment
- Crystal
- Figurines
- Firearms
- Jewelry
- Manuscripts
- Oriental Rugs
- Silver
- Stones Or Gems
- Tapestries
- TVs Or Stereos
Also, unless you have been given a binding moving estimate where a firm cost is established in advance, the exact cost of a move cannot be determined until after the shipment has been loaded on the van and weighed. The weight on which charges are based is calculated by weighing the van before and after loading. The total cost of the move will include transportation charges, any charges for declared valuation, plus charges for any extra services performed at your request. All of these charges are based on tariff rate schedules.
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| 9. Using a "convenient" Realtor rather than using an experienced Realtor. |
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When working with a real estate agent, it's critical that you have full confidence in that agent's experience and education. A skilled, knowledgeable agent should be able to explain to you exactly why your home needs to be priced at a certain level - compared to recent listings and sales of homes similar to yours. Experienced agents also know exactly what the current pool of buyers are looking for in relation to particular styles and price ranges of properties. A skilled agent can recommend changes that will enhance the salability of your home, thus increasing the price - and/or decreasing the length of time before a sale. |
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| 10. Not First Obtaining A Qualified Bank Appraisal And Commitment For Financing From A Home Lender |
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How would you feel if your home sold for $106,000, only to find out from the bank appraiser after the buyer made an offer, that it was worth $116,000? In today's real estate market, this happens more often than you think. Your home will have to be appraised by a state or federally licensed lender sooner or later. Sooner can result in several extra thousands of dollars in your pocket
Bonus: A qualified bank appraisal is a tremendous marketing tool for your home, because buyers are afraid of paying too much for a house. That's why they often make low offers.
Think about it. !
Much of the real estate advice that you've received in your life has been, "make a low offer." Without an appraisal, you're just guessing as to the value of your home - and when you get an offer, you'll be guessing as to whether or not the offer is fair or not fair. Just going on a gut hunch has cost many sellers thousands of dollars, by emotionally reacting to a low offer.
A certified bank appraisal gives you a point of reference, a "benchmark" of value on which to base your decisions. More importantly, a professional appraisal helps you sell your home for full price, because the buyer can see that the price was realistically established by an uninterested but qualified, competent third party. |
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| 11. Not Using A Written Purchase Agreement |
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Many sellers think their home is sold, only to find out weeks or even months later that the buyer was not able to obtain a home loan. Other sellers find out too late that dozens of items such as surveys, title insurance contingencies, assessments, tax prorations, pest inspections, structural inspections, and a host of other details can come back to haunt them if not properly addressed right at the very beginning. It's not uncommon to see a buyer willing to terminate a transaction only to have a seller cave in and capitulate and absorb the expense of an item that realistically should have been a buyer's expense to begin with, had it been written into the purchase agreement.
I have several forms of purchase agreements in my office, and would be happy to provide you with copies of any or all of them. They're free just for the asking. |
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| 12. Not knowing your rights and obligations. |
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The contract you sign to sell your property is a complex and legally-binding document. An improperly written contract can allow the purchaser to void the sale, or cost you thousands of unnecessary dollars. Have your realtor fully explain the contract or have your lawyer review it before acceptance. |
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