We’re thrilled to be back with another real estate post today, and thought we’d tackle this little topic: Ten mistakes sellers make when listing their home!
If you’ve been keeping up with our series, we’ve covered the state of the housing market, and should I stay or should I go. And now we’re covering ten mistakes sellers make when listing their home, just in case you’re interested in making that next move. We want to help you navigate the process by looking at ten mistakes to avoid when listing your home.
This post turned out to be a doozie, so today we’ll be covering this in two parts. This post is ten mistakes sellers make when listing their home: part 1. So without further ado…
1. Ten Mistakes Sellers Make when Listing Their Home: Setting a Price
When we talk about renovations and design, we often talk about how TVland has warped people’s expectations of reality. The same can be true for selling your home, and can come from multiple sources.
We addressed how “Zestimates” aren’t the best at using data but undervaluing your home isn’t the only problem. There’s a real danger especially by FSBO’s {for sale by owner} to overvalue their home because of an emotional connection. The truth is {and the truth hurts sometimes} no one cares about the story of your home or the perceived value you place on aspects of it because of the hard work you put in. But homeowners can have a tendency to add emotional value, which inflates the price.
It’s a tricky line to walk to make sure you don’t undervalue it and leave home equity on the table, yet at the same time not setting the price so high that buyers won’t come to see it. This is where having an agent and the right agent can save you some stress and help you not leave money on the table. Setting the price for real estate is a very personal and localized thing, something for which most homeowners need a guiding hand.
Because as you can imagine, sellers overvalue the house while the buyer undervalues the house. This is important to understand in negotiations, which we will address below.
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2. Ten Mistakes Sellers Make when Listing Their Home: The Condition of Your Home
Often homeowners can be blind to the state of their home, they’ve lived with it for so long that they have a hard time seeing that some pitfalls will keep buyers away. The three big areas that you need to pay attention to are:
• Curb Appeal: Everyone knows about curb appeal and in its simplest form: it’s how inviting your home appears from the street. You don’t have to spend thousands here, but some simple changes go a long way. Keep your lawn manicured. Add some color with flowers. Pressure wash the house as well as the sidewalk and the driveway, and don’t leave random items around whether it’s the kid’s toys, garden tools, or even a garden hose.
• Repairs: Repairs are often something that are overlooked, and something that, if hidden, often doesn’t get past the next step in negotiations after the inspection. This is another reason why it’s just good to keep your home up to date over the years. From drywall cracks and crawlspaces, all the way to bad roofs, the little {and huge} things definitely matter.
• Odors: Odors are kind of a big deal. It’s possible to go nose blind to the point where some scents are downright offensive. Odors usually indicate {whether it’s there or not} neglect and disrepair, things that aren’t appealing to potential buyers.
Real-life example: We’ve now met several people who viewed our current home over the process of time in which it was on the market – this was all before we found it later, as we have been able to put together a timeline since then. It was on the market for a while, for multiple reasons if you’ve followed along with us here. {See: all three of these things.} But bad odors was number one on the complaint list with people we’ve spoken to who saw it first hand before we did. It went beyond the usual old-home-musty scents, but to the point where the previous owner even left an old meat freezer to go bad {opened} in the basement.
It’s little {in this case big?} things that can really sabotage a sale.
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3. Ten Mistakes Sellers Make when Listing Their Home: Editing your Home
While your home may reflect you and your family and the beautiful life you’re creating together, you don’t want a prospective buyer to think of the home as someone else’s. You need them to envision their family in the home. So get a jump start on packing and remove all those family photos and achievements. Replace them with some simple art. Allow the home to be neutral in ownership so any prospective buyer can see themselves there.
• Decluttering: Should be at the top of the list. Too many people wait to pack until they are ready to move. Go ahead and empty the house of anything that is not used on a daily basis. Clutter shrinks a house and makes it feel old.
• Paint: Your daughter might love her neon pink room, or you might be a huge fan of metallic blue, but neutrals on walls or softer colors all around win the day when trying to sell your home.
4. Ten Mistakes Sellers Make when Listing Their Home: Location, Location, Location
Location is everything. It can make a rundown property valuable, or devalue an amazing home.
• Case in point: When we moved to Nashville we left a house that was larger, had been featured in multiple TV shows and magazine shoots, only to buy a home that was 140% its value with fewer square feet and would be a total gut. {We mentioned just a few of the surface cons above in no. 2.} Making that {painful} leap to a different market… we were paying so much more for less house. What was the difference? Location.
• On a smaller scale: Some neighborhoods are more desirable than others. Some locations within a couple of miles of each other are more advantageous. And HOAs can dictate prices, as can future developments. There are a host of things that make up the location factor and knowing how to value them correctly is something most people aren’t equipped to do because of their bias.
5. Ten Mistakes Sellers Make when Listing Their Home: Misunderstanding the Selling Process
There is a proper process to selling your home and little-known fact: if you don’t follow it you might be missing out on a lot of showings.
Some people think FSBO {or some variation of it} is the way to go, and perhaps it is. But it also might not be the wisest move. Remember this is most likely the largest single purchase or sale you will make in your lifetime. There isn’t a lot of room for DIY and figuring it out on your own. One misstep can cost you thousands or even more. You can land yourself in legal trouble, or cause unforeseen liabilities. You could also have a dishonest person take advantage of you in a legal way, just because you didn’t follow the correct process. {More on that in part 2, next week!}
Perhaps in another post, we’ll dive deep into the process. But for now simply know, if you’re not real estate savvy, don’t play with fire. Get the proper help you need to follow the correct process.
Check out the second half of this post, here: Ten Mistakes Sellers Make when Listing Their Home: Part 2
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We truly hope you’ve enjoyed our little post today and that it helps if you plan to list your home on the market any time soon. Stay tuned, because we can’t wait to cover part two next week! We’ll be including the link here when it’s up, so you don’t miss it.
Be sure to check out more of our real estate posts here. Contact us here if you need help buying Real Estate in and around Nashville + here to talk all things renovations! Have an inspired day!
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