When it comes to selling your home, you want to do everything as advantageously as possible. After all, for many people, their home is their biggest investment – and even if it’s not your largest, you’ve likely invested money and time into your home.
In order to get the biggest return on your investment, you need to make sure you’ve got the basics covered. Before you sell, make sure you understand how to get your house ready to sell by avoiding these mistakes!
Mistake: Not Working With a Real Estate Agent
Real estate agents are experts at what they do, and what they do best is sell homes! They have access to the latest and best information about what houses like yours are selling for in your neighborhood. They know the best marketing techniques for your home, and they help you showcase your home to as many serious buyers as possible.
Here are just a few of the benefits your real estate agent brings to the table:
- Pricing your home fairly based on current market value
- Taking gorgeous photos
- Staging your home neutrally
- Listing your home across the Internet
- Advertising your home to their network of buyers
- Advertising your home to their network of real estate agents who have buyers
- Qualifying potential buyers
- Showing your home to buyers
- Recommending service providers, should your home need any updates before selling
Plus, finding a real estate agent to sell your home is super-simple: You can find an agent here.
Mistake: Ignoring the “Little Things”
A dripping faucet. A tiny handprint smudge on the wall. A spot on the carpet.
These look like small things to you, but to a buyer, they look like this:
$500 to replace the sink. $200 in paint and a weekend gone. $1,500 to replace the carpet.
What might cost you an hour of elbow grease and a few dollars in touch-up paint or a new seat washer for your sink could cost you thousands of dollars if left unaddressed. Buyers are mentally tallying up all the work and expense the “little things” will cause, and are ready and willing to subtract it from their offer.
Not only does it cost you actual value, it can also turn off buyers, who may think, “If the little things aren’t fixed, what about bigger things that I can’t see?” They may start to doubt the quality of the plumbing, HVAC, or other “invisible” home systems.
Make sure you fix the little things before they cost you big money! Then, stage your home to highlight its beauty.
Mistake: Putting Yourself First
You may think that it’s your home, and so naturally you want to put yourself first, but it can quite literally pay to put the buyer first. There are two flavors of this particular mistake:
Not Removing Personal Items
Leaving your home too full of personal items can turn off potential home buyers, because they won’t be able to see how the home will suit their needs. Cleaning up and decluttering rooms crowded full of your personal items will leave the home feeling fresh and ready for buyers.
Being Too Emotionally Involved
Caring too much about your home can lead you to overvalue it, or to be disappointed when buyers don’t offer what you’re asking for. Take some time to talk with your real estate agent (you read Mistake #1 above, right?) about strategies for pricing that will get you the money you need, without overly involving your emotions.
