Selling your home can be tricky. Keep reading to learn more about how to avoid common mistakes and ensure a successful and stress-free sale.
There are a handful of things they don’t teach you in school, like how to do your taxes or build a budget you can stick to. How to sell a home is yet another topic not touched on, and the often lengthy process is riddled with opportunities for uninformed homeowners to make missteps. In many cases, even seemingly minor mistakes can prove costly, making it all the more important for homeowners to avoid them, especially with rising instances of real estate scams.
Consider this your 101 course on mistakes to avoid when selling your home, from pricing to timing and everything in between.
Home prices are currently experiencing a slight course correction, which presents a challenge to sellers who want to price their homes fairly while maximizing their investment return.
Despite record-high home prices in recent years, 2024 has shown us that there is a limit to what people will pay. As more sellers continue to take down their high-priced listings, it’s become increasingly clear that pricing is one of the biggest mistakes many sellers continue to make.
There’s always a possibility that pricing your home above what it’s worth can work out in your favor, netting you a bigger payday and adding to the value of your home equity. But for this reward, there are also quite a few risks. For one, overpriced homes tend to sit on the market for longer, making them less appealing to some buyers. In the event that you do get an offer, a buyer’s financing may fall through if the offer price is too far above its true valuation.
How to make the grade: Price negotiating is part of the home-selling game, and over 30 percent of recent sellers reported reducing their asking price one or more times throughout the process.1 Still, pricing your home accurately from the jump can help speed up your sale and may even get you more than you’re asking for. Consider having your home professionally appraised for an accurate valuation, or work with an experienced real estate agent who can help make sure your price is right.
There’s no way to predict with complete accuracy how your home-selling journey will go, but monitoring trends in the market will get you pretty close. This is because buyer behavior is closely linked with seasonal and annual trends. That’s why ignoring or underestimating these trends is one of the biggest mistakes to avoid when selling your home.
When sellers choose to ignore trends, they’re effectively ignoring the very people they need to be catering to: buyers. Unsurprisingly, this often results in a less-than-favorable outcome.
How to make the grade: Considering the wide availability of data regarding buyer habits and preferences, this home seller mistake is fairly easy to avoid. You can determine if your area is in a buyer- or seller-friendly market or if your architectural design style is en vogue, all based on these trends and the information backing them up. Market trends are the closest thing sellers have to clairvoyance, so be sure to give them the right amount of credence.
While buyers pay most of the nickel-and-dime closing costs, the amount subtracted from your profits on closing day can add up. Home selling costs quickly accumulate, and you may be surprised to see the breakdown. In addition to paying off the remainder of your current mortgage and any other equity-based debt, you’ll need to cover:
If this will be your first home sale, you may not realize how big a hit you’ll take on real estate agent commissions—that 5.8% equals $14,500 for a $250,000 house or $23,200 for a $400k property. When you bought your home, you could work with any agent without paying a dime, since sellers typically pay for both the buyer and seller agents involved in a transaction.
How to make the grade: To avoid last-minute surprises, get a clear understanding of all the potential closing costs and how they’ll impact your profits. Start by talking with your real estate agent to get an estimate of these expenses based on your home’s expected sale price. You may also want to research average costs in your area, as they can vary widely depending on location and market conditions.
Consider setting aside a small cushion in your budget for any unexpected fees, and explore options for negotiating some of these costs, such as reducing your real estate agent’s commission or offering fewer seller concessions. A bit of advance planning can help you keep more of your profits on closing day and give you peace of mind as you navigate the final steps of your home sale.
As the seller of the home, you’ve likely spent time within its four walls, made memories, and grown to love it like another member of the family. Someone viewing your home in photos does not have this emotional well to draw from—they base their decision to purchase the home on the initial read they get from swiping through a set of photos.
There are many benefits of staging a home, but one of the biggest is the potential to sell much faster than average. When it comes to showing your property in its best light, do your best to avoid these common home selling mistakes.
A 2021 study from the National Association of Realtors showed that nearly 90 percent of homebuyers cited photos as the single most helpful homebuying tool.2 So, if someone seeing your home for the first time is deciding to click the “Schedule a Tour” button based on how it looks in a set of photos, why not make these photos the best they can be?
As you might see after scrolling Zillow for a few minutes, not every seller shares the same opinion. While blurry, underlit iPhone photos may get the job done, choosing this approach over professional photography is a common mistake. Think about it from the home buyer’s perspective: Do these low-resolution images make you feel confident about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars? Probably not, which is why it’s so vital to avoid this costly mistake.
How to make the grade: Professional real estate photography can be just another hidden cost of selling a home, but it’s one of the most worthwhile. At an average of $250, depending on location, investing in professional photography is a small price to pay to capture your home in its best light.3
Curb appeal is yet another area where many sellers fall short, either by focusing on the wrong aspects of curb appeal or by neglecting it altogether. But considering that real estate experts cite curb appeal as being “one of the most important and effective tools in selling a home,” it’s not to be overlooked. It’s also one of the best ways to get more money for your house.
Professional photography and good curb appeal are two sides of the homebuying-first-impression coin. And while you can have one without the other, the two work best as a pair. While photography entices prospective buyers to take a closer look at your property, curb appeal can help wow them when they do. This may make them even more interested in your home after seeing it in person.
How to make the grade: Unlike professional photography, improving your home’s curb appeal is something you can do on your own. You just might have to roll up your sleeves and throw in some elbow grease. A coat of paint, some new siding, a fresh-looking flowerbed, and a power-washed driveway can all work wonders for your home’s curb appeal — making it stand out from the street and online.
For more tips, check out our full home staging checklist.
While home sellers aren’t expected to be marketing masters, there is a right and wrong way to market your home. Avoid these common marketing mistakes to stand out from less savvy sellers.
Potential buyers may be pleased to discover that their home has a pool, a three-car garage, or a sun-drenched porch upon viewing it in person. But features like these deserve to play lead roles in your listing and should be documented in detail to attract more buyers.
How to make the grade: In addition to photographing these features and including them in your home’s written description, you may want to consider professional staging. The strategic inclusion of certain furniture and decor can accentuate these spaces and make them feel even more livable.
In 2022, a whopping 99 percent of homebuyers aged 24 to 57 used the internet in their search.5 This means if you’re not using the internet to market your home, you could be isolating nearly every single would-be buyer.
How to make the grade: Whether you’re working with a professional real estate agent or not, sites like Zillow and Homes.com make it as easy to list a home as they do to shop for one. Leverage the above tips to create a compelling online listing and find your audience faster.
Selling agents aren’t just there to put a sign in the yard and slap up an online MLS listing. Your selling agent serves a vital role in the home selling process, and failing to use all their services can be a costly mistake.
How to make the grade: You’ll pay dearly for their services, so when you interview agents, ask them to provide a documented marketing plan that includes:
One of the most common home-selling mistakes is also one of the easiest to commit: selling at the wrong time. Know what time of the year is best to sell and the reasons behind this timing to avoid making the same costly mistake.
Consider the market conditions and the season. Spring to early summer is the best time to sell a home nationwide, though this timeline can shift slightly in some places. Beyond knowing what time of year is best to sell a home, it’s also worth understanding the seasonal trends that can make selling difficult during other parts of the year.
Fall and winter could be considered the homebuying “off-season.” There are still buyers and sellers during this time, just with notably different behaviors. Fall buyers tend to do less window shopping and more wheeling and dealing, meaning sellers may be at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating. In winter, however, the decreased inventory can create competition among these serious buyers, which can be good for sellers.6
How to make the grade: Not every seller can time their sale perfectly, but selling your home outside of the busy season doesn’t automatically put you at a disadvantage. Understand the psychology of buyers during all four seasons and adjust your selling strategy accordingly.
If you’re selling during the winter, take your time and find the right buyer. Create as much visibility for your home through your online listing, then prepare to dazzle them when they brave the cold to tour it in person.
We’ve already mentioned some of the ways your real estate agent can help when selling a home. But what’s even more important is choosing an agent you can trust. When you’re selling your home, choosing the wrong agent can easily end with thousands of lost dollars.
When you choose to work with a real estate agent, you’re trusting them to market your home effectively, sell your house quickly, navigate the process with poise, and get you the most money possible. This can be a lot for anyone to balance, and not every real estate agent is cut out for the task. Further, even the most capable real estate agent might not be the right fit for your specific situation.
Many homeowners assume that any real estate agent will be able to do the job. In reality, what you need is the professional that works for you: one who understands your needs, knows your home as well as your area, and can leverage their expertise (and network) for the greatest return on your investment.
How to make the grade: Should you choose to work with a real estate agent, finding the right professional is no less important than boosting your curb appeal, listing your home online, or understanding market trends. Take the time to find the right agent for you. Ask friends for their recommendations, see what people have to say online, and meet with professionals in your area to get a feel for them before committing to an agent. Selling your home can be a lengthy process, and spending a little extra time upfront may save you from a headache down the road.
Given the many common mistakes to avoid when selling your home, it can feel like the process is riddled with potential potholes to watch out for at every step. If you’re looking for a simpler way to sell your home, Truehold can help.
Truehold’s sell and stay transaction allows you to sell your home and cash out you equity, simplifying the steps that often lead to mistakes in traditional home sales. Then, after selling your home and accessing your home equity, you can stay in your home as a renter, allowing you time to explore your options. From there, let us worry about essential home repairs and property taxes.
Connect with a Truehold representative today to see if our sell and stay transaction is right for you.
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