7 HOME SELLING MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM By: Polina Ryshakov, Director of Valuation for Sundae
Avoid these common home selling mistakes and sell your house without worry or added expense. Nearly every home seller feels stressed out by the home-selling process. That’s understandable, since your home is likely the biggest investment you’ll ever make in your life. Therefore, it’s also understandable that you want every part of your home sale to go smoothly. But no matter how hard we try to prevent them, home selling mistakes are bound to happen. And they can lead to thousands of dollars in lost profit. Fortunately, if you’re aware of these mistakes, you might be able to avoid them. Here are seven common home selling mistakes that you should put on your radar.
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MISCALCULATING THE COSTS OF SELLING
SETTING A SALE PRICE THAT’S TOO HIGH OR LOW
Yes, it costs to sell your home. In fact, those costs can amount to 15% of the sale price. So, if you sell your home for $300,000, the costs subtracted from your proceeds could be $45,000. What are some of the costs of selling a home? They include:
Pricing your home incorrectly might mean you miss out on more money in your pocket or turn off potential buyers. If the price is too low, you could be cheating yourself out of thousands of dollars. If the price is too high, your home could linger on the market for months, forcing you to eventually cut the price. Relying on an off-market buyer like Sundae takes the guesswork out of setting a price, resulting in fairer compensation for you, the homeowner, and in a fast sale that bypasses the possibility of your home being stuck on the market for months on end.
Agent commissions Closing costs Home repairs Home staging
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DISREGARDING NEEDED REPAIRS
FAILING TO PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR SALE
You might think that a prospective buyer won’t notice a broken dishwasher or a faulty HVAC system. Think again. If the potential buyer doesn’t notice it, then the home inspector they’ll hire almost certainly will discover it. If the inspector comes across a problem, it could prolong the closing date or even cause the deal to fall apart, costing you time and money.
Staging and decluttering your home are essential when you put your home on the market. Staging can highlight a home’s strengths and de-emphasize its weaknesses, while decluttering removes the perception that your home hasn’t been maintained well. Staging can easily cost $500 to $1,800 or more. Potential costs of staging include hiring a professional stager, paying for professional cleaning, and renting furniture. Once your home is staged and decluttered, be sure to maintain this. If you don’t stage, you could see the dollar amount of purchase offers fall below what you’re expecting. Also, your home might end up spending a lot more time on the market.
By selling to an off-market buyer, you can skip expensive repairs. How is that possible? The home will be purchased as is; repairs aren’t required. If you end up deciding to make repairs and hiring a contractor to do them, be sure to choose one with a good reputation. Unfortunately, far too many people fall victim to home improvement scams.
Polina is Sundae’s Director of Valuation. She is a Real Estate Economist with more than 15 years of valuation experience across commercial and residential real estate. Her background includes stints with Cushman & Wakefield, Hanley Wood, and Standard & Poor’s. Polina graduated with a double major in Economics and International Relations from the University of California at Davis and has been a CAIA Charter Holder since 2010.
