It’s time. 

You’re ready to put your home on the market. You can already see the sold sign in your front yard and the kids packed in the SUV waving goodbye to your old home as you head to the house of your dreams. 

There’s nothing holding you back. 

Selling your home is one of the biggest sales you’ll ever make in your life. So you want to do it right. 

However, before you throw that for sale sign in your front yard and decide your ready to sell your home as fast as possible, here are 6 often-overlooked mistakes that can cost you thousands of dollars.

Choosing NOT to Hire a Realtor

Selling your home for sale by owner may seem like an alluring way to save money on your home sale (especially in a hot market when homes are moving fast), but only a small amount of the homes listed for sale by owner sell. Statistics show homeowners will most likely profit less than what they would if they had hired a professional.

Other options for homeowners include an iBuyer which is like an instant home offer program. There are cons with using an iBuyer as well. Many of the transaction fees with an iBuyer can be around 8% to 9% which still tends to be more than what you might pay a Realtor in a typical transaction. 

Paying a couple more percentage points might not seem like a lot. But on a $200,000 home sale, it equates to $6,000 which is a lot of money being left on the table. 

Bottom line, if you’re wanting to sell your home it’s best not to do it alone and get a professional Realtor to assist you. Hiring a professional Realtor can add many benefits because: 

• They will understand the local market
• A Realtor will act as the middleman and negotiate the best deal for their client
• They’ll help keep extreme emotions out of the decision making process
• Can get you higher profit on the sale of your property
• Plus, they can help screen buyers for you and save you time

A good place to start looking for a trustworthy realtor is by searching online. Any realtor that’s up to date with the market we’ll have reviews, and an online presence. 

Or if you’re in the Greater Sacramento area, we’d love to help you!

Creating too much room for negotiation

We’re often taught to leave room for negotiation by pricing your home higher so that you can meet in the middle. 

But, that’s often not the case in real estate. 

Pricing your home too high may end up pricing your home out of the market. 

When your home’s priced too high, some buyers may see it as unreasonable. Plus,  it can do more harm than good if your plan is to come down on the price if you don’t get any offers. 

When a home’s overpriced and buyers see reduction after reduction, they often tend to think something’s wrong with the property. A better strategy may be to under price your home to create more buzz depending on the state of your market. Your agent will give you a comparative market analysis and help you price your home correctly by creating your pricing strategy.  

Not staging your home to sell

Staged homes often sell for more than the market value and significantly faster. But, know that staging your home is an art.  You might want to use the current items in your home, but it might not be ideal for the taste of the active buyers in your market. The simple act of staging your home with all your home pictures and items might make it difficult for the buyers to picture themselves making your house their home. Staging is powerful because it sells your home in the best light. 

When you take a little bit of time to stage your home, you could add thousands of dollars to your home sale.

Limiting your buyer’s showing times

Once you have your home on the market, you want to make it easy for potential home buyers to see your home. Think about it… we’re all busy and buyers who may also be working full-time, have kids, family activities and personal obligations may not have a ton of time to view your property. 

Accommodating buyers as best you can allows you to speed up the sale of your home. I know it may not always feel convenient making sure your keep your house clean and tidy throughout the listing process, but it’s worth it.  The buyer that swings by to your property on a Tuesday evening might be the one who puts in an offer that suits you and your family. 

Attempting to save money by skipping necessary repairs

Making specific repairs on your property before you list it can save you time and money in the long run. 

You often have to sign a document telling about any known defects of the property. It may be good to get your own home inspection prior to listing the home. 

A buyer that’s purchasing your home will often require a home inspection and you don’t want them finding out they have to shovel out money to make repairs that bites you in the end when you get closer to closing. 

It can even be compared to purchasing a resale car. Buyers see more value in a “Certified pre-owned vehicle” than they do in a “used car.” Which sounds better to you? Knowing that the Certified car has already been looked over and some items corrected imparts a higher perception of value to potential Buyers which usually results in a higher faster sale.

Only taking the highest offer

Sellers were often seeing multiple offers on their property last summer 2018 in the Roseville Real Estate market.

It’s not uncommon to want to take the best offer you can get especially if it’s more than what you expected. However, only considering the highest offer may not be best in the long run. You also have to take into consideration other components of the offer like contingencies, loan approvals  and much much more. 

For example, if you have two offers, with one for $200,000 and the other for $210,000, most would gravitate towards the higher offer. But, consider the following

• The $210,000 offers’ from a buyer who’s ONLY pre-qualified, wants a 2% credit back to closing costs, and has a longer closing period
• While the $200,000 offer is from a buyer who’s already Approved for a loan and is willing to close on your timeline with no credits back

…some would argue the lower offer is stronger! 

To make sure you’re making the best choice, sit down with your realtor and review the offers. A strong Realtor will be on your side and put your well-being before their commission. They’ll help you weigh the pros and cons of each offer to make sure you’re making the best decision based on your needs and goals.

Final Conclusion

When you’re looking to sell your home, make sure to talk through these points with your Realtor to avoid these 6 big costly mistakes. You don’t want to lose thousands of dollars on your home sale. 

Overall, many of these mistakes are avoidable when you have a great team on your side, make sure you do necessary repairs, stage your home and accommodate buyers who are house hunting in your local market. Handling these items before hand can help to create a smooth selling experience while putting more profit in your pocket.

Want support in buying a home? 

Check out our checklist on The 7 Steps to Buy a Home