9 Things Not to Do When Selling Your Home

Real Estate Tips
July 19, 2017

When it comes to your home, you want to get the most money you can for it. I mean, why shouldn’t you? The memories between the walls are priceless and you built a life in there. Unfortunately, you can’t put a price on your happiness but there are ways that you can put a bigger price on your house. Avoiding these 9 things will help you get the most of your investment when you put your home on the market.

1. Ignoring your agent’s advice

A good real estate agent will help you to the fullest. They’ll help with pricing your home, marketing it, negotiating with buyers, and helping you through the closing process. They’ve probably done this a lot more than you, so if your agent says making a price reduction is a good idea, you might need to do it.

2. Neglecting important repairs before listing

Make sure you’re repair things from a leaky faucet to a hole in the closet. One slight problem could be a red flag to someone who would have bought your house otherwise. No one wants to deal with crazy repairs for a house either, so you don’t want a hundred-dollar repair to cost you thousands.

3. Restrictive showings

You should expect little privacy when selling your house. Be extremely flexible when responding to showing requests. If you decline, that could mean the buyer won’t bother to show to the next open house. You could potentially lose a great offer.

4. Messy house

In preparation for those random showing requests, you need to keep your house tidy. You want it to look like a model home as best you can. When it’s clean, buyers can imagine their items in there.

5. Being there for showings/open houses

Home buyers can already be nervous about looking at a strangers’ things. In order to envision the home as their own, it can be difficult to do so if you’re there.

6. Pets

We all love our pets, but some people might not. Pets can occasionally leave around an unpleasant odor, if you know what we mean. That could be an immediate turnoff for some people. Instead of stowing your pet in a room, maybe take them on a walk or fun trip while your open house is going on.

7. Closed mind

Don’t let your feelings cloud your vision. Be willing negotiate with an offer when someone offers you lower than expected. With a good agent, they will help you with initial listings to plan for someone to offer lower so you don’t feel blindsided.

8. Requested repairs

Even if you’ve done your own thorough inspection, a buyer’s home inspector will find issues with the property. Be ready to make those repairs and don’t fight over a few hundred dollars.

9. Closing costs

Unfortunately, many sellers don’t budget for closing fees which turn up to be 1% to 3% of the closing fees. As a seller, you should be expected to cover these closing costs:

A closing fee- this goes to the title company or attorney’s office where you and the buyer close the deal.
Taxes on the home sale
An attorney fee, if the seller has one
A transfer fee for the title to the new owner

Make sure you are budgeting correctly as you go to sell your home. Here’s the original article to see more information and tips when selling your home: http://www.realtor.com/advice/sell/9-things-never-do-selling-home/