Realtors see it over and over again. Mistakes made by sellers who will not listen. They either think they know better or simply do not realize where the current market is. Things are different than just two years ago. Back then, you could throw your house up for sale today and get three offers by tomorrow morning. Those offers would be real and at or above asking price. Those were fun times but they also led us to where we are now.
Interest rates are up and that has slowed sales down. This has significantly lowered the number of qualified buyers in the local market. However, there are still buyers out there who would be willing to give you fair value for your property. Mistakes are what will keep you from having success with the sale of your property. These are some of the top ones realtors would recommend you avoid:
Don’t Ask For Too Much
If your house is really worth 500k, do not try and sell it for 600k. Also, do not list it for 550k trying to give yourself room to negotiate. Interest rates are high and every 10k that a buyer has to borrow has a bigger impact on their loan. List for 10-15k more than you’re hoping to sell for and see where you go from there.
Don’t Expect The Seller To Cover Remodeling
If you’ve just invested a lot of money into the property to make it look its best, you can factor that into the value. However, just because you spent 100k doesn’t mean you raised the value that much. You have to base it on the quality of the property and the market in the area. If you are not sure what that value is, it’s easy to find out between area research as well as getting an appraisal.
Investing in the property will raise the value of your home. However, it’s the return you cannot expect to match dollar for dollar. Sometimes people spend 100k to make an extra 50k on the actual sale. That may not be dollar for dollar but the property would not have sold for the original asking price without those improvements. These upgrades led to the sale of the property at a higher value.
Do Not Expect To Sell Within A Month
It does not matter how great your property is, what area it is in, or anything else, properties are not selling as quickly as they have in the past. They are taking months right now, unless you price it to sell. That can be frustrating but you will have to be patient if you expect to get fair value. Patience will pay and if the property is in good condition and priced fairly, it will sell.
There’s no way to set a timetable on when a property will sell. But plan on waiting at least three months to close, especially if you want full value. Talk to your realtor and see what they expect from your home, based on the area you are in and more. Ask them if you think there are any things you can do to sell faster or improve your value as well.
Be Detailed On Your Listing
Realtors always recommend being detailed. The less information you list, the less interest people will have in the property. They believe what’s not listed is bad, meaning if you are not talking about it, it needs to be replaced which raises the actual cost of the property when it is ready to take over. You do not want people to come up with reasons not to visit your property and review it. You want them to be excited to check it out.
DIY Selling
While not as common as years ago, DIY real estate sales still happen and they are often a mistake. Yes, you are saving some money but the reality is you are taking on every single caller and interested party, whether they are serious and qualified or not. You are answering every question and trying to convince the buyer to move forward. That’s too challenging when they know you are the owner as well.