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Selling Your Home

Sellers: Watch Out for Making These Mistakes

Today I want to go over the top three mistakes sellers make and how you can avoid them.

The first mistake is overpricing the home. Believe me, I’ve heard it all: “Chance, we don’t have to sell it. We don’t want to give it away.” Mr. and Mrs. Seller, I don’t want to give your home away either. Yet, more days on the market for your property usually means less money in your bank account when it’s over.

Let me explain. Let’s say the market price for your home suggests it should be on the market for $400,000 and you want to “try” $425,000. Here’s the problem with that: you might find a home run buyer, but if you don’t, by the time you price your home correctly, the buyers will think something is wrong with it. They may not even choose to write an offer at that point. If they do, do you think they’ll offer you the full price? Of course not.

Now, if you come on the market right off the bat with the price it needs to be at and someone wants to write an offer, they have no choice but to give you your asking price. Take it from me: price it right from the beginning.

Take it from me: price your home right from the very beginning.

The second mistake to avoid is failing to make simple repairs. I’ve heard it from sellers time after time: “Chase, that’s an easy thing for the buyers to take care of.” Mr. and Mrs. Seller, you’re right. It’s so easy, so why don’t we just take care of it right now, that way the buyers won’t even have to worry about it? There would be no reason for them to try and negotiate on your price.

Here’s another example: let’s say the carpet needs to be replaced. We hear sellers say, “Well, another agent suggested we allow a carpet allowance.” Well that’s great, except one little problem—the buyer’s reality and actual reality are too far apart. Let’s say it costs you $2,500 to actually replace the carpet. The buyers always double or even quadruple something; they think it’s $10,000 to put new carpet in, so what do they write you an offer for? $10,000 less.

Right up front, you can take that objection off the table. Replace the carpet with something that most buyers would like, and you’ll get the full price offer and maybe even save $7,500 in negotiation.

The last mistake I want to discuss is sellers not allowing adequate access to the property. Vacant homes, for example, get about twice as many showings as owner-occupied homes just for the simple fact that they’re easy to show.

Do your best to put your best foot forward—one hour’s notice is great. If you need to require 24 hours’ notice, you’ll get fewer showings. Fewer showings typically means less money in your pocket.

Do yourself a favor and heed this advice the next time you go to sell your house. If you forget, you can give us a call and we can sell it for you.

For any other questions, please feel free to reach out to us. We’d be glad to help.

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