Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Selling a Home

 

The Boehmer Team assists home sellers across the St. Charles County and St. Louis metro area to make the most of their home sale. We like to educate our clients on pitfalls to avoid during the home selling process. Here’s a list we’ve put together of common home selling pitfalls we’ve seen an advised our sellers to avoid.

 

Selling It Yourself

There is tons of data showing that the typical “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO) route is not the best path. Think you’re saving yourself from paying a commission to an agent? True, but you’re likely missing the chance to make a lot more money. Unless you’re an expert at home marketing, know how to set the best price for the market, enjoy detailed contracts and paperwork, have lots of time to show your home and field calls, and are an expert negotiator, then you might have a chance of successfully selling your home yourself. Likely, all of these things don’t apply to you. Hire an a qualified agent and make more money. Currently less than 10% of all sellers sell their home FSBO while 90% use an agent.*

 

Hiring Family or Friends

While it might seem fun to work with a friend or family member to sell you’re home, there’s a few reasons why it isn’t the best idea. Your friend or family member may be lazier complacent and underperform with you because there is less pressure to impress and get future business and/or good reviews. Imagine if things go bad, will you be able to fully express your frustrations and concerns? What would it do to your relationship? Unfortunately, we’ve heard plenty of stories involving ruined relationships due to bad real estate transactions.

Not Interviewing or Researching Your Realtor

Even if a Realtor has years of experience, they may not be the best fit for you. Interview several agents to see if you like their communication style, their local expertise, particular specializations and their home marketing plan. Research the agents to learn about their business history and see customer reviews. Then choose the real estate agent or team that is the best fit for your needs.

 

Waiting for the Right Time to Sell

The right time to sell a home could be anytime. A good Realtor will advise you on what needs to be done to sell your home when you want to sell it. This could include making changes to present your home in it’s best light, or selling your home without changes at a price competitive to similar homes in the market.  A qualified and full time Realtor will be versed in the supply and demand that most affects the sales of homes like yours.

Pricing a Home Too High

We understand the thought to “test the market” with a high price. However, the usual result is the home being on the market for longer than necessary. Do you want to sell the home quickly at a good price or keep paying mortgage payments for months while you slowly lower the price to fair market value?

While there are many home value estimators online, ask a trusted Realtor to provide you with a comparative market analysis for the most accurate valuation of your home including any updates made to it for the best-suggested sale price.

Learn more about the dangers of overpricing here.

Refusing to Make Changes

When selling you want to present your home as best as possible. This includes making any necessary repairs, cleaning, decluttering, and neutralizing the décor to make the home most appealing to the maximum number of buyers. Homebuyers often point to repairs as a reason to offer less money on a home. Also, buyers can be turned off by highly specialized home décor that they will have to change. Be prepared to update your home in ways that will most appeal to buyers.

 

Skimping on Repairs or Hiding Issues

Beware leaving repairs unattended. Even small defects can turn buyers off. If they go through your home and find dirt, loose doorknobs, or leaky faucets, they’ll wonder if you’ve been neglecting bigger issues in the home as well.  In addition, most buyers get a home inspection after you accept their offer. If a major problem with your house comes up during the inspection, it could delay your closing date or even terminate the deal altogether.

Not Using Professional Photos

Most homebuyers will most likely see your home online. Therefor, you want to have the best photos of your home available for online viewers. The photos will indicate to buyers whether they want to tour a home in person or move on to the next home listing.

 

Limiting showings

Once you’ve put your home on the market, there will be requests to tour the home. Try to cooperate when your agent wants to show it. This may mean scampering out at dinnertime for a private showing, vacating for several hours or even most of the day for a weekend open house. The goal is to accommodate as many buyers as possible, even if their timing isn’t necessarily convenient for you.

 

Not Leaving for Home Showings

While you may be curious as to who is interested in your home, sticking around for showings does nothing but make everyone feel awkward. Leave any questions to the agent and allow the buyer room to tour the home without you being present. breathing down their neck. You don’t want to stand in the way of the buyer’s ability to see your house as their dream home.

Not Expecting The Costs of Home Selling

Be prepared for the costs associated with selling a home. A good Realtor knows how to best arrange your home sale with these costs in mind.

• Agent commissions.
  
• Closing costs: usually 1–3% of the home price including sales tax, title transfer fee, and title company closing procedures.
• Professional home staging. If needed, the costs vary depending on where you live, the size of your home, how many rooms you want to stage, whether or not you’ll be renting decor, and different pay structures including an initial consultation and monthly fee. On average, home staging costs around $525–2,000.
• Funds for repairs brought up by the home inspection. Depending on the seriousness of the issues that come up, repairing your house could cost hundreds or thousands. While that doesn’t mean you have to pay to fix it, buyers will expect a discount.
• Moving expenses like hiring movers or rental storage fees can add up too. Be sure to research these costs.

 

Taking a Low Offer Personally

An offer on your home is part of a business transaction and not a reflection of your home, décor or housekeeping abilities. Keep in mind that if the buyers are making an offer, it is because they really like your home. A low offer can be a starting point for negotiating a good counteroffer. A truly interested buyer will likely improve their original offer in negotiations.

 

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If you are considering selling your St. Louis or St. Charles County area home, interview The Boehmer Team. We’re an open book of real estate knowledge that we’re ready to share with our clients. Working with a team is a plus, allowing us to offer superior service, expertise in each area of a transaction, and ensures a qualified agent will always be available for your questions or needs. Learn more about us and our award-winning services at www.TheBoehmerTeam.com. 

 

*Data from Realtor.com

 

5 Things NOT To Do When Selling Your Home

If you are considering selling your St. Louis or St. Charles County, Missouri home, you’ve probably gotten a lot of advice on things that you SHOULD do to sell your home. In fact, we’ve got lots of tried and true tips right here in this blog. Just type the subject you are looking for into the search bar. However, there are some things you should definitely NOT do when listing a home for sale. Here’s our short list.

What NOT To Do When Selling A Home

1. Do NOT Neglect Necessary Repairs

Homebuyers will definitely notice any broken or damaged parts of a home that are in plain view. Even small items like a broken cabinet hinge or doorknob may work against you because it might suggest the current owners haven’t taken good care of the property. Potential buyers may also use needed repairs as a way to negotiate a lower price for the home.

Though it may be costly to take on the minor and major repairs your house needs before listing it, it will increase the chances of the home selling in a timely manner.

And while it may seem expensive to take on these fixes, it’s generally more expensive not to. Homes sitting on the market cost sellers in both time spent on the market and ultimate sale price. Even if nothing is obviously wrong, some basic maintenance and simple home repairs before listing can go a long way.

2. Do NOT Over-Improve

While preparing a home for sale, it’s a good return on investment to update things to be as current as possible. For example, updating old light fixtures or appliances are great ideas. However it’s important not to over-improve a home or over-customize a space to very specific tastes. For example, not everyone needs a trophy room, gun room, or music room nor does everyone likes bright or intense colors in their home.

Instead, neutralize the home for sale as much as possible. If you are repainting before the sale choose light, neutral colors. Packing away as many of your personal items is also recommended. This lets buyers imaging themselves living in the home. So there is no need to go above and beyond with home improvements, as you may actually lose money doing so.

3. Do NOT Overprice a Home For Sale

We understand the idea of wanting to “test the market”, but overpricing a home for sale is not the best way to do it. In fact it can backfire and cause your listing to lose momentum and languish on the market for months while you continue to pay the mortgage. Eventually you may have to lower the price more than what the home would have sold for if you priced it correctly to begin with.

We have some great information about The Dangers of Overpricing Your Home that you should check out.

4. Do NOT Attend Home Showings

It would be nice to be a fly on the wall to see what goes on every time an agent shows your home. But do NOT be a literal wall fly and hang around at home showings! Buyers want to imagine themselves in your space, not be confronted by you in your space. Take the family out or at least go sit in the car during the home showing. Homebuyers want to be able to look around freely without the homeowner looming over their shoulder. Don’t make it awkward for them.

5. Do NOT Go It Alone

Unless you are well versed in title law, real estate contracts and marketing do NOT go it alone! Knowing how to sell a home quickly for a fair price takes years of experience to master. Even then it can be a bit tricky without the right team as there are at least 80 tasks Realtors perform for sellers.

The Boehmer Team offers no obligation meetings to explain the process, the timelines, costs and options that you have when selling your home. Contact The Boehmer Team to answer your questions about listing a home for sale.