Mistakes that Atlanta Home Sellers Make
Many sellers ask me what my marketing plan will be for their home. The truth is, is that the most important aspect of my marketing plan is to get a seller to correctly price their home. No matter how balloons I put out, how many open houses I hold or how many advertisements I run, the bottom line will be, can I get buyers interested in the house at all? Incorrectly priced, I won’t be able to get buyers to even look at it, much less make an offer to buy it.
Sid Davis, a real estate broker and author of A Survival Guide to Selling a Home lists seven mistakes that many homeowners make when it comes to putting their homes on the market:
Mistake #1: Putting the home on the market before it is ready. Many times this happens because the seller is impatient or is a procrastinator and has pushed himself up against a moving deadline without getting the pre-sale work done. Don’t put the house up for sale with horrible carpet (especially if you plan to replace it during the marketing of the home), before painting the scratches on the walls or replanting the annual flowers in the front yard. Presentation is everything – get the the work done before marketing your house.
Mistake #2: Over-improving your home for the neighborhood. Don’t make the additions, bump-outs, or kitchen upgrades that will stand out in your community. You may love the improvements, but if they make your house different from your competition, you will be the highest, or only, bidder on it.
Mistake #3: Pricing the home based on what the seller wants to net. This strategy always ends in failure. Sellers can control the asking price, but not the sales price; the market does that. The agent is not there to tell you what your home is worth, but what it will sell for.
Mistake #4: Hiring an agent baced on non-business factors. Make sure you are hiring a professional with a proven track record. Why hand over your largest asset to your nephew or a friend? Make sure he/she has a track record. How many homes has the agent closed last month and year to-date? How many listings is she currently carrying and what does her website look like? Ask for references from her previous clients.
Mistake #5: Getting Emotionally Involved in the Sale. Once you decide to sell your house, it is no longer a ”home”, but a “commodity”. It needs to be marketed as a house. Don’t think of it as your home: think of it as sticks and bricks.
Mistake #6. Trying to Cover up Problems or not Disclosing them. Use the Disclosure form wisely. Just because you don’t disclaim, doesn’t mean that you can’t be sued later for that leaky basement or delapidated HVAC system, that is discovered thirty days after closing.
Mistake # 7: Not getting your ducks lined up before you list your home. This means financing or reading the fine print on your mortgage for pre-payment penalties and not listening to the particulars of your area’s market. If the the market dictates a lower price, lower it early, not later; it will cost you more in the long run.
Avoiding these mistakes is not difficult. Call us: we have plenty of resources available to help you. Experience True Experience!