Avoid These Home Seller Mistakes

When selling a house, you’ll want to do your homework to ensure that you’re getting the best possible price for your home. All too often, home sellers don’t take the time to research what’s going on in the market (their area at the current time) and they leave “easy money” on the table. Listed below are five (5) of the most common seller mistakes that you should avoid when selling your house.

Mistake #1: Having a misguided perspective of what is new

According to the Boston Realtor, Bill Tierney, one common home seller mistake is failing to recognize how outdated your home is. For instance, you’ve renovated your old living room ten years ago. However, ten years prior to the home selling, your buyer was just in high school or college. While your living room may be nice, it can look old to your buyer.

Being unaware of the home trends may turn off some potential buyers. A large number of home buyers today are millennial’s, so it is important to know when to unclutter or spruce up our home in order to match with a potential buyer’s tastes and preferences. Moreover, making your home presentable by getting rid of the unnecessary clutter and mess that are likely to distract a potential buyer can make a whole lot of difference.

Mistake #2: Trying to compete with the nearby highest-selling house

Home sellers tend to compete prices with nearby houses that are fully renovated and furnished. While it is good to compare prices and size up the competition, matching the price of a brand new and shiny house may not be the best strategy to do, especially if your house is old and outdated. According to the owner of one of the leading real estate companies in Baltimore, Melanie Harmann, the furniture and fixtures of your home may not get the same value as the fully renovated house in your neighborhood.

Moreover, bigger houses are not always preferred by most buyers, as stated by the chief real estate analyst, Emile L’Eplattenier. According to him, in many cases, larger homes tend to stay on the market for a longer period of time and may end up being sold at a lesser value, compared with smaller homes that are well renovated. The taxes, renovation costs, and maintenance costs may cause more financial strain and burden to the buyer.

Mistake #3: Liking the home as it is

Another common mistake in home selling is that people tend to like their home as it is and they fail to recognize the need for modern upgrades. Despite the possibility that the homeowners might have spent a huge amount of money for home purchases while they were still living in that property, most home buyers today may not find these purchases appealing and may prefer a more aesthetic home design, according to the real estate broker in Chicago, Michael Valente.

Mistake #4: Clutter and Personal Effects

More clutter equates to less spaces for living. In home selling, particularly those houses that are located in major cities, every square foot matters. However, many people fail to notice how properly organizing and uncluttering can directly impact the overall selling price of a house. It is advisable to organize your property in such a way that a potential buyer can see themselves living there, with their things.

When potential buyers are inspecting a home, too much clutter can cause negative visual and psychological effects on how they perceive the house. A home full of clutters will directly impact the price a potential buyer is willing to offer, or whether they will make an offer at all.

Mistake #5: Failing to see the impact of home renovation TV shows

Home sellers should keep in mind that the home improvements and upgrades should not be based on their personal preferences, but on the potential buyers. Most home buyers today have grown up watching home renovation shows, such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which brought high expectations for home buyers. In fact, according to Linda Fennessy, granite, stainless-steel appliances and hardwood floors are more preferred by buyers today than white appliances, newly laminated floors, or oak cabinets. You may love these things and put them in your home, but your buyers may not be as enamored with the patterns and colors you chose. So it is important to consider renovating your house in order to bring more value to your potential buyer.

If you’re looking for help and guidance on how to design your home, need construction expertise or just connections to contractors, or want to sell your home and not deal with a remodel – give us a call. We’re here to help!