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There are a ton of potential mistakes to make when selling your home. We see sellers make these rookie mistakes over and over. We don’t want that to happen to you. Here are six of the most common mistakes we see home sellers make and how you can avoid them.
1. Overpricing the home. Even in a market like we’re in right now where properties are moving quickly, it’s the properties that are priced at market value that are selling over list price and over market value.
2. Not properly cleaning and staging the home. If you don’t clean the home completely or do a lousy job, it’s going to hurt your sale price. When we list your home, we invest in its presentation by hiring a professional home stager to help you present your house to buyers so you can maximize your home’s value. Clean, clean, clean or consider hiring a professional cleaning crew to make sure everything is spotless as well.
3. Bad photos. The data shows us that over 90% of people start their home search online. Crummy photos are a sure way to have your home eliminated from buyer’s lists of homes to see in person. Here at danecountymarket.com, we not only hire a professional photographer to take great pictures, we also hire them to shoot a High-Definition virtual tour of your home. Cell phone cameras don’t cut it anymore. A good professional photographer will cost anywhere from $150 to $400.
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Bad photos can kill a home sale.
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4. Forgetting to remove personal items. These include political and religious items. The current political climate is very polarizing, so you want to do your best to neutralize your home so it appeals to buyers on both sides of the aisle. You don’t want to distract people and take away form the focus on your house, so depersonalization is almost always a necessary step.
5. Making it difficult for agents to show your house. Agents aren’t always the best planners so they wait to put in showing requests until the last minute and sometimes potential buyers want to see a place immediately. Sellers need to be prepared for this. Even though it’s not an ideal situation, we want to do whatever we can to have as many buyers come through your home as possible.
6. Leaving pets at home during showings. Some buyers may have pet allergies. Either way, pets are a distraction for buyers. Take them to a neighbor’s house or to the dog park during showings if you can. Removing toys, bowls, and pet food from the home is another good idea.
These are only a few examples of the mistakes we have seen during our time working in real estate. There are many more mistakes you can make as a home seller, and we want you to avoid them all. Since each listing is different, your home will require a specific plan of action to obtain that top-dollar offer. If you would like to discuss any other tips and tricks we have up our sleeves, or if you have any questions, call us or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.
