Nine Common Myths About Selling a Home
Many sellers think they can sell their home themselves. They are suffering from nine common myths about selling a home. Unfortunately, the promise of an easy sale that these nine myths make are as real as unicorns. These nine common myths about selling a home need to be exposed for what they are! With better understanding of the sales process, home owners can price their home correctly and place it on the market in the best condition possible in order to reduce the time on market!
Professional real estate agents have jobs. First, they have to do a reality check with the seller and once that is accomplished the agent can set the course to get the property sold. Here are some myths that sellers need busted to get them moving toward the closing table and a successful sale.
- The seller thinks it is easy to sell a home, especially his beautiful home, and that he can get all he needs to do the job on the Internet. Not true. Buyers are looking on the Internet but the majority of them want representation and want an agent on their side. Agents look for the best properties to present to their buyers and always start with what is available in the MLS. For sale by owners get the scraps.
- The seller thinks his house is worth more than the neighbor’s home down the street with the same plan. This is not necessarily true and the seller’s home could be worth less depending on condition, improvements and actual square footage and location in the subdivision.
- The seller thinks a buyer will be willing to overlook the clutter and the dirt. Again, buyers don’t necessarily want to buy a project house and if they decide to take one on, they want a monetary differentiation to make it worth their while.
- The seller thinks prices should be over the market tolerance giving them plenty of room to negotiate and make the buyer feel like he is getting a deal. Buyers are savvy and do their homework. Many will not waste their time looking at homes that are overpriced. This sends a message that the seller is unrealistic and a waste of time.
- The seller thinks the buyer will appreciate all the bright colors and very custom decor
costing thousands of dollars. The fact is most buyers like decor to be tasteful and neutral. They certainly do not want to pay extra for extreme customization and will do mental deductions in price to get it back into the normal category. - The seller thinks it doesn’t matter if the home is staged or in tip-top condition to show and that buyers will be willing to take a repair allowance for all the repairs that should have been done over the last few years. The truth is that buyers use their own calculator and their figures include a hassle factor to take on all the work that needs to be done. Everything is at least $1000 unless it is $10,000 or $25,000.
- The seller expects to get all the money he paid for and what he has invested in the property back in his pocket when he sells. What the seller has invested has nothing to do with Market value and what a buyer is willing to pay.
- The seller thinks he can limit showing hours to very small pockets of time. The more available a home is the more buyers in the door. When you limit that, you throw up roadblocks and turn buyers and agents off.
- The seller thinks once they get a contract it is a done deal. What they don’t know is that there are more hurdles to cross and financing, home inspection repairs, appraisal values and a buyer changing his mind can all cause a sale to fall through. It isn’t sold until the money crosses the closing table and all documents are signed.
For more information about the nine common myths about selling a home, be sure to contact the Lise Howe Group at 240-401-5577 or email us at lise@lisehowe.com.
