HGTV's FrontDoor.com recently identified what it believes to be the top 10 home-selling mistakes and presented them like Letterman would.
10. Waiting until spring to sell. People buy homes all year.
9. Not understanding the real estate contract. Go over the fine print of the agreement with your broker before signing to make sure you understand your responsibilities as well as any demands the buyer has made.
8. Going it alone without researching first. Selling a home for-sale-by-owner takes time, and requires you to do paperwork, marketing and showings. Make sure you're up for the work.
7. Ignoring lowball offers. If buyers submit a low offer, don't reject it completely. Counteroffer to see if they'll negotiate. Don't get emotional.
6. Wasting time on an unqualified buyer. Make sure a potential buyer is at least prequalified for a loan.
5. Skimping on marketing. You need to work all agles on the internet.
4. Sabotaging the showing. Leave the home when it is being shown to prospective buyers so they can more easily focus, and make sure the home is accessible with convenient showing hours and a lockbox for agents.
3. Not prepping for the sale. Visit open houses in the neighborhood to get a sense of what the competition offers, then make fixes and updates, declutter and clean to outshine them.
2. Overimproving. Don't make so many upgrades that you price your home out of the appropriate range for the area and fail to recoup your investment.
1. Overpricing. Your home should be priced in line with homes in the area that are of similar age, style and size. Otherwise you will miss out on the majority of buyers who will probably pass over your property in the first 10 days of a listing. Normally they don't look back.
10. Waiting until spring to sell. People buy homes all year.
9. Not understanding the real estate contract. Go over the fine print of the agreement with your broker before signing to make sure you understand your responsibilities as well as any demands the buyer has made.
8. Going it alone without researching first. Selling a home for-sale-by-owner takes time, and requires you to do paperwork, marketing and showings. Make sure you're up for the work.
7. Ignoring lowball offers. If buyers submit a low offer, don't reject it completely. Counteroffer to see if they'll negotiate. Don't get emotional.
6. Wasting time on an unqualified buyer. Make sure a potential buyer is at least prequalified for a loan.
5. Skimping on marketing. You need to work all agles on the internet.
4. Sabotaging the showing. Leave the home when it is being shown to prospective buyers so they can more easily focus, and make sure the home is accessible with convenient showing hours and a lockbox for agents.
3. Not prepping for the sale. Visit open houses in the neighborhood to get a sense of what the competition offers, then make fixes and updates, declutter and clean to outshine them.
2. Overimproving. Don't make so many upgrades that you price your home out of the appropriate range for the area and fail to recoup your investment.
1. Overpricing. Your home should be priced in line with homes in the area that are of similar age, style and size. Otherwise you will miss out on the majority of buyers who will probably pass over your property in the first 10 days of a listing. Normally they don't look back.
posted by LA Property Broker at
9:55 AM
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