Selling a home can be a stressful endeavour. You want your house to get traffic and to sell at a good price, so you do everything you can to make it happen. However, sometimes you may not realize your efforts are actually working against you.
I was interviewing Darryl Jones, the top Brea realtor in Orange County, California for many years about things home sellers should not do. He provides free home staging for every client, so I thought he’d know what makes a home sell over other similar ones in the area.
These are some points he suggested for those who feel they want to try to sell their home themselves to help them avoid some of the common mistakes that keen sellers do:
- You market your home at a higher value than its actual worth
There is no doubt that you value your home very much and see it as a special and unique piece of property. You put in your heart and soul into taking care of it and have invested in a lot of money to fixing it up. Although your efforts were not in vain, unfortunately it does not make your home any more unique than others on the market. Unless your home truly has some remarkable features, you may fall into the trap of believing your home is worth more than its actual value and start fixating on asking prices that may be too high.
If you do so, your home will sit on the market for a long time, which will make potential buyers wonder why you still have not sold your home. In this case, you will end up getting forced to substantially decrease your selling price and sell for less money than you might have gotten if you had taken care to appropriately price your home in the first place.
- You leave your house as is during showings
It is important to clean your house before a showing and make minor repairs. Buyers want it to be easy to move in if they buy. No potential buyer will appreciate seeing personal belongings or toys on the floor, no matter how lovely your home is. They will want to see a home that is clean and well-maintained, not a home that is not taken care of and waiting for a good owner to make it presentable. If they do not like what they see, your potential buyers will quickly move on to the next home.
- You don’t De-clutter
It’s important to remove any extra furniture in every room. It makes the rooms seem larger. Put extra furniture in the basement or in storage.
- You don’t repaint with neutral colors
If your rooms have bright or dark colored paint or curtains the chances of finding a buyer with your exact taste is very small. You must paint and replace bright curtains and area rugs with light neutral colours. This also makes your rooms seem larger, makes them more relaxing, and allows potential buyers to imagine their own colors in place.
- You linger during open house
Many real-estate agents advise against owners being present when potential buyers arrive. Even if you are amiable and charming, you can unknowingly alienate buyers or make them feel uncomfortable. Nobody likes to be watched. You will want your potential buyers to feel relaxed and at home, so seeing you there will make them feel like they are just guests and difficult for them to picture their life in their new homes.
Avoiding the above mistakes will help your home sell faster for more money.
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