Avoiding Common Seller Mistakes

Several years ago, homes seemed to sell themselves. Sometimes, a property could be listed and sold in the same day. However, that's not the way it is in today's real estate market. Selling your / home can be stressful under the best of situations. But it doesn't have to be. Especially if you avoid some of these common seller mistakes.

Not Cleaning Up - Think of selling your / home as a job interview. Buyers are your potential boss. You would never think of interviewing for a white collar position in a pair of ripped blue jeans, a stained shirt and flip flops, would you? First impressions really do matter, especially when it comes time to sell a home. Pick up and put away the toys, put dirty clothes in the hamper, put clean clothes away, clear the sink of dirty dishes and throw out the trash.

Staying During a Showing - It's natural to be curious about what potential buyers think of your / home. However, you could actually hurt a sale by sticking around. Buyers like to take their time to truly investigate a property. They want to feel free to discuss what they think about it without having the owner standing over them. A showing is the perfect time to take the dog for a nice long walk, visit with neighbors, catch a movie or run some errands. Your REALTOR® will catch you up to speed once the buyers have gone.

Going the "For Sale by Owner" Route - Yes, / homes can be sold by homeowners themselves. However, even seasoned professionals will tell you that trying to handle everything (from advertising to scheduling showings and juggling paperwork to handling negotiations) is a lot to take on. Hiring a knowledgeable REALTOR® who understands the local real estate market is well worth the fee. In many ways, they can actually save you money and they certainly save you the stress of trying to sell your home by yourself.

Forgoing an Agent Interview - Chances are, when you hired a babysitter, you interviewed several people to find the right individual. At the very least, you asked for recommendations from other people you trusted about who they have used in the past. The same goes for your REALTOR®. Talk to a few different / real estate professionals to find one that will fit your needs and personality. You will be working very closely over the next couple of months. So, hiring someone you are comfortable with and who has the skills, knowledge and experience you need is important.

Unrealistic Pricing - I can't stress this enough. Don't price your / home according to what you "think" it should cost. This isn't personal. Setting your sales price too high means that it will sit on the market far too long while other houses around it are snatched right up. In order to sell your home, you will eventually need to lower your price. In a buyer's mind, when your home has been on the market for a while and you have lowered your price once or twice, they believe you may be so desperate to sell that they can come in with a much lower offer than if you had priced it competitively to begin with. Talk to your REALTOR® about what homes in the area have sold for recently, what they are priced at/selling for now, how long it has taken for them to sell and how the market looks to be going in the next few months. This is yet another reason hiring a professional instead of trying to sell it yourself can make such a difference.

Avoiding common seller mistakes can mean the difference between selling your / home quickly and moving on or having to endure a long, drawn-out, stressful sales process. The choice is yours. When you're ready to put your home on the market, contact me. I can definitely help you experience as smooth of a real estate transaction as possible.

Originally posted on my Northern Virginia real estate blog here: .