How to steer clear of costly seller mistakes.

Everyone wants to get the most money out of the sale of their home, but sometimes in an effort to do just that, you can sabotage yourself without even knowing it.  Here are a few common mistakes that sellers make, so you'll  know what NOT to do when selling your home.

• 1. Basing your asking price solely on the listing price of other properties.  If you see one, or any number of homes on the market for a particular price, don't assume that your home is worth that price as well, even if your home has more to offer. If those homes are on the market, then they haven't sold- and anyone can list their home for sale at any price if an agent is willing to list it for that price. It does not necessarily mean that the home is worth it. See my post on "Street Phenomena"

• 2. Overestimating the value of  upgrades or improvements, and adding the full value on to the asking price.  You may have just remodeled your bathroom and /or kitchen or refinished your basement . Unfortunately, you do not recoup all of the costs in these improvements, and if your home is over-improved for yoru area, you will recoup even less. See my prior post on Home Improvement Return On Investment.

• 3. Listing your home to the agent that gives you the highest price. Some agents deliberately over-value your  home just to get you to sign a 6 month listing agreement. This is truly frowned uponin our industry by professionals, and we have a term for it- it's called "buying the listing"-. Agents that practice  this deceptive tactic assume that once you are under contract, they can always reduce the price to get your home sold. If they come in with a higher price than other agents do, they are more likely to obtain the listing- so the agent that tells you your home is worth the most may be trying to do ust that, or they may be too inexperienced to know better. Either way, you lose.

• 4. Overpricing your home to leave room for negotiating. We all know most people want to try and negotiate. So that being the case, we should a cushion to the asking price so we will get more, right? WRONG. Typically homes in our area are selling for about 95% of the asking price. When you get your market analysis from yoru agent, this infrmation should be included. Adding more to your asking price only puts your home in the next price bracket, where your home will not be able to compete with the other that are fairly priced. Your home just appears overpriced, and you lose valuable market time, and the ability to get even market price for your home by doing this. Even if a buyer does come to see your overpriced home, they   will not place an offer on a home that is priced too high, because contrary to what you might think , they really don't want to submit a lowball offer.

• 5. Basing your asking price on what you need out of the sale in order to purchase your next home. Buyers determine market value. Just because you need "X" amount to putchase your next home, or to walk away from your home without owing the bank anything unfortunately  has no bearing on the price that a buyer will pay for it.  

• 6. Choosing the wrong agent to sell your home. There are many reasons that your agent could not be the best agent to sell your home.  First and foremost, make sure you hire a Realtor and not just a real estate agent. A Realtor subscribes to a strict code of ethics. There are plenty to choose from, so that make that a requirement right from the get-go. You should have the authority to approve the marketing materials that your agent creates on your behalf. If you are not happy with something, it should be addressed with your agent so that it can be fixed. I cannot tell you how many times that I have been to a sellers home after theior listing expired and they never saw what theit actal MLS printout looked like, much less given the ability to okay it. That includes pictures, too. One of these days, agent siwll realize that photgraphng the corner of a room, is just really a picture of the cornetr of a room. Also focusing on the furnishing rather than the house itself is a no- no. Taking the time to move items as necessary for a photo shoot on teh house, and returning the items to where they were shoudl not ever be a big deal to anyone. When I see a picture of a kitchen that has too much on the counter, or magnets and papers all over the fridge, it spells laziness on the agent's part. The internet is powerful, the pictures must be as photogenic of your home as possible, to put it in the best light.

• 7. "Hard selling" to your buyer as they are looking at your home. When an agent is showing your home to their buyer, resist "helping" that agent, and/or following them around your home. When you, as a seller,  point out all of your home improvements, and all of the features of your home, it makes you look desperate to sell. It's a majotr turn-off to buyers, and agents for that matter.  Buying a home can be very emotional for a buyer. They really need the time alone without you breathing down their neck at every move- whether you think you are doing that or not. Everyone has their own privacy limits. It's really best for you to be out of the house, or out of the way during home showings.

Every dollar counts when selling your home. Make your decisions wisely- the right agent make sall the difference for each of these common seller mistakes. and I just happen to know someone :)

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