Avoid these Mistakes When Putting Your Home on the Market

Deciding to sell your home is monumental decision. There are times when you have no choice, being transferred with your job for instance, or experiencing a job loss. Other times you may feel like you’ve either outgrown your current home or you actually want to downsize because you now have an empty nest. No matter the reason, you need to be careful to avoid these mistakes when putting your home on the market.

Rushing to market

Weighing all of the pros and cons of selling your home have to be considered before you place it on the market. Selling your home is serious business that involves legally binding contracts, you can just decide not to sell after you’ve accepted an offer. You sign a contract with your realtor to list your home, you are agreeing to allow them to market you home; they are investing in selling your property. Do your research, learn all of the costs associated with the sale of your home. Do you have enough equity in the home to sell it without coming out of your pocket for expenses?

Don’t put your home on the market on a whim. You’ll likely be sorry if you do.

Understand marketing your home takes work

Take a good look at your home. If you’re expecting to market it and get top dollar, you’ll likely have to make some repairs or cosmetic changes. You will probably want to, at the very lest, paint the interior walls to give a fresh updated feel. Consider going neutral in all of the rooms to appeal to a wider range of buyers.

If there is damaged areas of your home, those must be addressed before marketing your home. Whether or not you want to completely remodel areas is up to you, but at lease consider updating the kitchen and bathroom. These are the areas that sell houses. Some changes are easy enough that the homeowner can feel confident to tackle. For other more intense projects a professional like  https://lascoremodeling.com/  can get the job done efficiently and quickly.

Working with the wrong agent

Many first-time home sellers think it’s best to to sell their homes by themselves in an attempt to lower the costs of selling the house. However, you need to know that a real estate agent can help you make the largest profit on the sale of your home. Again, this is a legal transaction and you need to be protected. Your agent represents you and will work to get the most profitable deal possible. Read reviews of the agency you want to use, better yet, ask friends or family who they would recommend. Don’t take chances on realtors who offer to sell for less than the normal percentage of the sell. This could be a red flag.

Setting an unrealistic price

There can be a big difference between the price you want and what the market is willing to pay. Have you ever heard of the term Fair Market Value? It refers to how a home is valued based on the amount similar homes in the area are selling for. This is another area where a real estate professional comes in handy. They will do a market analysis of your property and can help you price your home where you can maximize your profit while staying within the confines of what an appraisal will value the property. 

A bank will only lend up to the appraised value. This limits the amount you can get for your home. The market analysis will go a long way in determining the asking price. Before you place your home on the market, your agent will tell you what you can expect to get for it. If this is not where you want the number to be, you may want to wait about selling.

Bottom Line

To successfully sell your home and make the biggest profit, you will have to make your home more attractive to buyers, set a realistic price, and hire the right real estate agent. Be smart and avoid the above mentioned mistakes to make the home selling process as pleasant and profitable as possible.