Selling Tips
Common Mistakes made by Home Sellers
Presentation:
Many owners make the mistake of not paying attention to the little things. You want your home to sparkle and it’s the little things that can really make the biggest impression.
Take a good look at how your home will be perceived by buyers. Stand back and look at what buyers will see when they arrive, what will be the first impression.
The front garden, the lawns, the cleanliness of the home, does your home smell nice, does your home appear cluttered. All these small
items add up to a big result. A home that presents and feels nice always sell for a higher price.
Trust the Agent:
It’s amazing that owners sometime sign with agents that they don’t feel entirely comfortable with and in many cases don’t trust.
In your normal day to day life you would not spend time or deal with anyone you did not trust, so why do it when selling your home.
Before making any decisions about your agent ask many questions, check references, test their negotiation skills and finally ask yourself the very important question “Do I feel comfortable with this person handling the sale of my home”.
Choose an agent you trust, and then let them do their job. The best agents are worthy of your trust.
Advertising Costs:
The biggest part of any real estate advertising is the agency’s name. Agents are really advertising to promote their name, not your home.
Make sure it’s not your money that they are spending. The vast majority of real estate advertising is a waste of money. Very few houses are sold because of advertising. In the past 20 years advertising in real estate has increased as much as 20 times yet the same amount of sales pro rata in most areas has remained the same.
Choosing the Highest Price Quoted:
This is where a lot of owners get into trouble, agents are notorious for quoting high selling prices to entice you to list with them. This is called “Buying your business”. Once you have signed you are now unfortunately at their mercy. Let’s face it “if they haven’t got it theycan’t sell it” and unfortunately this is their attitude they adopt regardless of the damage it may cause you in the future.
The damage done by overpricing a property is that it can sit around and does not sell, and in many cases gets the dreaded “Lemon Tag”. The sad reality is that many of these homes end up selling for less than what they could have been sold for if priced correctly in the first place.
If you suspect that an agent is attempting to “buy” your business insist that you receive their estimate in writing and that they can show justification for their pricing.
Over Capitalising
You must be careful on how much you stand on improvements to your home, practically when you are doing improvements to sell. Remember what suits you may not suit every buyer and waiting for a buyer with the identical tastes to you, you could take some time.
You rarely get back more than half of your costs of your improvements when you sell. The main purpose of any improvement s should be for your personal enjoyment not to improve your selling price.
Selecting A Cheap Agent
Cheap agents get cheap prices
Be careful choosing an agent based purely on their fees. If an agent gives their own money away what do you think they will do with your money?
Better to pay an extra one percent for a selling fee that to receive ten percent less on your selling price. Skilled negotiators rarely give big discounts on their fees, if they haven’t got the ability to fight for their own value how do you think they can fight for yours.
Remember that all fees can be negotiated down, especially if the agent is trying to negotiate your price down.
Choose an agent that offers a guarantee. If you are not happy, you pay nothing.
Open Homes
They are dangerous
Open homes are an invitation to thieves who will return later. Do not allow anyone into your home unless you have two assurances:
- They have been identified
- They are interested in buying it
It’s amazing, a person needs more identification to rent a DVD that to stroll through a family home. Do you really want dozens of strangers opening your wardrobes and inspecting your private possessions?
Protect yourself, your home and your possessions. “Sticky beaks” and thieves will not buy your home. Only buyers will buy. Therefore only buyers should inspect.
Ignoring Early Buyers
This is one of the most stressful situations sellers find themselves in. “Early Offers”
We must be careful because the buyers that we turn away when your home first hits the market may end up being the buyers prepared to pay the highest price.
The best prices often come early and the lowest prices often come late.
As time goes on the number of buyers for your home usually gets lower, not higher. You don’t often hear sellers saying “my home has been on the market for a long time and I got a great price”.
The best prices for homes are when that are fresh, not stale.