Common pitfalls when selling a home and how to avoid them
December, 2017

Making a mistake when it comes to selling your home could cost you a lot – either breaking a sale or resulting in selling at a lower price than you deserve. Don’t fall into any of these mistakes by planning how to prevent them.

• Neglecting repairs. Failing to fix that broken light switch or leaky tap may result in a low offer or even no offer at all. Look around your home and make a list of all the necessary reparations, crossing them off one by one as you fix them. If you don’t patch up some of the problems then potential buyers will begin to wonder what other problems you are trying to hide. If you don’t want to or can’t fix them, you should take the cost of repair off of the asking price.
• Mis-pricing your home. Price your home too low and you’ll leave money at the drawing table but price it too high and you could miss out on offers. Some sellers believe that you should price your home with space to negotiate but this isn’t true. Price your home at its worth.
• Being too emotionally attached. We get it – you’ve lived in your house for over 20 years and filled it with memories so when someone views it and criticises everything, it’s hard not to take it personally but don’t! Remember this is now a business transaction and by letting your ego get in the way, you could be missing out on a massive deal.
• Refusing to clear up any clutter. Nobody likes clutter let alone someone else’s clutter. Clear your home and make it easy for a potential buyer to imagine his or her own family in the space. Most buyers prefer a house to be in a ‘move in’ condition even if they plan to renovate after sale.
• Refusing to negotiate with buyers. Negotiating is part of selling and buying a house but don’t rely on it. You should expect people to come in with an offer, which is slightly lower but ultimately if your property has been on the market for a number of months, you may have to negotiate further. If you really can’t reduce the price then think about including appliances and property repairs to negotiate a deal.
• Not choosing an experienced, local agent. Selling a home requires proven skills and experience and surely you want someone who knows the local area like the back of their hand? Ask around and search for someone who you trust entirely with the job.
• Forgetting to read the small print. Selling a house can be tedious but once you’ve signed legal documents you must abide by all the terms and conditions so it’s vital that you’ve read everything. After all, you may agree to fund repairs or include white goods in with the price when you didn’t mean to. Ensure that you read through the contract in fully with a solicitor before you sign anything.

Keeping these common mistakes at the back of your mind will help you avoid them during the process of selling your home, hopefully resulting in a quick sale without any problems. If you have any questions about selling a property, then please get in touch.

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