LegacyCare™

Top 10 Common & Costly Home Seller Traps

1. Pricing your home too high…Price it Right. Correctly setting your asking price is critical. Setting the price too high can be as costly as setting it too low. Home prices are determined by fluctuations in the marketplace not by your emotional attachment or by what you feel your home is worth. If a home sits on the market for a long time some buyers will think there is something wrong with it!

2. Putting your home on the market before preparing it for showings…First impression is crucial. Make sure your home makes a positive statement by carefully inspecting all details and viewing it through the eyes of a buyer. Don’t gloss over needed repairs and fix-ups, as your prospective buyers won’t. Your job is to ensure that your home stands out favorably from the competition.

3. Not assessing the competition…The best way to learn about your competition and discover what turn buyers off is to check out other open houses. Note floor plans, condition, appearance, size of lot, location and other features. Particularly note, not only the asking prices but what they are actually selling for.

4. Basing your asking price on Tax Assessments… Some people think that tax assessments are a way of evaluating a home. The difficulty here is that assessments are based on a number of criteria that may or may not be related to property values, so they may not necessarily reflect your home’s true value.

5. Don’t ignore deal killer Odors…you may not realize but odd smells like traces of food, pets and smoking odors can kill deals quickly. If prospective buyers know you have a dog, or that you smoke, they’ll start being aware of odors and seeing stains that may not even exist.

6. Seller being at home during showing…The last thing you want prospective buyers to feel when viewing your home is that they may be intruding into someone’s life. If at all possible do not be present while your home is being shown. When an agent arrives with a prospective buyer tell them you were just leaving and go drive around or visit a friend. The more time a buyer spends in your home increases the likelihood they will bid on yours.

7. Not disclosing every known defect…Be a smart seller – disclose everything. A smart seller is proactive in disclosing all known defects to their buyers in writing. Not only does this reduce liability and prevent lawsuits in the future, it lets the buyer know you are not trying to hide anything. At some point in the transaction every buyer worries if they are making the right decision buying your home; don’t give them any reason to second guess themselves with discovered defects you should have told them about.

8. Taking a low offer personally…Invariably the initial offer is below what both you and the buyer know he’ll pay for your home. Don’t be upset and reject his offer. Evaluate the offer objectively and understand any special requests. Quickly turn that low offer around with a counter-offer letting that buyer know the first offer is not seen as being a serious one. Now you’ll be negotiating only with buyers with serious offers.

9. Moving out Before you Sell…It has been proven that it’s more difficult to sell a home that is vacant because if becomes forlorn-looking, forgotten, no longer an appealing sight. Buyers start getting the message that you have another home and are probably motivated to sell. This could cost you thousands of dollars.

10. Doing it on your own without an Agent…picking an agent is one of those critical issues that can cost or save you thousands of dollars! Not all agents are the same. It is a much tougher real estate market than it was a decade ago. Receiving advice and opinions from well meaning friends, family members or even agents who are not currently successfully closing transactions can be a very costly mistake.

For more information on your home loan, please contact a LegacyCare loan consultant at 817-860-3232 or you may email us at teamjoy@myccmortgage.com.