The 7 deadly sins in real estate: If you are trying to sell your home today, you’ve probably heard a list of things that you should do to accomplish your goal – spruce this up, take that down, de-clutter, de-personalize, optimize, minimize… the list goes on. The problem for many homeowners is that while many of these suggestions are valid, they’re hit-and-miss with respect to the local market for their home. Doing any or all of these things on the to-do list, while making some of the most fundamental mistakes in real estate, will usually not help.
So, we thought it might be helpful to point out the following “7 Deadly Sins” that homeowners can avoid in trying to successfully market their homes. There are probably more than 7, but avoiding these fundamental mistakes will definitely improve your chances:
- Failing to price your home competitively: Easier said than done, many homeowners overprice their home with the belief that buyers will still make an offer. In many markets across the country today, the inventory of homes for sale is higher than in years past, giving buyers more choices. If you’re not pricing your home to be extremely competitive from day one, it will likely diminish your chances of selling.
- Failing to recognize and adapt to trends in the local market: With more homes to choose from, what are buyers actually buying? You may love the chickens and the ducks in your country kitchen wallpaper, but buyers may be buying a more modern, contemporary look. There may be other trends like low-maintenance landscaping, enhanced outdoor living areas, etc., that would help make your home stand out.
- Failing to listen to professionals: Pricing, marketing, staging, negotiating, etc., are all areas where professionals are critical to your success. Gone are the days where buyers have so few choices that they will just “overlook” all of your home’s flaws and buy it anyway. Not getting professional advice or worse, getting and ignoring it, will also hurt your chances.
- Failing to aggressively market your home: This is where people trying to sell their homes themselves (and some agents, too), tend to make a mistake, believing that putting a sign in the yard and running an ad in the local newspaper are the only things necessary to find a buyer. Nearly 100% of today’s home buyers are looking online – and finding the home that they end up buying. Marketing methods that worked even a few years ago are obsolete today. If you under-market your home in this environment, you will be disappointed in the result.
- Failing to use a Realtor to accomplish all of the above: The National Association of Realtors (NAR) conducted surveys and found that people selling their home themselves actually sold for an average of 16% less than those who hired a competent, professional Realtor to sell their home. Consider the cost of not using a professional and don’t overlook the value of time. How much longer will it take to sell your home without a professional? How many additional mortgage payments will be involved, taxes, maintenance, etc? It can be done by yourself, but the money spent on a pro here will likely be well-spent.
- Failing to make your home accessible to buyers: Having listed your home with a pro, don’t make the mistake of unreasonably restricting buyers’ access to your home. Going back to the choices they have today… if your home is only showable between 2:00 and 3:00 every other Wednesday afternoon, you’re severely restricting your chances of selling. Selling your home is a process that you’ve got to commit to in order to improve your chances.
- Failing to quickly adapt to changes in market conditions: How many times have you seen someone list their home at a price that’s too high, miss buyer after buyer, then reluctantly lower their price time after time with no luck? What’s worse is when a house down the street goes up for sale at a competitive price, and sells in a week! This all-too-common scenario is like chasing a ball down a hill… and it’s a highly-ineffective marketing strategy that inevitably costs you money. Many times, the seller could have sold for more money by recognizing changes in the market and adapting appropriately and quickly. In effect, getting out in front of that ball is the only way to catch it.
These are problems we see here in the Boulder real estate market, but they’re applicable in any market in the country. So, if you’re selling a home and have tried all the fix-up suggestions under the sun with no success, analyze your situation and try again – this time without committing these 7 deadly real estate sins.
7 Deadly Sins in Real Estate - How to Ensure Your Home Will Not Sell
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