Selling a home is often bittersweet. Whether you’re moving on to greener pastures or you’re forced to sell your home for any other reason, there’s no doubt that it can be hard to move on. Your home is your center for making memories, and it can be hard to accept leaving those memories behind.
Whether you’re eager to sell your home or sad to, it’s important that you do it right. When you sell your home, there are many places you can go wrong, leading to less money in your pocket or more stress throughout the process. Selling a home can be especially difficult because odds are you are also in the process of buying one while you sell the one you currently own.
This post will outline 7 common mistakes that home sellers make, and outline how to avoid them to lead to the smoothest, highest-value sale possible.
Common Mistakes that Home Sellers Make
1. Skipping Out on Major Repairs
One of the most common mistakes that sellers make is neglecting to do routine repairs on the home before listing it for sale. While you shouldn’t necessarily repair every little dent and crack in the house, making the right ones can go a long way. Nobody wants to buy a house that is in need of work, and neglecting to fix cracks in the wall and large scratches on the floor is likely to drive demand down on your house.
If you’re unsure about something, you should consult with your realtor. Some small repairs are worth making, while others are unlikely to impact the sale of your home. Similarly, some large repairs are worth making, while others will actually cause you to lose money. If the roof needs to be repaired, for example, you might spend more money repairing the roof than you’d lose by selling it in need of repair.
2. Underestimating the Cost of Selling Your House
Many sellers fail to budget for all the costs associated with selling a house. Some of them may remember paying closing costs as a buyer, therefore expecting that only the buyer has large fees to pay. Whatever the reason, it is important to realize that sellers incur large costs throughout the process too.
Usually, sellers pay an average of 5-10% of the home’s sale price in costs and fees. Most of this goes to the real estate agent’s commission. Other hidden costs include making repairs, staging the home, hosting open houses, and more.
3. Trying to Sell Without a Real Estate Agent
Many sellers are deterred by the large commissions that they’d have to pay a real estate agent and decide to sell their home on their own. 99 times out of 100 this ends poorly, if not in disaster. Real estate agents are experts at what they do, and their advice and expertise is often worth more dollars than their commission. In other words, what you pay them is often commensurate with how much extra money they make you and how much stress they relieve!
It is possible to sell a house without the help of a real estate agent. But it is never recommended. Unless you are a true personal real estate expert yourself, the odds are trying to sell your home alone is likely going to be stressful and costly.
4. Hiring the Wrong Realtor
While having any realtor is better than not having one, it is really important to vet the realtors that you work with. Like any other profession, just because someone is a realtor doesn’t mean they’re good at it. Some have more skill and experience than others, and this translates into faster sale times, higher sale prices, and more positive interactions throughout the process.
At The Boyd Team, we’ve been operating in the Myrtle Beach area for decades. Your goal should be to find a credible realtor who has been in business in your area for a long time. A good realtor doesn’t just have experience selling houses – they have experience selling houses in the city or town where you live. Local knowledge is a huge advantage, and it should be highly prioritized during your realtor search.
5. Miscalibrating the Sale Price
Everyone wants to sell their home and make a profit. This is no secret to anyone. But when it comes to determining the list price of your home, there is a lot that should play into the final number.
This is a topic that your realtor should be a major help with. School districts, amenities, age of appliances and regional demand are some of the many factors that play into demand.
While you may think that these things remain the same as you live in a house, the truth is that each of these presents a changing dynamic that could be totally different year after year. It is crucial to understand the current value of the property you are selling, as listing too high of a price can set you up for failure, and too low of a price can cost you a lot of money.
6. Failing to Depersonalize and Declutter
One of the most important things to do before selling a home is to depersonalize and declutter it. You should remove all personal items and knick-knacks before hosting any open houses or walkthroughs. Your house should be pristine when it is time for open houses, and it should appear as if nobody is living in it.
Depersonalizing your home is crucial. When touring a home, most people want to imagine themselves living in it. This is hard to do when there are pictures of another family on the wall. On top of that, personal effects and pictures can kill a sale, as they may show evidence of pets, behaviors, or ideas that don’t mesh with the buyer in the room. While you might love having a golden retriever, your buyer might not like the hair interwoven into the carpet from the years of shedding.
7. Cutting Costs and Skipping Professional Photography
Professional photography is a must when selling your home. A massive amount of buyers find homes through online platforms like Zillow, and the pictures on those sites are often a buyer’s first impression of your home. It’s true that first impressions are everything, and uploading poor-quality pictures (or simply not enough pictures) can be a major deterrent for potential buyers.
Professional photographers know how to capture the right angles to make your house look like a gem. While you never want to lie or conceal, good photography definitely exploits the most favorable sides of your home. The photography is what will get buyers in the doors to your open house, and the more people you get to come, the more likely you are to sell quickly and at the price you desire
Selling your home can be a challenging experience. Practicing the tips laid out in this post is one of the best ways to ensure a smooth and profitable sale of your home.
If you visit Myrtle Beach or any other place in South Carolina and fall in love, we’re here to help. We at The Boyd Team are committed to helping you find the right property for your needs and dreams. Any question that you have about moving to the area and finding your dream home by the beach is our pleasure to answer. Feel free to send us an email at eddie@boydteam.com or text or call us at (843) 222-8566, and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Being true natives of the Grand Strand and Horry County and with over 25 years of experience in the local real estate market, whether buying or selling, we can help you make your dreams a reality.
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