Remaining Emotionally Attached to Your Home
It’s time to let a new family take over your house when you’re selling. Do your best not to be offended by a hopeful buyer’s demands. Keep a cool head and be willing to adjust in reasonable ways you might not want to in order to make the sale. Don’t ruin a selling opportunity because you refuse to leave a light fixture behind that the buyer really wants because you’re attached to it. Read: Decluttering Tips & Ideas.

Ignoring Problems in Your Home
When gearing up to sell, the time to start making repairs and quick fixes is now. This is a major transaction for the buyer, so even the smallest problems with your home can throw up red flags. No grounded outlets in the kitchen? Fix it. Leaky faucet? Fix it. Huge hole in the wall from the time your kids were wrestling? You get it. It’s pretty smart to even hire an inspector yourself before your home hits the market, so there are no surprises when potential buyers send an inspector of their own. See: How to Create “Buzz” About Your Home for a Quick Sale.

Not Marketing or Advertising
92% of home buyers use the internet to help them in their search. The camera on your iPhone might be pretty good, but it’s minor league compared to professional photography. When buyers are looking at hundreds of potential new homes on Zillow, you want your home to stand out. People are attracted to high quality photos, videos, and descriptions. Consider hiring a professional home stager. For further reading: Tips for Emotionally Detaching From Your Home.

Ignoring Your Home’s Appearance
You don’t have to drop thousands on redoing your landscaping, but ignoring eye sores won’t help you at all. Edge your lawn by the sidewalks, touch up the paint, throw in some new mulch, and go the extra mile with some nice flowers. No home is perfect but if there are too many eye sores they will add up and turn off buyers. Bring a trusted friend by your home and ask them to be critical – like a potential buyer – to help you notice eye sores.

Not Depersonalizing
This one is a mix of emotional attachment and home appearance but deserves it’s own point. Pack away the pictures of you and your spouse above the TV and the cute drawings from your kids on the fridge. You want potential buyers to visualize themselves in your space.

Ignoring Your Financial Situation
Set up a meeting with your mortgage lender to discuss selling your home. You want to be clear on your remaining loan payoff and any other issues with paying off your mortgage early. Make sure you’re qualified for a loan for your next home, too!

1 Comment

  1. Maury

    I never could understand why sellers don’t clean their house. It really is stunning. It would only take you a half or whole Saturday afternoon. It makes such a difference. No one wants to walk in to see if they want to pay a hundred thousand dollars for a pig pen!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *