Anxious Home Sellers And The Five Biggest Mistakes They Make

By Melissa Gifford

The process of selling your home can be highly stressful, and even more so because typically you are ready to move on to the next step of your life. Maybe you already have another job in a different city. Maybe you have an adjustable rate mortgage that is about to be adjusted up to a much higher rate. Or perhaps you are someone that is in desperate need of money and have no time to waste. No matter what your situation is it is very easy to second guess yourself. If you know some of the common seller mistakes you will be able to sell your house quickly.

Should You Wait To Sell

If you have already decided that you need to sell your home and you also need to sell it quickly, then there is no better time to get started than right now. If you wait, you may inadvertently be joining other homeowners who have also decided to wait as well, resulting in a large home inventory down the road in which there is greater competition to attract buyers. No one can tell you when to sell a house, but waiting almost always costs you more money in expenses and time spent trying to sell.

Listing your home before it is ready

You will typically get the most foot traffic the first week or so that your home is on the market. If you know this you should know that you do not want to wait until after you have had a few showings before you get your house in order. Depending on the condition of your house the process of getting the house ready can be a process unto itself and you may well find things along the way that need to get your house ready for sale.

A lot of homeowners decide to list their home as soon as they decide to sell it in order to market the home as soon as they can. However, this is a mistake that will likely result in the home sitting on the market for a longer period of time as buyers pass up the sale. Buyers are more likely to purchase homes in which it is easy to see the highlights of the property. Do not wait until the last minute to start cleaning and staging your home. Having it look like its a Home and Garden magazine best when you list your home will result in a quick home sale.

Lowering The Price In Small Increments

Some homeowners think it's logical to reduce the price of their property if it doesn't sell within a few weeks of being on the market. Then another few weeks later, when the home is still on the market, they reduce it again. After all, this is a buyer's market, and everyone else with comparable homes may be doing the same thing.

However, having multiple price reductions can be a clear warning sign to prospective buyers that there may be something wrong with your property. Whether this is likely or not, buyers will reason that there must be something off about your home since other buyers have passed it up, even with the price reductions. Moreover, if the local market as a whole decides to collectively reduce prices, a buyer may decide to wait it out as the prices of homes gets cheaper by week.

To solve this problem, consider slashing the home's price at once, rather than taking the price down by a few increments. Research the trend and price down accordingly.

Should You Pass The First Potential Buyer

You will sometimes have luck and the first buyer will be the best one for you to sell to. Sadly many homeowners will decide to pass the first buyer because they think that if they got a deal already that if they wait they will surely get a better deal. You should not be picky when it comes to the offers. Be ready and willing to negotiate on all offers and especially the first one.

Not Consider All Of Your Options

Even if you are going to be using a Realtor it does not have to be your only method of selling your home. You need to consider all of the available options such as websites, newspapers, or announcements. If you are in need of money, and your home is not in great shape, you should try to contact a real estate investor or one of the companies that buy houses.