Home sellers, you have every reason to be concerned about making mistakes when you sell your Crofton home. And you wouldn't be alone if you did make a few mistakes. In fact, avoiding mistakes is one of the reasons many home sellers give for hiring a REALTOR to help them.
Here are a few mistakes you should be careful to avoid:
1. Leaving home for a few minutes and missing buyer calls.
2. Failing to get a showing appointment when a buyer calls.
3. Not showing your home when it's convenient for a buyer.
4. Spending more time/money than necessary preparing
your home to sell.5. Spending too little time and money.
6. Spending time and money on the wrong things.
7. Overpricing your property.
8. Underpricing your property.
9. Not accurately identifying the right target market.
10. Creating an ineffective marketing message.
11. Spending too much on marketing your home.
12. Spending too little on marketing.
13. Marketing in the wrong places.
14. Showing features the buyer will consider a disadvantage.
15. Showing unqualified buyers... or unscrupulous buyers.
16. Showing your home while your family is there.
17. Appearing anxious when you follow-up with prospective
buyers.18. Not following up with prospective buyers.
19. Making unnecessary selling concessions.
20. Not making necessary selling concessions.
21. Failing to make required disclosures for lead and other environmental concerns.
22. Failing to disclose material facts.
23. Inadvertently discriminating against someone in a protected class (do you know what
they are?).24. Not hiring a real estate professional to represent your interests.
25. Hiring the wrong real estate professional to represent your interests.
There's a reason why Maryland requires licensing for anyone assisting home sellers and buyers with a real estate transaction. After all, a home sale is a complex business transaction governed by complex federal, state and local laws with potentially costly liabilities. Not only that, but most states require many hours of continuing education for real estate licensees, regardless of how many years experience they have, to ensure they keep up with ever-changing real estate laws. And that doesn't even begin to address the ongoing practical training most REALTORS obtain through their brokers and professional organizations.
Someone who has never sold a home before, or only a few homes, can't be expected to avoid mistakes or know how to address the many issues that can arise in a real estate transaction. Fortunately, you don't have to.
I'll follow up later this week with some suggestions for choosing the "right" REALTOR to represent you in your home sale - your best bet for avoiding, or at least minimizing, those potential mistakes.
In the meantime, check out Jason Crouch's featured post today Adventures in the Grocery Store - A Real Estate Allegory - a totally different approach on the topic of home-seller mistakes.
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DISCLAIMER: Information contained in this post is deemed reliable on the date of publication, but it is not guaranteed and it is subject to change without notice.
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Margaret Woda, REALTOR and Associate Broker
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Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., 2191 Defense Hwy., Crofton, MD 21114 (410) 721-1500
Margaret,
If a new or prospective agent wants to learn about how to sell real estate, they should spend some time on your blog reading some of your posts!!! Thanks, Fran
Margaret,
This is a good post. I wish sellers would see this, and realize that realtors are worth their weight in gold. Having good representation is better than having bad, or non at all, which is what happens to most people who try sell their home on their own.
Hi,
Nice post. Great advice.
Sharona
Margaret, such a great list and so telling. I doubt I would have gotten all those. Here is another one.
Answering Buyer Prospects questions or ever having a discussion with them in the first place. Always defer every question to your REALTOR. And for heavens sake, allow the buyers to look at the home without standing over them like a nervous suitor. They will never look at what is important to them if the homeowner is standing there.
Margaret,
Long list but so true...I might have to add a few more to mine.
Marg,
Simple. Just hire a REALTOR.
And listen to them.
It's just the best thing to do.
Steve
This is an excellent post. I always appreciate when sellers listen to the advice of a Realtor to get it sold. I agree with number 7 - particularly in this market so that you don't chase the market down.
Margaret, great post for FSBO's. In today's market, I seeing that sellers are realizing the value of a good real estate agent. They are a little more receptive to paying a commission. Great tips.
Enjoyed your post. Great talking points.
Hi Margaret, some real issues for anyone considering home sales. These highlights are just the tip of the iceberg...the iceberg is what took down the Titanic...it isn't what you see....it is what you don't see. Great list Margaret.
As a home owner I see the logic of a real estate proffessional but the costs are so high that it tempts folks to "do it yourself" to make enough to move to the next home. What a quandry for the seller. We all need to make a living but 6% is a killer on a 500,000.00 home from a sellers point of view.