Selling a house should be easy, right? You employ a real estate agent to put it on the market, the perfect buyers come along, buy it at market value and everyone is happy. Wrong.
Unfortunately, selling a house is not as easy as it may initially appear; there’s a lot to consider. First and foremost you have to make sure your property is in selling condition, and that you’re working with the best agency in order to give you a good chance of selling well. On top of that, you’ve got your own viewings and purchasing to organize, as well as solicitors, legal proceedings and so on.
Amidst the chaos of being in a property chain, it’s entirely possible to make mistakes in the sale of your home — but what are they? Well, today we’re going to be telling you the top mistakes that people tend to make when selling a house.
Putting Your Property on the Market Before You’re Ready
The first thing that experts will tell you is a huge mistake for home owners, is them putting their home on the market before they’re properly ready.
If you’re not ready to put the work in and go through the overall stress of selling your house, then the process itself isn’t likely to be as smooth or successful. Likewise, if you aren’t ready to make the move, it’s not going to be as gratifying as it would have been if you were ready. For example, many real estate experts agree it can often be a mistake to try selling a house during a divorce.
But it’s not just about you being ready physically and psychologically. You actually have to get the house ready too.
Say, for example, your property has some repairs that need to be made, or could do with a spot of redecorating — but you haven’t yet had time to do it, and you put your property on the market anyway. It automatically becomes less likely to sell quickly — and when it does eventually sell, it’s more likely to sell for below the market value than it would have been had you waited and made the necessary changes.
Incorrect Pricing
Another one of the biggest mistakes home owners make when putting their properties on the market, is pricing them incorrectly.
The issue is, people often want to base the amount they want to make on the property, on the value of the house when they paid for it. It might seem unfair, but this isn’t always doable, and it’s all relative.
The property market is fluid — there’s no doubt about that. This means that housing prices are subject to go up and down, dependent on the overall state of the property market at the given time. If the market is “hot” at the time of sale, chances are you’re going to get a quicker and more profitable sale. However, if the market is “cold,” you can expect for the sale to take longer, and to therefore make less of a profit on your property.
Therefore, you have to price your property in relevance to the market at the time of sale. The best way of doing this is by looking at your competitors, and what similar properties have sold for in recent months. Likewise, you can ask a professional for help. Real estate agencies — good ones — have some of the best industry knowledge and connections, so can help you with these sort of things.
Choosing the Wrong Agent
Quite often, homeowners simply want the go with cheapest estate agent in order to save money — and who can blame them? Buying and selling property is a pricey process.
The problem with adopting this kind of attitude, is that cheapest doesn’t always give the best results. It’s not necessarily that price equates quality — there are pricey agencies out there you wouldn’t want to touch — but do your research prior to choosing an agency to go through. Reviews and word of mouth are a great way of getting real accounts of what certain companies are like to work alongside.
Being Dishonest
Last of all, but by no means least, being dishonest is one of the worst things you can do when selling a house.
If you’re dishonest and don’t disclose history or issues with the house, chances are they’re going to be found out anyway in the surveying — and therefore the sale is likely to be problematic further down the line. If you’re honest about things, then there’s no way of you being caught out if you like. Plus, you could be breaching contracts by not disclosing full information. It’s just not worth the risk, so be honest — even if you think it’s off putting.
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That makes sense that incorrect pricing could be a big mistake. I would think that the house is such a big investment, that if you sell for too low, that you could lose thousands of dollars, and if it’s too high, no one will buy it.