Your home means much more than an asset that holds material value. It is a dream, a place where you have made memories, spent moments of joy and sadness, and had experiences that shaped you into who you are today. Hence, it's no surprise that deciding to sell your house can be difficult, irrespective of the reason— some may want to move to an independent living community after retirement, while for others, it might just be a financial need.
You may make certain mistakes if it is your first time selling your house. However, with some research and guidance, you will surely be able to crack a decent deal. The key to preventing probable errors is first learning about some common ones. Read on to know the mistakes people typically make and how you can avoid them.
Allowing your emotional attachment to your house interfere with the deal is the first obvious mistake you must avoid. Once you decide to sell, train your mind to think of your home from a purely business/financial perspective. It will allow you to make fair and practical decisions regarding all house-related transactions.
As much as possible, try to empathize with the buyer, put your best foot forward and focus on obtaining the most profitable deal for your house.
Remember doing comparative market analysis when you were a buyer? Your buyer may do the same before buying a house. The worth of your home depends on what the market will be ready to pay, not what you think your house is worth.
If you overprice your house, there are high chances that your property will keep sitting in the market unsold for a long time. On the contrary, if you quote a lower price, you may risk losing a significant amount of money. However, you can think of underpricing your house as a strategy to garner extra interest and later refuse an offer that you consider too low.
Nevertheless, based on recent sales of homes in your area, you must set a realistic price to get the best offer.
From the time you start thinking about selling your house to finally closing the deal with the buyer, the entire process involves several steps. Accordingly, selling your home on your own can be a tedious task requiring a lot of interaction with different parties, paperwork, and other formalities. Hiring an experienced real estate agent can make things much easier.
You may think hiring an agent will add to your cost. But you can significantly benefit from their experience, negotiation skills, and technical know-how. Explore different agents available in your area before hiring one.
Too many of your belongings in the house can distract the potential buyers from rightly envisioning it, and you may lose out on a genuine customer. When showing your home, the buyers must be able to picture themselves living in your abode. For this, you must remove the unnecessary artifacts so that it looks spacious.
In an age where everything is online, it is a good idea to put your property deal on the internet to attract maximum viewership. However, the pictures of your house you choose to display online will be the first impression of your sale and will do all the talking on your behalf. Hence, it is significant to put up high-quality pictures with suitable camera angles, ideally taken via a wide-angle lens.
The idea is to put forward your house in the best possible way; who knows, it may catch the immediate attention of potential buyers.
While it is tempting to hide the flaws in your house to get a reasonable offer, sooner or later, the buyer will find out, and it will eventually cost you more than just money!
So, either choosing to fix the problem well before time or quoting a fair price after accounting for the flaws is the right way forward.
There are several houses for sale in Los Angeles. With ample choice for buyers these days, it is natural for them to prefer a home that is neat, pleasing to the eyes, and ready to move in. Keep up with routine maintenance by repainting the prominent areas, repairing the ceiling and flooring wherever required, and grooming your lawn. There are many ways you can prep your home before the ultimate move.
Caring for your house like a prized possession makes it far more appealing to potential buyers.
You may believe that selling your house during the holiday season is not the best time, as you generally do not see many buyers during these days. However, on the flip side, this also means you will have lesser competition and higher chances of closing the deal sooner.
Though, of course, as a seller, there is no harm for you and your real estate agent in choosing an ideal period to sell the property to fetch a competitive offer. But no matter the season, you can always make the right sale, provided all the other things (like the ones mentioned above) are in place.
Not letting the buyers know the best things about your house is another usual mistake. Of course, you want them to see the entire house, but each has some key areas or attributes that give it an extra edge. Highlighting such USPs to the buyers will increase your chances of cracking a favorable deal.
Once you list your house for sale, buyers can show up any day. Some may also choose hours that might not suit you. But being inaccessible or unavailable multiple times may cause you to lose a prospective buyer. So, be clear when stating your contact details, include the hours if you want, and try to accommodate the buyer as much as possible.
Apart from the above points, you need to identify a genuine buyer because every buyer is not necessarily sincere. Ensure that all your house-related documents are ready in case potential buyers want to examine them.
The key is to do proper research before selling your house while keeping your emotions in check. When you're aware, well-informed, and think practically, you are likely to err far less.
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