7 Common Home-Selling Mistakes

Selling your home is rarely easy, but it's a much smoother process when you know the most common mistakes to avoid before you start. Sellers make mistakes for various reasons, including inexperience with selling, bad advice from well-intentioned sources, and letting emotions get in the way of negotiations. Learn how to avoid common pitfalls with our guide to seven home-selling mistakes that you'll want to avoid.

1. Going "For Sale By Owner" Instead of Finding a Real Estate Agent
   Some sellers choose to list their home for sale by owner (FSBO) instead of searching for the right real estate agent. While FSBO may technically save on commissions, you'll often spend much more on marketing and other tasks than you would with a real estate agent. Mix in the fact that an experienced agent can help you avoid all of the most common mistakes when selling your home, and you can see why picking the right agent is worth the effort.
2. Picking the Wrong Price
   Some people will tell you to start with a high price so there's room to negotiate, but there won't be many buyers willing to negotiate if your price is far above comparable homes. Work with your real estate agent to set a price in line with the realities of the present market in your area and comparable to other nearby homes like yours. Most buyers research the market and will be more willing to negotiate if your price reflects current norms.
3. Neglecting Necessary Repairs
   You're not going to be living there much longer, so why worry about repairs, right? In truth, repairs are crucial both for generating interest in the home and making sure that the sale isn't derailed late in the process by an unexpected maintenance issue. If there are any big issues with the home, make sure to have them addressed.
4. Not Removing Clutter and Personal Items
   Buyers want to be able to imagine their lives in the home, so the last things they want to see during a visit are clutter and personal items. Cleaning the home from top to bottom, removing clutter, and depersonalizing spaces will make it easier to attract the right buyer.
5. Skipping Staging for Showings and Open Houses
   While you'll want to clear out clutter, you certainly don't want the home to be empty when buyers come to visit, either. Tasteful, professional home staging can enhance the look of the home and help buyers dream about what they'll do with the house when they move in.
6. Poor Quality Photography
   Buyers do a ton of research online before they ever visit a home, so it's important to make sure your online listings have professional-quality photography. Poor-quality photography fails to capture what makes the home special and makes listings stand out in a negative way.
7. Negotiating with a Closed Mind
   It's natural to have some emotional attachment to the home or to want to hold out for the best possible price. But negotiating with a closed mind only leads to dead ends. If someone presents a competitive offer, stay open-minded, be willing to negotiate, and try to remove emotion from the equation.

Selling your home is so much easier when you learn from both the positives and negatives of people who have been through the process. By keeping expectations in check, working with the right real estate agent, preparing the home for sale, and being willing to negotiate, you can simplify the process of attracting the right buyer when selling your home.

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