The USA is home to millions of existing home sales every single year. While many of these home sales are carried out by real estate agents, some people will decide to sell their house on their own. It is a viable solution which can potentially save people money.
Of course, if you plan on selling your home on your own, there are some things you need to watch out for. If you do the wrong thing or make the wrong move, it could cost you a lot of money and potentially lead to a lot more work.
Without any further ado, this article is going to look at a few things not to do when selling your house by yourself.
Go into it Uneducated
While you don’t need to be an expert in real estate to sell your own home, you should have a decent education in the space. Going in without any knowledge or understanding of real estate is almost sure to end in disaster. Whether you decide to learn from speaking to an expert, or learn from a blog post by ISoldMyHouse.com, any education and information is helpful.
You should be aware of the market in your area, the average price for homes and the things that buyers are looking for. All of this information can help you successfully sell, market and list the home. Sure, it will take some time to educate yourself, but it is well worth it.
Overprice the Home
Another thing to make sure you don’t do is overprice the home. If you put the home up for too high a price, it could sit on the market for months without any interest. In order to find out the right price, you need to perform some research. Look up what similar homes in your area are listed for, and what the ultimately sold for.
Be sure to consider homes in a similar shape and age to yours. Of course, be careful not to go too far the other way either. If you list the home for too small a price, you simply won’t make the kind of profit that you were expecting. Also, even if you have the home accurately priced, be willing to negotiate.
Lie to Potential Buyers
When selling your home, you want to paint it in the most positive light possible. This will give you the best chance of selling it for a price you are comfortable with. However, when selling, you need to be careful not to lie to buyers about any of the benefits or features of your home. Honesty is incredibly important, and you need to maintain this honesty during all communication.
In addition to being honest about their questions, be sure not to hide any problems within the home. Disclose everything you think a buyer should know, including anything that needs repairs or some work. If you hide something, it will certainly come up in the inspection, and you’re doing nothing but wasting the time of both parties involved.
Forget About the Curb Appeal
Oftentimes, when a person is viewing a home, their decision is made before they even step inside. The curb appeal of your home is incredibly important, and one that is lackluster can already put a potential buyer in the wrong frame of mind. As a result, be sure to make your home look as appealing as possible on the outside to make a good first impression on potential buyers.
This can include trimming any trees or bushes, keeping the grass looking great, making sure the siding is clean and generally making the front of the home as inviting as possible. Even a few hours of work here and there can make all the difference. While the inside of your home is still the most important thing in a sale, don’t neglect the outside.
Spending Barely Any Time on Your Listing
Most people start their home buying search online, so you need to make sure that your home listing is quality. Many people will write a few lines on the home, add a few low-quality pictures and call it a day. Unfortunately, this won’t generally lead to a lot of interest in your home. The more effort and time you put into your listing, the better.
You should take time to write the listing with a lot of detail, and fully explain all of the desirable features of your home. Also, be sure to use high-quality photos and include as many as possible to show off all the different rooms.
In addition to making the listing as high-quality as possible, you also need to be sure to share the listing as much as possible. There are likely a lot of homes being sold in your city, so make sure to get yours in front of as many eyes as possible. Social media can be a big help when it comes to helping your listing reach more and more people.
Not Be Aware of the Closing Costs
While buying a home is certainly more expensive than selling one, don’t expect to be able to sell a home on your own without spending a bit of cash. These costs are generally referred to as closing costs. This can include taxes, adjustments, title insurance, legal fees, repairs and other potential administrative costs.
The exact amount of these costs can vary from situation to situation. So before you start to make plans for the money you make from the home sale, be sure to have all of the closing costs calculated and paid for. If not, you could be on the hook for a lot of cash that you might not have been prepared for.
In conclusion, we hope the information in this article has been able to help you learn some things you should avoid when selling your home by yourself. While it can be a lot of work at times, it can certainly be done.