7 Ways To Ruin The Sale Of Your Home

Selling your house quickly and for the best price possible is what every homeowner wants, but it isn’t always that simple. In the buyers’ market that we’re currently dealing with, inventory is up, and prices are down, which means that you need to get absolutely everything right if you want to achieve a sale. Unfortunately, the property world is a tricky one to navigate, with hurdles to jump, mountains to climb, and mistakes made at every turn. With that in mind, here are seven common ones you should avoid unless you want to ruin the sale of your home.

1. Pricing The House Wrong

Overestimating or underestimating the value of your home are equally troublesome when it comes to making a sale. When you overprice your property, you’ll be ignored by potential buyers, as they’ll easily be able to find similar homes for a better cost. If you underprice, you will likely see a flow of unqualified bargain hunters who could take your home off the market for weeks without buying it. For this reason, you should always have your home valued by a professional.

2. Taking Poor Property Images

There is no such thing as too many pictures when it comes to your property listing. That being said, it is important that the images you do post are of high-quality and show off your home in the best way possible. With that in mind, you might want to avoid taking the pictures yourself, especially if your phone or camera isn’t that good. Instead, you could hire a professional, who knows exactly what shots to take to get your house noticed on the market.

3. Leaving The Space Cluttered

When it comes time to take those important images, the last thing you want is shots of a cluttered space. This will make your home appear smaller and also make it difficult for potential buyers to imagine themselves living there. Because of this, you need to take some time cleaning your house from top to bottom and moving as much of your stuff as possible to give buyers a blank canvas. Make sure that the space remains this way for when you start taking viewings.

4. Ignoring The Obvious Repairs

A property with clear maintenance problems will always be more difficult to sell, especially for a good price. For this reason, you should take the time to go around your home finding and repairing any and all issues you find. Look out for pests, cracks in walls, common plumbing problems, faulty lights, dirty carpets, and more. If you deal with these repairs before your viewing begins, potential buyers will have less reason to try and negotiate a lower price.

5. Trying To Hide Problems

Instead of actually repairing the problems at hand, many home sellers try to hide them or cover them up until the sale for their property has gone through. They use rugs, shelves, boxes, paint, and much more so that they don’t have to disclose the issues they’ve had trouble with. Aside from the ethical and legal problems, the major issue with this is that you’ll almost always get caught out and, when you do, most potential buyers will save themselves worry by walking away.

6. Forgetting About The Outside

Although you’re selling a house, the outside of your home is just as important as your interiors. After all, you want buyers to have a great first impression when they visit your property, but this won’t happen if your garden is a mess and your exterior walls are filthy. With that in mind, you need to take some time boosting your curb appeal and taking care of your backyard. This way, buyers will fall in love with the outside of your home just as much as the property itself.

7. Sticking Around During Viewings

Trying to view a house while the homeowners are still there can be incredibly frustrating and awkward. You can’t speak openly to your agent, you feel like you’re intruding, and it’s even harder to imagine the house being yours. This can lead some buyers to walk away. Because of this, you should make sure that you’re always somewhere else when a viewing is scheduled. Your agent will be there to deal with any questions or negotiations, so trust them to do their job.

Selling your home can be massively stressful, but not selling it when you want or need to is even worse. To give you a better chance of making a sale, make sure that you avoid the mistakes listed above.