5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Home
It breaks my heart to see so many sellers make these 5 mistakes when selling their home. They are so easy to avoid but sellers make these common mistakes too often. Replacing old carpet or the wrong color carpet (blue and green) and painting with the right colors are quite common mistakes. It might cost $2,000 – $3,000 to replace old or “off-color” carpet but can return many more thousands if done before the home goes on the market. Blue or green paint is also something that should be corrected prior to the home going on the market. Another mistake Sellers make would be to have too many personal items in the home that should be cleaned or eliminated as part of getting the home ready. Make sure you list your home with a top agent in your market who understands the importance of video and magazine quality photography and how to leverage these online. Homes with well-done video receive four times the views as homes without video. Aerial photography will also enhance a property so the agent MUST use these marketing tools. Sellers should focus on having the home in perfect condition for the photo shoot well in advance of the home actually getting shown to Buyers. One of the cheapest and “ZERO Out of Pocket” prep items is to get rid of the clutter! It cost nothing but will return tens of thousands! A Buyer will mentally subtract tens of thousands of dollars just because a home is cluttered. Put those dollars in your pocket by starting early and in the rooms you use lease first. Work up to the most important and used rooms last but make sure you are done in time for photos and video! Last but not lease is consult with at least one but no more than three top agents early to guide you through the preparation phase. An experienced agent called at the last minute is a mistake to avoid. Too many times have I been called to meet for the first time where the Seller wants the home “on the market by the weekend”! It just does not work that way. You only have one chance to pull back the curtain for the first time and it better be right!