Real Estate Investment 101: Four Costly Home Selling Mistakes

“If you do not own a home, buy one. If you own a home, buy another one. If you own two homes, buy a third. And lend your relatives the money to buy a home.” -John Paulson

Selling a home may not exactly be the most straightforward process in the world. Part of what makes it complicated is the logistics it takes to sell one and the various factors both legal and procedural that contribute to a successful sale—all of which would matter if you do want to sell your home. However, even if you have thoroughly followed every rudimental step there is to selling a home, you would be surprised to find your potential buyers backing off at the very last minute—even when you had almost closed the deal. So, what gives? What went wrong? You were certain that they were going to buy. Well, the truth is, when it comes to something as huge as an investment such as a home purchase, buyers can never be too meticulous when it comes to things that do matter. Along the way, you may have forgotten something and committed some errors that may have ultimately lost you the sale. It matters not whether the home deal is a bargain or in an enticing neighborhood such as Anvaya Cove—if you have committed any of these mistakes, you will inevitably lose your potential buyer.

So, if you are planning to sell your home, be sure to avoid these mistakes:

1.) Setting the listing price on subjective terms

The truth is, your potential buyers would not see your home the way they do. So, the hefty price tag you have set for your home on the basis of how much you paid for the property initially and the various improvements you have incorporated will sound ludicrous to them. While you might think that having a pool or a game room would be a good idea, your homeowners are not likely to think so and would not be as receptive to shelling a couple of hundred thousand just to pay for that. Your home’s listing price should be based on consideration of the present market value which is a rough estimate by the comparison of recent home sales and current listings of similar homes.

2.) Skipping a home inspection

A home inspection is a rudimentary step every home seller must make before selling their homes—particularly if the homes they are selling are old. It would not only save you time but the aggravation as well. A home inspection done beforehand would mean you can address issues right away and on your own time. Remember, not all buyers are as receptive to buying a home with so many issues as they would see it as an additional expense on top of what they have to pay you.

3.) Ordering expensive upgrades shortly before selling

If your purpose for installing a lot of upgrades to your home is solely just to inflate the price, then you will hardly find any buyers who would take up the offer. At the very least, you should only get a home ready for a sale and not make a series of unnecessary upgrades which would likely turn off your buyers. It does not matter how much money you have spent on these improvements, if your buyers do not need them, they will not buy your home, and you will be stuck with a home you would be unable to sell for a period. As a result, you would be constrained to lower the price that your original one—leaving you to lose more money than necessary.

4.) Withholding information from your buyers

Even if you have successfully hidden the faulty faucet that would cause a bathroom to get inundated or the leaks in your kitchen sink from your buyers, they are eventually going to find out once they have taken up residence in the home. If they have found out during the negotiation period, you are going to be answering a lot of awkward questions. However, if they have successfully bought it, you could be potentially facing a lawsuit for concealing this from them.