Forbes recently featured an article highlighting 6 common situations in which home sales tend to fall through the cracks. Facilitated by information gathered by Trulia, the scenarios brought forward were the following:
1. Choosing to go for sale by owner- Real estate agent Susan Weir of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Corona del Mar, CA states, “for those expecting to save money by not paying a commission, keep in mind, the buyer often also expects to save on commission. The seller may get the same price as using an agent, but the homeowner then does the work and must know all the disclosures. Generally speaking, the seller gets less than if they had listed it for the open market to see.” You simply don’t get the same ‘know-how’ you would receive while utilizing the services of a real estate broker.
2.Not vetting your real estate agent- Once you decide to hire an agent, make sure that you do yourself the service of employing a professional who is equipped to handle the specific challenges of your neighborhood and the age of your home. It is an absolute necessity that your agent knows the comps in your neighborhood, entices interested buyers, and properly negotiates the sale by meeting your goals as a seller.
3. Overpricing- According to the article, “Real estate brokers who are familiar with an area have a good sense of the local market and can pull data to give a sense of comparable nearby home sales. Trust their expertise and the data available to them or risk having your house sit on the market.” Remember, renovations don’t necessarily add up to a reciprocal return on investment. This is where the all-to common phrase “compare apples to apples” comes into play.
4. Refusing the first offer- “First offers may not always be as high as you’d hoped, but remember, all offers are negotiable. Consider any offer a starting point — any offer is better than none!Interested buyers want the best value and price for their investment just as much as you want to get the most for your home. Most of the time, there is a happy meeting point. Another way to offset a lower-than-expected offer is by asking the buyer to pay closing costs or refusing to pay for repairs.”
5. Not working on your home’s first impression- This one is pretty straightforward. Agent Susan Weir states simply, “it’s very, very important to have a house as perfect as possible [when listing it for sale]. Go through room by room and depersonalize. Maximize space and make sure each room tells a story.”
6. Covering up problems– “The rule is, disclose, disclose, disclose,” Weir says. “It’s the best way to avoid lawsuits.” If you know your house is in need of repairs, but you prefer not to pay for said repairs, be upfront about the issues that need addressing. There’s no way around a seller disclosure report, and most home issues, such as a leaky roof or foundation problems, will come up in a home inspection anyway.
If you would like to read the original article by Forbes click here.
Published on 2016-02-18 14:20:24
