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Common Seller Errors to Avoid
Forgetting How Your Home Should Look
Remember that your home is going to have to be immaculate from top to bottom, if only for a little while, to get top dollar. Try to make it look like a model home as much as possible to maximize your profit.
- Depersonalize: pack away personal items especially photographs. This helps you get an early start on your move.
- Remove as much clutter as possible again by packing it away
- Apply fresh, neutral paint throughout or at least touch-up
- Have the carpeting professionally cleaned
- Keep plumbing and appliances in working order
- Maintain all sealant on windows, tubs, showers, sinks
- Clean window coverings
- Beds should be made
- Bathrooms and kitchen should be sparkling clean
- Especially important to open all drapes and blinds and turn on all lights
- Turn off TV and play soft music
- Put toys away
- Closets should be in order
- Always secure jewelry, medication or cash
- Pets should be taken out for a walk during a viewing
- Place fresh flowers in the main rooms
- Formally set the dining room table
- Enhance the spaciousness of rooms (relocate/remove some furniture, add mirrors)
- Permeate the house with a fragrant aroma by boiling orange peels, apples and cinnamon sticks, mulling cider or by baking bread or cookies
Following the prospective purchaser while they are viewing your home
If you are at home when your property is being shown, try not to follow the buyers around. Owners can make a prospective purchase feel uncomfortable and if the buyers are uncomfortable they might rush through and miss the most favorable characteristics of your home. You can wait in the room of your choice and try not to be too intrusive until they are finished.
Not knowing how to properly price your property
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of selling real estate is properly pricing it. It’s one of the areas where the assistance of a skilled real estate agent can be the most helpful. Setting the sale price of your property too high can be as bad as setting it too low. If the sale price is too high, you’ll miss out on the buyers looking in the price range where your home should be. Too often, sellers mistakenly think they will always have a chance to accept a lower offer. However, if you set the price too high, chances are that you won’t get scores of offers. Buyers who would be most interested aren’t even considering your home since it’s above their cut-off price. By the time you lower the price, you’ve lost the exposure to this group of buyers. A property receives the most traffic during the first 30 days of it being listed for sale so working on pricing it correctly is crucial.
Not Scheduling Your Move Early Enough
Don't wait until the last minute to schedule your move so check out the moving section of this site for more moving tips.
Since some moving expenses may be tax deductible, don’t forget to keep a record. Now’s the time to start packing away any personal items and anything else that you won’t be using to help prepare for the "buyer's eyes". Fill out a household inventory list for each room. This is important for establishing the declared valuation on your shipment and as an inventory for insurance purposes. List the year of purchase and the original cost of each item as accurately as possible. If you have invoices or records of purchase attach them to the inventory list. Most moving companies will provide a separate inventory sheet for high-value items that can include: art, antiques, collectibles, computer equipment, crystal, jewelry, oriental rugs and tapestries.
Unless you’ve been given a binding-moving estimate where a firm price is established in advance, the exact cost of your shipment cannot be determined until after the truck is loaded and weighed. The weight of the van alone is determined in advance.
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