Mistakes Some Home Sellers Make

In today's market it is hard to sell a house.  In the past, if seller's make a mistake when they listed their homes, it might have cost them some money, but they probably wouldn't have realized it.  But today, those same mistakes can keep a home from selling.  When you decide it's time to re-list your home, you need to avoid making any mistakes. Please read all the way to the end, because the last one is vitally important in getting your home sold.

#1.  Just selecting an agent because of where they work.

While the experts say that you should interview several agents, the don't tell you how to select the agents to interview.  Many sellers will just list call an office and have whoever answers the phone come talk to them.  Some companies are small and can't do adequate marketing of your home, while some offices are so large that their listings get lost in the crowd.

#2.  Using an agent who has never had experience in slow markets before.

This is a really big mistake.  The vast majority of active agents started when all you had to do to sell a listing was to list it at any price and buyers would be fighting to see who could pay the most for the property.  Many of them don't even want to take a listing because they don' think they will ever sell.  The ones who do realize that the best way to get a buyer is to have listings will do whatever it takes to get a listing (for example, see #3 below).  Unfortunately, they don't know how to do what it takes to get the listing to sell.

#3.  Listing with someone who will charge you low commissions.

The way to get a listing sold is to do the right kind of marketing.  Marketing takes money.  But most agents just do the marketing that their company provides without a cost to them.  As a result, the agent doesn't get any buyer leads and they end up not wanting any listings (see #2 above).  The key to marketing is to use the methods that buyers will actually notice.

#4.  Not researching the agent's on-line presence.

The best marketing for home today is the internet, so you need to see how many websites the agent actually has and then find out if they have direct control of their content so they can quickly get your home marketed on the main page of as many websites as possible.  After that comes the syndication to websites that they have no control over...which means your listing will be hidden deep in the website.  The agent also needs a real website that gives buyers direct access for information on homes from an MLS feed (it's called IDX to be technical).  Not all "Search Listings" links are created equal, so you have to check that out very carefully.  The website IDX system needs to be modern enough to have a system that works on cell phones that have the internet.

The agent also needs to have lead capture systems that really work at bringing buyers, as well as ways of staying in contact with their buyer leads until they are ready to buy.

#5.  Selecting a "Top Agent".

Listing with a "Top Agent" sounds appealing, after all, a lot of people list with them and you see their marketing all over the place.  The reality is that, although they list a lot of homes, they may have a lot of listings that don't sell and end up expiring.  Plus they are so busy, you'll hardly be able to talk with them.  If you're luck, you'll be talking to their assistant instead.  You need an agent who has the time to work hard on your listings, an agent who can take the time to get to know you and an agent you can call whenever you have a question.

#6.  Not having their home competitively positioned to sell.

All of the previous 5 mistakes are about the agent you select, but this last one is about you and your decisions about you home.  You have to make sure that buyers who look at your home on the internet will want to see it and once they see it, that they will seriously consider buying your home.  There are several components of positioning your home in the market so it will sell:

Get your home into top showing condition.

In the past homes would sell even when they didn't show well, but today a home has to look great.  Not only does it have to look great, it has to do well.  You need to start right now, to make sure of this.  You should probably have your home inspected NOW so you can fix any big problems so you won't have a surprise that will keep you from selling your home.  The days are long gone when you can just put your home on the market...and the buyers will want it even if it's not perfect.  You have to make sure that the home shows better than your competition and you have to make sure that it's in better physical condition that the competition.  Here are two articles about getting your home in top showing condition:  Condition Checklist   Getting Your Home Ready to Sell

Price your home correctly.

In today's market it is very hard to price a home correctly.  Even appraisals are hard to do!  An appraiser needs to have 3 sold properties that are similar to the property that have sold in the last 3 month, but can occasionally go to 6 months.  That's hard to do.  You need an agent who has been pricing homes for many, many years to be able to have an idea of a homes value in this market.  You need to insure that your pricing is always better than your competition!

Offer terms to help the buyer of your home.

Sellers of all price range homes need to offer some financial help to the prospective buyer of their home.  We need to make sure that the help is flexible enough to be used in a way that the buyer will need, while making sure that the lenders of the type loan the prospective buyer will probably use will accept the seller help.  That will help your home stand out against sellers who aren't as motivated to sell as you are.

Offer a home warranty.

Money is tight today...and so are buyer.  They worry about what will happen if a system of the home breaks down after closing.  Offering a home warranty gives them the piece of mind about your home.  They'll see that your price is appealing, that your home looks like it's ready for them to move in.  They will see you are offering something to help them financially and the home warranty may be just what is needed to complete the package for them.

Offer an ample commission to the selling agency.

OK, so you've taken care of everything that will make your home appeal to the prospective buyer.   But before the buyer can get into the house, you have to sell it to their buyer's agent.  We'll make sure the MLS presents the home in a way that will appeal to the agent, but in today's market, there are a lot of agents not making the money they are used to making.  If they see two very similar homes in the MLS and one offers a low payout to the selling company and the other one offers a high payout to the selling company, which one do you think they will select to show their buyers.