Costly Mistakes In Selling Your Own Home

Before selling your own home, it might be a good idea to have some kind of a checklist first on potential errors. Mistakes usually happen if you are in haste or too eager to finalize the deal.

Some of these mistakes can be costly, if not corrected right away. Some mistakes are unfortunately irreversible. The following are some tips as culled from actual accounts.

Not getting ready

Selling your home is an important business deal, involving serious money, insurance, and some regulations. It is not wise for you to sell and put your home on the market before it is ready.

This usually happens if you want to get the house sold fast. Have you done your pre-selling preparations yet, like sprucing it up and doing a thorough cleaning? Have you repaired those broken or faulty fixtures? Are the buyers already here, and you are still re-painting the walls?

The bigger goat would skimming over the fine print of your current mortgage, not paying attention to market particulars early on, etc. These might be grounds for suits against you.

Over-improvement

Again, prevailing conditions and market forces dictate the real estate industry. In a neighborhood of houses with more or less the same conditions, over-improving your home makes it stand out like a sore thumb.

If you intend to up the price, the opposite might happen. Your investment on upgrades (landscaping, etc.) is useless because your local market have its own price range that can always go lower but which you cannot upgrade.

Over pricing or under pricing

You cannot dictate the price based on what you want – the market does. You can probably dictate the asking price, but the selling price is dependent on actual market forces.

If your home is over-priced, it will not sell, will sit on the market list, and will become stale. If you intend to lower it later, the buyer will still think it is over-priced.

Of course, you will lose if you under-price. If you did your research and based the asking price on current market conditions, the selling price may not be too far.

Disclosures

Never cover up problems by not telling. Use the property disclosure/disclaimer form wisely. You can still be sued for discovered faulty or broken systems 30 days after settlement.

A home warranty gives the new owner protection against house items breaking after the sale. Covered are plumbing, roof, heating, etc. and costs vary depending on the coverage. It protects both you and the new owner.

It is easy to steer clear of these common mistakes. Today, there are many resources to consult from (the Internet, specialized publications), including actual real estate agents or experienced consultants.

Costly mistakes in selling your own home can be avoided. It is not brain surgery, just a healthy dose of non-emotional good judgment and common sense.