ROOKIE SELLER MISTAKES
Our Top 10 List of Rookie Seller Mistakes to Avoid
Written By: Mariko Baerg, REALTOR of Bridgewell Real Estate Group
If you’re looking for a realtor to help you sell or buy a property, call our team today!
Rookie Seller Mistakes Every Home Seller Should Avoid
As we continue to experience a market shift, we thought we’d touch on our favourite rookie seller mistakes that we would looovveeee for every home seller to avoid.
Rookie Seller Mistake #1: Thinking it doesn’t matter which real estate agent you hire… the home sells itself right? NOT.
To be honest, it’s insane how easy it is to get into real estate. The barrier to entry is so low, and the average agent only sells 4 homes a year. Don’t you think there’s a difference between the agent that sells 4 homes a year working part-time and the agent that makes real estate their career and sells 100+ homes a year? Most definitely. But don’t get us wrong, it’s not just about the years that an agent is in real estate – there are some new realtors that are absolutely KILLING the game right now. The goal in real estate for a seller is to net the most amount of money at the end of the day, and in our opinion, there’s 2 things that the realtor must have mastered in order to do this for you:
- Aggressive Marketing & Online Presence – 96% of buyers these days are finding their home online, you need an agent that is tech-savvy and on trend to ensure maximum exposure. Maximum exposure = more offers = more money in your pocket.
- Strong Negotiation Skills – Do they have extensive knowledge of the contracts? Do they have sales and negotiation experience? Can they effectively communicate the numbers? Do they have strong presentation ability? You need someone that is an absolute shark when it comes to negotiations to get the most amount of money in your pocket.
See our blog 5 Mistakes To Avoid When Choosing a Listing Agent for more details.
Rookie Seller Mistake #2: Staying at home during showings & open houses.
The whole point of showings and open houses is to give the buyer the opportunity to see themselves living in your home, and they definitely can’t do that if you’re there sitting on your couch eating potato chips and watching TV. If you’re home, potential buyers may feel like intruders, and they’ll be more inclined to rush out of your house. Open houses are usually Saturday and Sunday from 2-4PM, and showings typically only take 15-30 minutes. Take the opportunity to visit friends or family, or take the dog for a walk!
Rookie Seller Mistake #3: Assuming all homes receive bidding wars.
Even in hot markets, not all homes receive bidding wars. Whether or not you receive a bidding war depends on your active comparables (aka competition), if you’re priced competitively, how your home shows, and how well it’s been marketed. Other factors are the style of the home and location. For example Port Coquitlam is currently a more desirable location than Chilliwack, and a 2 bedroom condo is more desirable than 1 bedroom+den. It’s all situational. If you’re wondering about whether to price for a bidding war, give us a call. We’ll run the comps for you and provide you with an estimate and our recommended list price.
Rookie Seller Mistake #4: Not doing your dishes everyday.
You can only make a first impression once, so you’ve got to make sure that your first impression for every single buyer that comes through is stellar. Buyers love to talk about everything that’s wrong with the house, and if they get it in their head that your home was a pig-sty they’ll likely start to wonder how well you’ve kept up with maintenance and repairs. Then their mind will creep to all of the things that could be wrong with the home, and before you know it they’ve already talked themselves out of writing an offer.
It sounds a bit insane, we know, but buying a home is so emotional that as a seller you have to eliminate all these pain points to make the showing experience as enjoyable as possible. Make your bed every day, make sure no dishes are left on the counter or in the sink, and keep your clothes tucked away or in the laundry hamper. You’ll thank yourself later.
Rookie Seller Mistake #5: Choosing a realtor based on listing price or commission.
This combination of mistakes is probably the biggest one…. And not just first time sellers, but investors and experienced sellers too! So let’s break this down for you one by one:
- Choosing an agent based on listing price – they offered the highest price
So, an agent comes through your home, they give you some crazy number that sounds great but isn’t really based on anything, and you get so excited about the thought of making that much profit that you list your home with them. Here’s a play by play of the next 90 days. It sits on the market. The agent hammers you to reduce the price. It still sits on the market. More bullying. Another price reduction. 90 days later it finally sells at what the market value was in the beginning – or more often than not, less. Why? Because the longer a property stays on the market the more a buyer thinks there’s something wrong with it. Result: A low ball offer.
Truth: Agent’s don’t decide what your home is worth, the market does. Listing price is just a strategy, which is why it’s so important to look at what the market is saying and run the numbers.
- Based on commission
Real estate is 100% commission based, and if as a realtor we can’t even negotiate on our own behalf to feed ourselves and our family, then how do you expect us to stand strong and be a shark when it comes to negotiating on your behalf? It’s not going to happen. The realtors that are out there, hustling for you, grinding for you, and ultimately that are going to get you the highest profit are often times going to be the most expensive. Don’t make the mistake of saving money on the front end (commission) only to lose money in the backend. (sales price)
See our blog the wrong agent for the wrong reasons for more details.
Rookie Seller Mistake #6: Getting Greedy.
Look at the numbers, run the comps. If you’re already $50,000 over the last comparable recent sale PLEASE don’t pay attention to your brother-in-law’s cousin’s friend that says that you can get more money when he’s never sold a house in his life. If you go with that route, you may just end up missing out on the best offer of your life. If you counter an offer, the previous offer is off the table. The buyer can say no and walk away. Believe me, it’s happened before and we’ve seen the sellers regret it.
Rookie Seller Mistake #7: Lying on your property disclosure statement.
This is an absolute no-no. In the best case scenario, your realtor finds out before the deal goes firm and the offer collapses. In the worst case scenario, your deal is already firm and the buyer finds out you lied, and you’re in for a law suit. Odds are, if the buyer has an inspector through during subject removal the inspector will pull up any red flags. The truth is bound to come out, so just do things the right way the first time around. You may think that by disclosing the truth the value of your home will go down (and you’re not wrong), but when you lose that law suit odds are you’ll be down even more.
Rookie Seller Mistake #8: Assuming all of your renovations will receive a 100% return on investment.
I understand you put new shag carpet in that cost you thousands of dollars and that you think your home is worth an extra $5000 now… but unfortunately that’s just not how these things work. The winners for highest return on investment are updating the kitchen or the bathrooms. These typically yield anywhere between a 75-100% return on investment according to the Appraisal Institute of Canada.
With that in mind, the amount that you yield largely depends on whether or not the style of your renovations appeal to the general public. (AKA neutral laminate flooring will probably yield a higher ROI than shag carpet) If you’re unsure of what to renovate, give us a call and we can give you some recommendations on what to do.
Rookie Seller Mistake #9: Not being flexible with showing times.
On average buyers are viewing 12 other properties either before or after they come in to see your home. If it takes you 1-2 weeks to show your home, odds are they’ll find another place to see and put an offer on. A number of buyers are on a timeline, maybe they’ve already sold and they need to find a place ASAP or their rental lease expires in 60 days.
The more flexible you are with your showing times, the more showings you’ll have, which means you’ll have better exposure and more likely more offers. Try to have your home available on the weekends when the majority of people are free, as well as weekdays – especially after 3PM until about 730PM.
Rookie Seller Mistake #10: Overpowering smells.
The third party smell test is key to your success as a home seller. You may not smell the kitty litter… but the buyer sure will. Smell is a part of the buyer’s first impression, and you can only make that first impression once. Pull out the unscented Febreze, tuck away the kitty litter, dog bowls, and things of that matter, and absolutely, ABSOLUTELY no smoking in the home.
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See our how to prep your home for sale guide for more details
Need more tips on how to sell your home? Looking for a guideline on how to prepare your home for sale? Give us a call or text, or email [email protected] and we’d be happy to point you in the right direction!
