5 Behaviors That Make it Difficult to Sell A Home

As a home seller, you may feel you know your home better than anyone else. Since you’re emotionally and financially invested in the property, it’s understandable why you may feel that it’s going to sell and it’s going to go for top dollar, especially in a hot market. Although it is a seller’s market right now, that doesn’t mean a great sale is guaranteed. You still need to help your Realtor out by seriously listening to their advice and being honest with them.

What you may see as reasonable requests or simple oversights could turn out to be things that make your Realtor’s job harder. Here are five behaviors to avoid that can make it stressful and difficult to sell a home.

1. You think your home is the best on the block and should be priced higher than what the market dictates.

Sellers that end up pricing their home too high, despite the advice of an agent, make selling their home hard.  If it’s priced too high, a home will sit on the market for months. Most times, the seller will end up selling for less money than they would have gotten if the home was listed at an appropriate price from the start.

2. You don’t clean your house for showings.

Buyers want to feel that a home is clean and well maintained. If it’s not, they’ll likely move on to the next one. Clutter also makes your house seem smaller and makes it harder for buyers to picture themselves living there.

3. You insist on being home when your Realtor shows the house to potential buyers.

Even if you are friendly and cordial, your presence can make buyers feel uncomfortable. They want to be able to speak freely about their likes and dislikes about the property. The seller being home makes them feel like they have invaded someone else’s space, rather than picturing themselves living there.

4. You don’t negotiate on price.

You want to get top dollar, but if you have gone back and forth with the buyer on the price and then they offer you just $1,500 less than asking price, it is probably worth it to accept the offer. Being only $1,500 from your dream price is not a bad place to be.

5. You don’t disclose important information about the home’s condition.

Say, for instance, your basement flooded last year and you have done an excellent job of cleaning it up. You still need to be honest and disclose the information to your Realtor and potential sellers. If you don’t, the home inspection may reveal the truth, and you could lose your buyers because they no longer trust you and wonder what else you haven’t revealed. If the home inspection doesn’t let the buyers know your little secret, but they find out later, they can come back with legal action against you. Being sneaky is never a good idea when it comes to disclosures, plus you don’t want to put your Realtor in the uncomfortable position of learning about the issue with the buyers rather than from you.

Even in a seller’s market, it pays to be a good seller and avoid things that will hurt your sale, delay it, or cost you down the road.