Whether you are a first time home seller or you have a lot of experience when it comes to the subject of selling homes it is still easy to repeatedly make the same mistakes especially when you are not actively guarding against it. Here is a list of the most common mistakes that sellers make and how to avoid them, according to Steve van Wyk, Managing Director for Seeff Centurion:
1. Sellers overprice their property:Overpricing your property is the surest way for your property to stay on the market for a very long or even indefinite period of time. The people who get to decide your property’s worth in the end are the buyers who are very educated about the property market. Make sure you get a proper valuation and speak to a qualified estate agent to obtain information regarding average selling prices in your area before pricing your property.
2. Sellers think that awarding a sole mandate is a bad idea:In actual fact this could not be further removed from the truth. For the best price to be achieved on your property it is crucial that buyers must compete for your property and not estate agents. A sole agent will often obtain a higher price as there is sufficient time to negotiate without being concerned about a competing agent’s offer and more energy, advertising expenditure and time is invested into the marketing of your property. Award a sole mandate!
3. Sellers try to sell their property themselves:Sellers more often than not don’t have the tools to market their properties effectively and don’t have the knowledge they need about the legislation involved when transferring or registering a property. Sellers also don’t necessarily achieve higher prices for their properties doing private deals and don’t attract as many potential buyers as estate agents do. You are best advised to make use of an estate agent.
4. Renovating or upsizing your property without consulting with a professional estate agent first -Rather speak to an estate agent before risking a chance of over capitalising or overspending on unimportant aspects.
5. Not going the extra mile on show days –while it is recommended that you speak to an estate agent before undertaking major work to your home, you should still undertake regular repair work like painting or fixing leaking gutters so that you may present your home in the best possible light on especially show days. Not undertaking regular maintenance to your home creates the idea amongst potential buyers that your home needs a lot of fixing and could put them off. Buyers are well educated about the condition that property should be in as they compare house prices and condition by viewing properties on the various websites.