There is a lot that goes into selling a house, even in a very hot market like many cities are in right now. Here are some big errors that people get caught in:
- Not using a professional. Realtor, stager, handy person: doing it yourself will almost always cause problems and bring you less money.
- Pricing it wrong: this is especially common when people sell without a realtor, but pricing it too low or too high will either get you less than you could have or price you out of the market. At least pay for an appraisal.
- Forget about why you love the house. Buyers don’t care that you raised your family there. They care that they can see that for themselves. Make it appealing to a broad spectrum of people to maximize who might buy it.
- Keep timing in mind. Try to buy near when you sell so that you can take advantage of pricing in the same range as your sale, and not sell when prices are down, having already bought when they were high.
Above all, as I often say, a good realtor is worth the commission.
