Top 7 Mistakes Sellers Make

Top Seven Mistakes Sellers Make in the first 2 weeks on the Market.

I have been in the real estate business since 2002.  That’s over 22 years of experience watching sellers make these same mistakes over and over, and the best service I can offer is to educate them.

1. Coming on the market overpriced – “Testing the Market”
When you first put your home on the market, it’s common to want to test the waters so-to-speak. We often hear sellers say, “I’ll start here and I can always come down.” This is a HUGE mistake and I’ll tell you why. First impressions are everything!  When buyers are searching for a property, they are often ready to make an offer when they find the right home.  Chances are they have been searching for weeks already, or maybe even months. The day your home’s is listed on the market, you are the bright and shiny Bell of the Ball, and everyone who’s looking for a property like yours is watching! So what’s the first impression?
“That’s a wicked deal, we need to get an offer in quick!”
“That’s exactly what we’re looking for and the price seems reasonable.”
“That’s an awesome property, but they are out to lunch on their price.”
This is how each of those scenarios will play out…

Scenario 1: “That’s a wicked deal, we need to get an offer in quick!” – When you come on the market for the first time slightly below perceived market value, you create a buzz, and you’ll get a lot of attention. Your phone will be lit up with interest as people attempt to see the property and get an offer in. This seller will entertain many viewings, and potentially get multiple offers, perhaps even over asking price. The seller will be in control of the sale process and can decide which offer is best for them.  It’s not always about price. The best offer might not bethe highest offer but if presented with fewer conditions and a quick possession date, that can be perceived as a cleaner and more attractive offer. Sellers also like to see a large deposit. Despite the fact that the deposit is refundable as long as there are conditions on the offer, it shows that the buyer is serious and has the money to purchase the home.

Scenario 2: “That’s exactly what we’re looking for and the price seems reasonable.” – This is the sweet spot where you are priced where the market agrees and you will likely sell close to asking price. It’s ideal to price your home close to what you expect to get as a final sales price rather than building in lots of extra room for negotiation.  I often hear sellers say something like “I can always come down”.

Scenario 3: “That’s an awesome property, but they are out to lunch on their price.” – This is the worst scenario because the home will not sell. Furthermore, it will sit on the market and get stale. Buyers will see the property on the market and begin to wonder what’s wrong with it. Then you will be forced to lower your price; not once, not twice, but repeatedly, until you are priced below market value because the public believes that there is a problem with the home. This will result in a sale below true market value, and you will be very disappointed in the process and the results.

2. Being Underprepared for Photos and/or Showings
Less than 10% of the population can envision a home differently than how it is presented to them. What I mean by that is, if the home is messy, or cluttered, a buyer cannot imagine what the home would look like if it was clean and tidy.  When a buyer first sees a home for sale, they want to envision what the home will look like with them living there. Failing to scale back on furniture or clean the home properly from too much clutter will make it very difficult, if not impossible for the seller to picture themselves in the home.

The curb appeal is just as important. When the buyer pulls up to the house, the lawn should be mowed, flower beds and edges weeded, and remove as many things from the yard as possible.

Too often we come to a home and it is not ready for photos. The home should look like it was just moved into, not lived in for decades. Knick knacks, cookbooks, appliances (yes, even your toaster goes away for photos), coats and shoes at the back entrance, etc. should all be stored out of site. Use those cupboards above the fridge that you can’t even reach if you must, but clear as many things out of the way as possible. Less is more; it’s easier for a buyer to picture their things where there is nothing, rather than them picturing their stuff where yours is.

Also, we photograph the inside of garages! Buyers, especially males, want to see the inside of the garage. Most agents fail to photograph the garage, but at homeFree, we know how important it is to many buyers, so we photograph the inside of garages so while the photographer is capturing the interior photos, move your vehicles out of the garage so we can get some great photos of the space.

Lastly, if your home is vacant, you may consider staging it. The high costs and collaboration needed for traditional staging – whereby furniture & decor is moved into the home – is no longer necessary. Virtual staging is a new and relatively under utilized tool. We offer this service to our sellers and you’d be amazing at how it will change a buyers perspective on a vacant property.  Recently we had a home that was vacant, the seller was getting frustrated after a few weeks and no offers, then he had our team do the virtual staging and he received an offer 2 days later and is now SOLD!

3. Failing to understand the goal
Knowing how much your home is worth, and being realistic with the price. Failing to understand what happens if a buyer comes with a realtor. Some sellers flat out refuse to pay commissions to a Buyer’s agent. They think that if the buyer comes with a realtor, they aren’t going to pocket as much, and while sometime this is true, in most cases, you can get the Buyer to pay the commission.

How you ask? Here is a real life example of when a Seller pocketed just as much, even though the realtor brought the buyer. Susan was selling her home and was asking $455,000. She flat-out said, she will not pay a Buyer’s agent any commission. What Susan didn’t realize was that she was turning away a lot of potential buyers AND hurting her chances of a sale for no reason.

See, Susan wanted $447,000 bottom line. I explained to her that if she simply tells the realtor that “I need to pocket $447,000 after commission, including GST on the commission” Yes, there is GST on a realtor’s commission, so be sure they understand that your net dollar is inclusive of GST.  “Anything you sell the home for above $447,000 can be paid as a Buyer’s agent commission.”
Susan sold the house for full asking price and the agent received $8000 in commission. Effectively, the buyer paid the commission, and was happy to do so as they really wanted the house.  Plus, they were the ones who chose to use a realtor, so they should be the one who pays the commission.

4. Flexibility on showings
There is a commitment to make when selling your home.  You need to be prepared to show your home, but that doesn’t mean you need to drop everything the moment someone asks if they can see your home. If you’re going on holidays, perhaps you can ask a friend, co-worker or family member to show the home while you are away?

Remember, you don’t need to be a salesperson to sell your home.  Homes sell themselves based on their own merits like location, size, style, and features that the buyer is looking for. Be sure to ask the buyer if they have viewed the VR Tour prior to booking the viewing.  This will eliminate a lot of tire kickers (and neighbours who always wanted to see the inside of your home) from showing up, and wasting your time.  The VR Tour is very immersive and can give the buyer a very good idea of what the home looks and feels like on the inside. It truly is almost as good as being there in person.

5. Rejecting the First Offer – this is often the best one you’ll get!
It happens all too often; a seller puts their home on the market, and the first person that comes to see it wants to put in an offer.  The problem is, it’s lower than what you were expecting so you either reject the offer, or counter at your asking price. Then what happens is the home sits on the market for a few weeks and gets stale.  People can see how many days a listing has been on the market, and they start to think, “what’s wrong with it?” Then the seller lowers the price to try get some attention, but it’s too late; the market thinks something is wrong with the home, and eventually the asking price is below what that first offer was for.

6. Ineffective Showings – or Rushing the Buyer
Buyers want space when viewing a home. If you follow them through the house they will feel rushed, and they will fly though without taking the proper time needed to take in each room. The buyers feel nervous talking about your home in front of you. They will say thanks and leave. When they get to their car, they will start having the conversation that should have taking place in the house. Things “Do you think our sectional will fit in the living room?” or “Do you think there’s room for an island in the kitchen?” or “What brand are the appliances, I forgot to check?” and so on.  Then, best case scenario, they will book another showing only to have the proper conversations that should have happened on the first showing. Or worst case, they don’t come back at all and you’ve lost out on that potential Buyer. You need to allow potential buyers to view your home and have the conversations necessary without having you in EarShot.

7. Listing Your Home with a Realtor – The “Commission Straitjacket”
The moment you list your home with a traditional agent, you give up the freedom and control of the sale. Not only that, but Buyer’s agents are less willing to negotiate on commission when they are working with another realtor as opposed to a ComFree listing. The reason for this is simple, they know that if they don’t negotiate with the seller to reach an agreeable finders fee, the buyer may go around them, and the agent will end up getting nothing.

If you list your home with a realtor, you can expect to pay full commission on both sides.  There are some misconceptions about other brokerages in the market. If they call themselves 2% or even 1%, they are referring to their commission on the Seller’s Agent side of the deal, not the Buyer’s agent commission. It’s the bait and switch act that many agencies are famous for, but by the time you realized what’s happening, you’ve already signed the listing contract and committed to paying their huge commission. You are locked in, and the contract cannot be terminated unless the listing agent agrees to let you out of the contract.

Since when is selling your house like launching missiles and you both must turn your key? The answer: ALWAYS!  when it comes to listing your home with a traditional agent.  So don’t do it!

With homeFree, you are in a flexible agreement that can be cancelled at any time. You have not committed to any commissions if you do not want to pay them.  And you are on the mls and realtor.ca, getting the same exposure as any other house for sale. It is extremely rare that a ComFree agreement is ever cancelled (less than 10% of our listings), and in those rare cases, the Seller ends up listing their home with a realtor at a lower asking price than they were at with ComFree! They end up paying full commission, which means they pocket thousands, sometimes tens of thousands less than if they had priced right on homeFree from the beginning.