Are you a Self Sabotaging Home Seller?

Are you robbing a yourself of maximum equity by doing these self sabotaging things? With everyone from friends and family to agents and social media telling you what to to, sometime we overlook what not to do. So today, let's review how NOT to sell a home.

Without further ado, here are 7 signs you might be sabotaging your own home sale:

7. Setting unreasonable conditions on the sale

When you try to match up the timing of a seller finding the ideal property while they are trying to find a buyer for their home at the highest price there is much added stress. 

Some sellers in hot or expensive markets (like California) have put conditions on the sale requiring the buyer to work around their timeframe. Is this what you were planning to do?

A buyer needs to know where they are going and by when. An entire contagion effect comes into play and that might stall a buyer's ability to sell and close on their current home if they own one or hamper them terminating a lease. A seller with a wishy-washy closing date detracts buyers.

It could also cause the seller to miss the market for their home, costing them not only time and a potentially higher selling price, but also and most of all, inability to move forward on a property that they like because you never know when your dream home will hit the market.

6. Making it difficult to show
If the majority of the competition is relatively easy to show and is on a lockbox, then a seller's home that is about to come on the market should be as well (luxury and unique homes or those with special circumstances where listing agents need to be present excluded).

What's the point of being on the market if no buyers can get in to see it? Complicated access, demanding showing instructions, restricted blocks of time during the day or certain days that the property cannot be shown will only contribute to the property sitting. 

For most agents, showings need to happen in limited time windows. Buyers are often in a hurry in a hot market or on a strict schedule when relocating. You don't want your property to be a thorn in a showing agent's side trying to accomodate a motivated buyer. Like it or not, the reality is agents absolutely can and do influence what a buyer ends up seeing and making an offer on. 

If your home is difficult to show when five or even ten other properties can easily be seen? Don't expect an agent to go out of their way to rearrange all of the other showing appointments and unfairly inconvenience those other accommodating sellers to make your difficult property a priority or double back when with a buyer and waste their time.

5. Hovering over showings
Are you stalking your buyers? Are you insisting on being home for every showing? Did you put cameras in every room? ARe you texting your own agent in real time giving room-by-room updates? This behavior almost guarantees that an offer won't be made on their home or that it’ll sit for a really, really, really long time on the market. 

There is nothing that makes buyers and their agents more uncomfortable than a seller who lingers because they are nosey or don't trust anyone or think their presence will sell the home.  
If you go into the office buyers will often assume your are listening and judging. No wonder the buyer feels like they can't talk freely with their agent or take their time in the home and leaves quickly. 

Are you furious that the buyer's agent just didn't seem to understand the home or appreciate all of the details?  Disappointed, upset and quite worried that because these things were seemingly missed or skipped over?

When the buyer leaves, are your calling your agent to analyze every minute of the showing, every move the buyer made and trying to figure out if they are the right one for the house? You are pushing buyers away AND you are going to give yourself an anxiety attack!

4. Not addressing repairs and/or properly disclosing
Sellers who are ignorant when it comes to their home's condition will only contribute to losing potential buyers. What seemingly appeared as the perfect home suddenly turns into anything but after inspections.

Do you think it is the buyer's problem to deal with things that obviously need attention? Do you assume you can offer to do very little or throw a couple of hundred dollars toward a several thousand dollar issue just because "it's a seller's market" or the "buyer's should get to choose" the repair or replacement?
Do you have that old furnace with no service records or those electrical issues that are potential fire hazards. Maybe a dripping faucet or multiple light bulbs out? Are you thinking that you have lived with it for years, so it can't really be that dangerous? Are you selling to get rid of these problems instead of fixing them? You are sending a signal to buyers to run for the hills (or send a low offer) by listing your house "as-is" and passing along your problems.

Incomplete answers, blank lines and vague explanations on a seller’s disclosure is also another area of concern for buyers. 

When the buyer (through their agent) seeks clarification and does not get much in the way of answers or information is a surefire way for a buyer to grow suspicious and think the worst.

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3. Stepping over dimes to save nickels
Everyone loves to save money when it comes to selling a house. Nickel and diming the buyer to death in a negotiation is not the way to do it.
Sellers who counter nearly every item in the offer that has been requested is a huge turnoff. Especially when they keep trying to step over dollars to save pennies.

They intentionally exclude their perceived fancy light fixtures and fans and list out the cost of everything they spent on each component in a home to justify the number they are coming back with.

Home warranty? No way. When the buyer pushes back in the negotiation asking for one again, the seller only agrees to pay a certain amount toward it and only for basic coverage.
The back-and-forth is endless with no conclusion in sight. When it appears to be close, the seller asks for a different closing date that is the most inconvenient date for all involved but the seller.

The buyer might just walk away out of pure mental exhaustion. If it is this difficult now, they tell themselves, what will it be like once they go under contract?

2. Lacking preparation
Why risk the single largest investment by being hasty or stubborn? To do anything well in life requires planning and preparation, and selling a home is no exception.

The notion that you don’t really have to do anything and can throw a home on the market to see what sticks is plain foolish. Every property has strong points, weak points and challenges. 
Many can be overcome with proper preparation — cleaning, painting, repairs, updating, staging, etc. Some cannot be changed such as location or layout, but the more preparation that takes place, the better the chance of a more positive outcome. 
Just assuming buyers can see past the clutter, old worn carpet, dated fixtures and not notice the cat smell is like taking money out of your wallet and flushing it down the toilet.

On that note, asking an agent to get your house on the market in short order can also be a hit to your wallet. A proper marketing plan for a home requires time and planning on the agents part as well. Proper pricing, staging, photos, copywriting, etc require professional preparation. 

AND THE NUMBER ONE WAY HOME SELLERS SABOTAGE THEIR HOME SALE...

1. Overpricing
Pricing high is one of the most common sale sabotaging tactics that sellers do. Everyone wants the most the market will bear for their home, of course; however, buyers and their agents don't have the same emotional and time investment in the home as you do and their perceptions of the value is likely to be less than how the you sees the value of your home.

Sellers are fearful of leaving money on the table, but that money is perceived, not actual dollars in their pocket.
Overpricing is a classic example of the saying you can't lose what you don't have. While a home sits on the market with a high price, buyers are making offers on the competition that is more reasonably priced. Homes that they perceive to have more value.

The longer the home sits on the market, the more buyers assume the price is too high since nobody has jumped on it.

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About the author: The above article “Self Sabotaging Home Sellers” was provided by Sarah Marrinan.

With multiple certifications, awards and experience, if you’re thinking of selling or buying, I’d love to share my knowledge and expertise. Proudly servicing the following Twin Cities, MN areas: White Bear Lake, Hugo, Lino Lakes, Centerville, Vadnais Heights, Shoreview, Mounds View, Circle Pines, Mounds View, Forest Lake, Columbus, Wyoming, Saint Paul, Minneapolis, Roseville, Lake Elmo, Stillwater and Oakdale, MN.