Top 10 Seller Mistakes

10. Waiting until spring to sell. People buy homes all year, so play up the home's seasonal amenities and take advantage of serious buyers looking in the off-season.

9. Not understanding the real estate contract. Go over the fine print of the agreement with your real-estate agent or attorney before signing to make sure you understand your responsibilities as well as any demands the buyer has made.

8. Going it alone without researching first. Selling a home for-sale-by-owner take time, and requires you to do paperwork, marketing and showings. Make sure you're up for the work involved in return for saving on the real-estate agent commission fee.

7. Ignoring lowball offers. If buyers submit a low offer, don't reject it completely. Counteroffer to see if they are willing to negotiate.

6. Wasting time on an unqualified buyer. Make sure a potential buyer is prequalified for a loan before accepting an offer.

5. Skimping on marketing. Mix traditional advertising, including a sign in the yard and an ad in a homes magazine, with Web techniques, including online photos and video.

4. Sabotaging the showing. Leave the home when it is being shown to prospective buyers so they can more easily focus, and make sure the home is accessible with convenient showing hours and a lockbox for agents.

3. Not prepping for the sale. Visit open houses in the neighborhood to get a sense of what the competition offers, then make fixes and updates, declutter and clean to outshine them.

2. Overimproving. Don't make so many upgrades that you price your home out of the appropriate range for the area and fail to recoup your investment.

And the number one biggest mistake homeowners are making right now is the following and after you read it I will tell you why:


1. Overpricing. Your home should be priced in line with homes in the area that are of similar age, style and size.


Many homeowners hold out for the 'Miracle Sale' they are not realistic about the price. My favorite homeowner is the guy who is holding a new appraisal on the home complaining that it came in way to low, I need to sell his house for 50-100K more and by the way, when it does sale I need to find them a house 200K under priced.

Sellers need to be realistic! If they aren't they are going to cause themselves horrible damage long term. In some cases we have seen in this declining market, when homeowners want to list their home well above fair market value. They blame the Realtor for not getting an offer then fire them. Then the new Realtor lists it more realistic but not quite what the homeowner in there delusions of grander may like. Next thing you know the homeowner is stuck in a Short Sale and back to the original agent who they should have listened to in the first place.

these steps help homeowners avoid foreclosure, Deed in lieu and even Short Sale.

-Christopher Rockey
rockey@mresolution.com