5 Mistakes/Errors in Selling Your Home

Error No. 1: Trying to make your friend happy could make you miserable. If you are selling your home, it may sound like a great idea to hire your friend as your listing agent. Sure, they're new to real estate and live in a distant suburb, but why not give them a shot? After all, they could discount their commission and still make money. This is what you reason. But, as green as they are, they're likely to do a less than splendid job marketing your home. And their lack of expertise in your real estate market means they will have a harder time pulling in the buyers than a good agent who works the territory regularly.
Hiring a friend or even family member is one of the five most common, serious errors committed by home sellers. Making this mistake could mean your home will sell more slowly and for less money than it otherwise would.

Error No. 2: Falling into the "gotta get" pricing syndrome.
"The market determines the price for which you're going to sell--not what you need to get out of a deal," says a senior vice president with Re-Max International Realty chain.
Suppose, for instance, that a couple living in a modest three-bedroom colonial---call them the Wilsons--decided to trade up.
One Sunday, the Wilsons happen upon an open house at a new development for four-bedroom homes. They're taken in with the extra space, skylights, oversized bathrooms and walk-in closets. In their enthusiasm, they sign a contract.
To buy the contemporary, the Wilsons determine, they must sell the colonial for X-amount. Regrettably, the amount they need from the old house is $10,000 more than the prevailing price for similar homes in their neighborhood, and they price the colonial at the "got to get" level.
But it quickly becomes apparent to buyers that the colonial is priced higher than its' competition, and most won't even bother to visit it. That means that during the first 30 days of the listing--when the home should generate the most excitement--it gets few lookers.
Worse, the home becomes shopworn. As it languishes on the market, people become suspicious that something must be wrong with it.
Sure, the property will probably sell when the Wilsons come to their senses. But the selling price might even be lower than the Wilsons would have received by properly pricing the home at the outset.

Error No. 3: Trying to "test the market" in terms of price.
Like the "gotta get" sellers, people who try a higher-than-market price with the notion that it can always be lowered hurt themselves.
Of course, it's a free country. You can charge what you want for your castle--ignoring the advice offered by any broker or appraiser you meet, but overpricing will sabotage your sale.
Asking just $10,000 or $20,000 more than market value could mean the difference between selling quickly at a good price and not selling for a while. And remember, keeping your house on the market for a prolonged period imposes its own expenses, including carrying costs and upkeep.

Error No. 4: Misrepresenting your property.
Sellers have a natural inclination to be positive about their property--and that's perfectly appropriate. On the other hand, misrepresentation works to the sellers' disadvantage, writes Peter G. Miller, the author of several books on real estate.
Miller remembers visiting a home described on the listing as having five bedrooms. What the listing failed to indicate, however, was that the living room had been carved into two bedrooms. The place had no living room at all.
"It was like a dormitory. I've seen better looking barracks," Miller says. While most sellers wouldn't commit such an outrageous misrepresentation, there is a tendency to fudge about room sizes, screen porches, decks, or unfinished basements when they calculate a home's total square footage--when only living areas should be counted.
"What you're doing is setting people up for a disappointment when you misrepresent your home on the listing, and once they're disappointed, it's awfully difficult to recapture their interest," Miller says.

Error No. 5: Putting a house up for sale before cleaning the yard. Elements of yard clutter can be serious deterrents to selling a home.
Yard clutter lessens what's known as "curb appeal." Very likely the prospective buyer will be put off by the clutter even before getting out of the car.

*courtesy of http://www.bergencountyhomes.net/