To sell a home on the open market, Texans must successfully navigate a baker’s dozen worth of hurdles: (1) Make renovations and repairs, (2) find a listing agent, (3) research your home’s market value and set a price, (4) declutter and stage, (5) create your listing description with photos and videos, (6) hold home showings and open houses, (7) wait for offers, (8) negotiate offers, (9) accept an offer, (10) wait through buyer bank approvals, home inspections, and complete additional repairs required by the home inspector/buyer’s bank, (11) resolve title issues, (12) close the deal, and (13) move out and into your new home.
Whew! Doesn’t that sound like quite an ordeal? It is and it’s chalked full of obstacles that are full of consequences. If you misstep, it can impact your financial future and most importantly, your peace-of-mind. But if Texans can anticipate home selling mistakes before they happen, they’ll come out as winners. Sound like a plan? Here are the top 6 mistakes Texans make when selling a home:
What’s in it for you
In order for Texans to sell their home mistake free, it’s wise to understand the potential consequences and financial ramifications of 6 common house selling issues: (a) overpricing a home, (b) selecting offers based on price alone, (c) not considering the cost of selling, (d) not investigating other ways of selling, (e) not making counteroffers, and (f) having unrealistic home value expectations. So, what do you need to know about and how can Texans avoid these 6 seller mistakes?
Setting the sale price of your home too high is the top home selling mistake that Texans can make. Overpricing your home often backfires and cuts out your best potential customers: qualified homebuyers with a sense of urgency to buy. The result is that homes take longer to sell. As they sit buyers become increasingly suspicious of there being something wrong with the home or that the seller is unrealistic and unwilling to negotiate, so they pass on even making an offer. The consequence of making this top home selling mistake equates to a lower sale price as illustrated below.
→ Curious how much your Texas property is worth? Get your free home comps report from Good Vibes Homebuyers.
Choosing the right offer is not as simple as saying “yes” to the highest bidder. Although exciting, the highest offer almost always includes unpleasant-to-the-seller fine print that are commonly known as “contingencies”. Think of contingencies as conditions that must be met for the buyer to close. For sellers it’s critical to consider how contingencies can affect your timeline, the certainty of the sale, and its complexity. For example, you may receive a high offer contingent on the buyer selling their existing house. What if they can’t? Or you could field a high offer that is contingent on the buyer being approved for a mortgage. What if they have terrible credit? Or you could receive an offer above asking price that is contingent on you making costly repairs? Do you have the cash to do them and does the cost of completing them now make the offer ordinary? The bottom line to choosing the best deal is considering how the added time, complexity, and uncertainty of the highest offer compares to the simplicity, certainty, and no contingencies of a lower offer.
→ Don’t make the foolish mistake of thinking a high sale price is always best. Get the best insight on how to pick the best offer when selling a house in central Texas.
Most Texans understand that realtors don’t work for free, but many try to negotiate down or underestimate their 6% commission. Worse, nearly all Texas home sellers mistakenly overlook other common home selling expenses. When you account for closing costs, seller concessions, renovation and repairs, moving and home overlap costs – the total cost to sell a homestead in Texas regularly exceeds 15%. Below is an example of what it really costs to sell a home for (example) $300,000, however, if you want a snapshot for your unique situation you can use our home sale comparison calculator to accurately estimate your net proceeds.
→ Want a home sale without the mistakes, cost, and uncertainty of a listing? Get a full cash offer plus above market offers from Good Vibes Homebuyers. Sellers pay zero fees, can stay up to 180-days after closing so there’s no home overlap costs, and we pay up to $1,100 toward your moving expenses!
Yes, this Texas home seller mistake is virtually the same issue as overpricing your home. However, setting an unrealistic sale price is also distinctly different plus our investors have found that the biggest home selling problem is homeowners thinking that their house is worth more than it really is, so it bears emphasizing.
The price that homeowners want and what the market will pay, can be, and often is, two very different things. For sellers, the goal should be hitting the sweet-sale-price-spot between too much and too little. This means that sellers must be realistic about their home’s Fair Market Value (FMV) which is defined as the zone where both buyer and seller are reasonably knowledgeable about the current state of the real estate market, and neither is under pressure to buy or sell.
How can you determine a home’s FMV and avoid the consequences of setting an impractical home sale price? In a hot market like Texas experienced between the end of 2020 and the start of 2022, a comparable home sales report will typically produce an accurate home valuation. During cool periods, the best home sale pricing strategy is active listings of homes that are similar to yours.
Selling a home traditionally on the MLS involves 13 onerous steps, yet most homeowners endure that time-consuming and costly process. However, there are more ways to sell, and most sellers don’t even know they exist. Homeowners can go at it alone by selling FSBO (For Sale by Owner), to an iBuyer like Opendoor and Offerpad, or to a local investor like Good Vibes Homebuyers.
In a FSBO (pronounced “‘fizz-bo”) sale, homeowners serve as a de facto real estate agent. They list, market, and try to sell their own home, without the help of a realtor. By doing this, sellers save at least 3% in realtor commissions and keep and have more control over the marketing and pricing strategy of their home. You can learn about the FSBO process in our guide on how to sell a home without a realtor. Alternatively, Texans could consider selling to an iBuyer but homeowners will stay pay between 7% and 14% in “service fees” and receive a cash-offer-only.
Another mistake to avoid is Texas home sellers should not write off the possibility of selling to a local investor like Good Vibes Homebuyers. Not only do homeowners receive a cash offer (learn how cash offers work in Texas), but we also supply selling solutions that can address any situation and timeline. We even deliver ways of selling that pay above market value and have options for homeowners with negative to sell for a profit.
→ Selling to local investors like us could be the perfect choice or the worst idea ever. Learn how to decide which path is right for you.
Receiving offers that are perceived to be undervalue can be frustrating. If sellers know how to respond, however, perceived low offers often can turn into a seller’s best deal. For perspective, think about the last time you negotiated something: was your first offer your best offer? It almost certainly was not and like your then-buyer-self, the person who is now making what you think is a low offer, is likely not offering their best.
The good news is that someone wants to buy your home and the only way for that to happen is to respond. Not countering at all or responding harshly to perceived underestimate offers does absolutely nothing to advance the goal of selling your home. The key for sellers is to respond to all offers in a calm, cool, and collected way. Below are the best ways for sellers to handle what they think is a low offer and here are the top ways to respond.
At the end of the day, all Texans want to limit home seller mistakes so that the selling process is smooth, painless, and cost-effective. Since you’re now aware of the top 6 mistakes to avoid when selling a home, you can be confident that you’ll achieve your intended result and be able to respond effectively if something doesn’t go as planned. However, you can also be confident in Good Vibes Homebuyers to make the process straightforward, safe, and fun so skip the traditional 13-step process instead! Call, text, or submit our online form today!
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