ReSET Blog
Blog · August 15, 2016 · AUTHOR: Udi Dorner

Avoid These Costly Mistakes before Selling a Home

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So you have your home listed. You are ready to accept an offer at any time. You have spent a lot of money on advertising your home and updating everything to the liking of the buyers before listing it. This should be an easy deal, right? However, this is not the case. There are still a lot of things that could happen before the final transaction begins. You could turn buyers away. You may even be sued for misrepresentation if your home is improperly listed. Before selling your home, pay attention and avoid these costly mistakes.

Don’t Sell Before You Get Qualified to Buy Your New Home

Before listing the home that you are currently living in, you should have your next home lined up and be pre-approved for your next mortgage. This is something that should be planned in advance of selling your current home, since it can take some time to find the right home for you.

Don’t Guess Your Loan Payoff

Make sure that you know ahead time about how long it will take to pay off the rest of the lien on your home. Study the fine print information before you sign paperwork from the bank to make sure that you won’t have to pay extra for early payoff.

Don’t Guess on the Sales Price of Your Home

Have an appraiser that specializes in selling homes give you an estimate. This will allow you to be able to list your home and sell it quicker. If your home is overpriced for the area listed, you will not get anyone looking to buy. You also don’t want to list too low for the area and lose money on your home.

Don’t Underestimate Your Closing Costs

Before you sell, always factor the following items into consideration before moving forward with your plan to sell your home: the commission costs that come when selling with an agent, or the cost of advertising and other fees associated with selling the property yourself. Also, determine the costs of a closing agent or attorney, depending on what you go with. Consider gains from taxes depending on your situation, and be aware of any other fees that are sometimes paid by you as the seller, including inspections, appraisals, and the cost of closing.

Don’t Spend Earnest Money Given to You

If you get a deposit from a seller, don’t spend the money given to you. It is better to give the deposit to your real estate agent or a friend to keep yourself from spending it. In cases where sellers have spent the deposit, the buyers were able to fight to get the deposit back. It is a good idea to write in the contract what will happen if the transaction is unable to be finalized. Working with a title company will help you facilitate and manage these finer points.

Don’t Worry About the Inspection

The inspection may seem intimidating, but it is not something to lose sleep over. You may have to fix some small repairs. Set aside a reasonable amount and stick to it. Don’t go overboard on repairs if you are unable to fix them at the present time; you may be able to work something out with the buyer. However…

Don’t Ignore Inspection Requirements

Make sure that you take care of all the problems to the best that your ability and wallet allows. Financing companies have different inspectors to let them assess the potential risk of home.

Don’t Forget to Cancel or Switch Utilities and Insurance

Always make sure to switch your insurance and utilities for your home. It is a good idea to call and ask about the length of notice needed to switch utilities and insurance and then notify each of these vendors when you have a date that your home is closing.

Don’t Become Best Friends with the Buyer

Be friendly, but don’t go too overboard on really long, overly-personal conversations. Stay formally polite and be professional. Being too nice can cloud judgements and a mistake could be made. Potential buyers will second guess. And what may seem like innocent talk can be enough to make a potential buyer walk away.

Don’t Panic if the Appraisal Comes in Low

Your appraisal for your home may come in low. There are certain things that you and your real estate agent can do to help get what you want out of your home. Explore these options before you panic.

Don’t Go It Alone

The act of selling your home is a job in it by itself, between cleaning, packing, and everything else that comes with selling your home. This is why it is good to hire an agent instead of trying to sell your home yourself.

Don’t go to Closing Unprepared

You should have a HUD estimate. This is a settlement sheet. It can be thought of as a contract that determines the price as well as the closing insurance. It also gives the cost to you for what repairs should be. Go with your own title company when it comes to closing as they are usually more faithful to the ones who have their titles. Shop around for the most appropriate title insurance since this is a large percentage of the closing costs.

Don’t Write an Offer for the Buyer

Do not write an offer for a potential buyer! This is why you have an agent. It is best to hire an agent because they are more able to protect you and any of your interests.

Don’t Show Your Home Unprepared

All of the things that are unpleasant to look at should be addressed. Clean up. Paint up. Remove debris. Make sure to take care of anything that could keep your home from selling fast are taken care of quickly.

Don’t Follow Buyers around When the Agent is Showing Your Home

While it is an exciting time for you and your family to sell your home and move forward to bigger things, it is important that you don’t jeopardize this process by following potential buyers around. This creates an awkward situation for everybody, because buyers who are looking will feel like they are intruding on your space. If your agent is really professional, he or she may ask you to leave the house for showings. In short, if you are told that someone wants to see the house, just leave and go for a drive or go out for a bit until the showing is over.

Don’t Waste Your Time with Non-Qualified Buyers

Nothing wastes more time than showing your home to someone who is not qualified for a loan for the amount you have listed your home for. Always talk to the bank yourself or have your real estate agent do so, before trying to sell to a friend that is not even qualified for a loan. Contributed by James Link SetSchedule has changed the way real estate marketing is viewed, by changing the way REALTORS® access clients and listing appointments. SetSchedule is a “first of its’ kind” exclusive membership based model that provides verified appointments, marketing tools, and elite invite only networking events for its members. By blending new technologies, and thought processes with proven success methods SetSchedule had incurred record producing results unseen in the industry.  

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Comments
  • What to you recommend to look out for when searching around for a title insurance? That seems to be more important than I thought. I hadn't been aware that affects a large percentage of the closing cost.

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