Thinking of selling your home? Just like buying a home, selling can be a long and complicated process. Mistakes can be easily made and some of these mistakes could be costly. To help save you money and save you hassle when selling your home, here is a guide on some of the mistakes that you should try to avoid.
Not budgeting for all the sales costs
There are a lot of costs associated with selling a home including any last minute home improvement costs, estate agent fees, legal fees and cleaning/moving fees. Make sure that you budget of all of these costs in.
Selling your home will typically cost 10% of the value of the home. Improvement costs and agency commission are the biggest costs to factor in. Fail to budget for these costs and you could struggle to afford to sell your home – which could affect your ability to put a deposit on a new home.
Trying to do it all on your own
You can sell a home without any help, but it’s not easy. You need to be able to market your home to attract buyers and handle all the legal paperwork. Without already being an expert, it is likely that something will go wrong during the selling process.
Hiring the help of an estate agent will make it easier to attract buyers and host viewings. Hiring local solicitors will meanwhile take away the stress of the paperwork (they can also handle the paperwork involved in buying your next home). You could also hire surveyors to check that your property is in good condition before putting it on the market.
Hiring the wrong estate agent
Different estate agents charge different fees and may even specialise in particular property. You need to make sure that you choose a reliable and inexpensive agency.
Take the time to compare estate agents in your area (there could also be online agencies to consider). Read online reviews of each agency to get an idea of their reputation. You should then consider reaching out to the most reputable agents and asking for a valuation. While with the agent carrying out the valuation, make sure to ask questions. A good agent will be willing to discuss all the costs involved and entire selling process so that you can get an idea of how affordable and knowledgeable they are.
Not taking the time to renovate/repair your home
Making repairs and renovations could make your home more attractive to buyers as well as allowing you to push the price up. Spend some time improving your home before you consider putting it on the market.
Repairs should be prioritised as these are most likely to put off buyers. This could include eliminating any sources of damp, fixing up the roof, patching up cracks in walls and replacing any cracked glass.
When it comes to improvements, you could consider anything from replacing old light fixtures to undertaking an entire loft conversion. Adding an extra bedroom will add the most value of any improvement, but could cost a lot of money in the process. Small improvements such repainting walls and laying new carpets could make a big impact. The key when improving to add value is to appeal to as many people as possible – painting your whole home green could be controversial and could put off a lot of buyers, while painting it white is safer and more likely to appeal to the masses.
Spending too much money on improvements
While you can add a lot of value to your home through improvements, you need to be careful of spending too much money and not making a return. Conversions tend to offer a better ROI than extensions – converting a garage or loft into a bedroom will cost less than building an extension, while adding a similar amount of value. Meanwhile, you should be careful of features that require a lot of plumbing/electrical work. For instance, installing track lighting to brighten up a room could cost a lot less than wiring in individual spotlights.
Not cleaning/decluttering your home
You also need to clean and declutter your home in preparation for the sale. A clean and tidy home will make your home more appealing to buyers. This could mean taking on all those jobs that you’ve been putting off such as tidying up the garden, deep cleaning the bathroom and getting rid of stuff that you no longer need.
Incorrectly valuing your home
A lot of sellers try to price their home too high (some even go against the advice of estate agents because they’re certain that they can make more), which can lead to little interest from buyers. Others make the mistake of pricing their home too low – you may find it easy to attract buyers in this case, but could end up with less money than you deserve.
Arrange valuations with multiple estate agents to get a good idea of how these experts value your home. You should also research prices of homes in the area (estate agents will likely do this, but it’s worth also doing yourself).
Being too restrictive with viewings
Most people want to view a property before buying. If you’re too restrictive about the times in which people can view your home, you could miss out on potential buyers.
While you probably don’t want people viewing your home at 9pm on a weekday, be open to evening viewings. It could also be worth giving a key to an estate agent so that they can access your home and host viewings while you are at work or out of the house. Viewings tend to be more effective when people aren’t at home anyway, as they make it easier for a buyer to imagine themselves living there.
