The Good and The Bad of Home Selling Advice
Announcing that you are ready to sell your home is like announcing a baby is on the way. Everyone has plenty of advice to offer, all with good intentions. But not all advice is worth taking. When it comes to selling you home there are many popular assumptions made about how and when it is best to sell. These ideas can take the form of bad advice that can cost you. If you know what to avoid however, selling your home can be a great success.
Let’s start with timing. There are seasonal ups and downs when it comes to real estate. There are also a variety of ways the market can be influenced, from interest rates, to the economy, political and social events and the stock market, any of these things can cause major fluctuations. With this in mind, listing in an ideal season is almost impossible to do. When people say summer is the best time to sell, this is not always so. While winter is often the slowest time for home sales generally speaking, summer can actually be another slow time with a greater number of people traveling or taking vacations. Ultimately though, there are always people looking to buy 24/7 in our digital world. When you are ready to list your house, it is time to list it, the buyers will come.
How you list your home will make a big difference. This is where many have fallen under the spell of bad advice in the hopes of saving money. There is a returning trend to a laid back approach when it comes to preparing your home. While you may not want to spruce up the paint, or fix a whole in the wall, taking time to clean and stage your home will make a big difference in attracting buyers. While you may think it is better for potential buyers to imagine what they can do to fix up a property, most people can’t get beyond things such as stained floors or damaged kitchen cabinets.
The same laid-back approach has been applied to listing photos. You may have heard that camera phone photos are good enough, but in truth, they are not. It's better to leave the photography for a professional using a 
professional camera that captures the best angles and features of your property. As curb appeal gives the first impression at showings, your listing gives the first impression during home searches. The better quality photos you have, the better your chances at peaking the interest of home buyers.
I have also heard said, “The market is hot, you don’t need an agent to sell, you can find anyone to buy at the right price.” This is bad advice if ever I heard it. With an agent you get the expertise needed to market your home well, with powerful results. You also get experience and support throughout the entire process. It takes continued education and practice as an active agent to keep up on the latest practices for real estate aspects such as risk management and fiduciary duties.
It also takes experience to understand emerging trends and how the market is functioning at any given time. Beware of friends and family members who offer to help you sell your home without having the experience to back it up. You may see a chance to save some money in commissions, but you are taking on a greater risk at having errors occur, some that may even cost you. With only 3% of Realtors® being successful in their careers, it is easy see that this complex industry takes in depth and continued commitment to ensure a job well done. With a fully licensed and experienced agent, you get peace of mind when it comes to selling your home.
Another piece of advice to beware of is that it is ok to work sell your home in a dual-agent situation. As I expanded upon in a previous blog, allowing your selling agent to also represent a buyer is a bad idea. Some say you can save in commission fees this way, but ultimately a dual agent transaction is one done with a conflict of interest. When you are ready to buy or sell your home, we at Haylen Group are here to help you with all of your real estate needs! As your buyer agent we will strive to work together and give you the best support we can. Call Helen Chong at (408) 800-LIST or email at Helen@HaylenGroup.com. You can also visit us at our website for available listings and additional information.
