When you’re ready to sell your home, there’s no end to the “helpful advice” you might receive from friends and family. Unfortunately, there is a ton of that helpful advice that just isn’t true. Let’s take a look at some of the more common myths you might hear about selling your home.
Myth #1: You Should Only Sell Your Home During the Spring Busy Season
Every season has positives and negatives when it comes to selling a home. Depending on local market conditions and your personal needs, holding out until spring might not be your best option. Yes, lots of homes are sold during the spring months so there are a lot of potential buyers out there. However, the spring months also have the highest level of inventory to choose from so your listing is competing with far more listings than if you chose another time of year to sell. Truthfully, there are buyers looking for homes in every season.
Myth #2: Online Estimates are a Good Resource to Use When Pricing Your Home
Online estimates from general real estate websites (think Zillow and Trulia) are notoriously inaccurate and should never be used to help decide a listing price for your home. In fact, when a home lingers on the market and is a struggle to sell, the number one cause is the wrong asking price. Rely instead on an experienced real estate agent who understands the neighborhood and can look at recently sold homes in the area (called comps) to help you price your listing right, the first time.
Myth #3: Don’t Make Any Updates/Upgrades to Your Home Before You List
The rationale for this myth is often something along the lines of “you’ll save money and allow the buyers to make the changes they want”. Sounds reasonable, right? This is a myth. While you don’t want to take on major renovation projects in most cases, there are often small fixes and updates that can help your home command a higher asking price – sometimes thousands of dollars. How do you know what fixes will help you sell your home for the most money? Here again is where an experienced real estate agent is your secret weapon. Your real estate agent is an expert in what buyers expect in your market. They can tell you which upgrades or updates will pay off well and which to skip.
Myth #4: You Don’t Really Need a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home
Can you sell a home without a real estate agent? Technically, yes… People who do this offer their listing as “For Sale By Owner” or FSBO. The bigger question is whether there is actually any benefit to you as a seller. We have entire blog posts that focus just on the benefits of hiring a listing agent, like this one LINK HERE: Century21Broadhurst-Listing Agent. A listing agent can help you sell your home faster and for a much better price than going the FSBO route. Plus they handle the piles of paperwork, negotiating with buyer’s agents, marketing your listing and so much more.
Selling your home is a big decision. It’s important to have the right information and expertise to help you through the process. These top 4 myths about selling your home can result in a difficult and stressful sales process. Don’t believe the hype! Your Century 21 Broadhurst agent can help you sell when you want and for the best possible price.
