5 Mistakes to Avoid When Listing a Home for Sale

Do you know the common mistakes to avoid when listing home for sale? Here we’ll help Sellers recognize these common practices that hinder homes from selling quickly.

Not all listings are created equal. From top notch presentation, to digitally manipulated images, and everything in between. In a big city like Miami you can expect the unexpected when it comes to sifting through the sea of active listings. At Showhomes, we partner with Realtors, Developers and Homeowner’s to prepare their home for a top dollar sale. Spoiler alert: a record-breaking sale starts with a good-looking listing.

It is the experienced Realtors and Real Estate entrepreneurs who guide their clients through a seamless and successful selling process. As we walk into our fourteenth year of working alongside Real Estate professionals, we have noticed trends and patterns in homes that take a little longer to sell. Below are the common mistakes Sellers and Realtors make when listing a home for sale, prolonging the number of days a property spends on the market.

1. Neglecting Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is the opening act of a captivating story—it sets the stage for what’s to come and entices the buyer to journey further. Imagine a potential buyer cruising through a neighborhood awaiting the drive into their dream property. “Here we are!” They pull into a house with well-maintained landscaping, charming architecture, and clean facade. Immediately, the impression ignites an emotional connection, a vision of the future life that could be lived in this home.

Curb appeal has a tangible impact on the financial dimensions of the transaction. Studies have shown that homes with strong curb appeal tend to sell faster and at higher prices than their less visually alluring counterparts. This is because a well-maintained exterior suggests a similarly cared-for interior, an observation that nudges buyers towards making more competitive offers and may even sway appraisal prices for a favorable outcome.

2.  Showing a Highly Personal Space

In order for the interior to meet the high expectations of a charming exterior, you must leave room for the buyer to feel at home. What is the feeling of “home,” anyway? Home is a sanctuary adorned with memories, tastes, and stories woven into every corner. And while every house holds deep sentimental value for its current owners, it can present a challenge when the time comes to pass the torch to new owners. Depersonalization is a strategic maneuver that creates a blank canvas, allowing potential buyers to envision themselves within the walls of the home. It liberates the space, giving a sense of universality that is vital for attracting a broader pool of potential buyers.

However, to depersonalize a home does not mean to deprive it of personality. Rather arranging and adjusting parts of the interior that allow a buyer to see beyond the current owner’s identity. By neutralizing the decor, removing personal photos, decluttering the space, and creating an atmosphere of open possibility, the interior becomes a versatile canvas that sparks the buyer’s imagination.

3. Ignoring Home Staging

Embarking on a home selling journey means moving out and closing a chapter of your life. This can be both emotional and exhausting, and can take a toll on overwhelmed Homeowners. Though some Realtors help clients through more than just a business transaction, it can be a lot of responsibility for either party to get the home in top-notch shape. Hiring a professional staging company to visually elevate your home can be a game changer.

Staging transforms a property into a showcase— allowing potential buyers to envision their own lives unfolding in every room. Each hand-selected furniture piece stirs emotions and encourages connection between the buyer and the home. A lack of staging can inadvertently amplify any shortcomings a property might have. Unwanted quirks or awkward layouts might become more pronounced in the absence of strategic design and functionality. Home staging has the power to mitigate these perceived flaws and redirects focus towards the positive attributes of any space. A well-staged room, with its tasteful design, artful décor, and balanced proportions, can divert attention from any less-than-perfect places, leaving potential buyers with a more favorable first impression.

4. Poor Photography

Though the average buyer hires a Realtor, most buyers are still searching for homes on their own. They may even be receiving notifications to their cell phone when any home comes on the market in their desired area. In this fast moving city, its important to understand that pixels have power.

In a world where virtual tours and online explorations have become the norm, impactful images increase desirability. Your photos are your first showing. Hiring a professional photographer will ensure that the essence of the home is captured in every frame. Bright, crisp, full-framed images attract the eyes that wander and scroll through hundreds of below-average listings. Ugly photographs send a message of indifference, and can raise doubts about the property’s overall condition as well as the seller’s commitment.

Technology today gives us tools that can take an existing structure and adjust, manipulate and cover up any undesirable qualities. These practices can lead to a home falling through the cracks of a buyers desire if a client arrives at a home that looks nothing like the dream home they saw online.

5. Overpricing the Property

Picture this: your property, styled and stunning, enters the market at a figure far beyond its true value. While it might seem tempting to reach for the stars, this strategy often yields the opposite effect. You see, overpricing a property can send a signal to buyers that they might not be getting the best bang for their buck. If the price doesn’t match the actual value, buyers might walk away and explore other options that seem more reasonable.

When a property is overpriced, it also tends to stay on the market longer. As the days tick by, potential buyers start to wonder why it’s not selling. They might assume there’s something wrong with the property itself, rather than realizing the issue lies with the asking price. Eventually, you might need a price reduction to attract buyers, but by then, any initial interest might have faded. By pricing to sell from the beginning, you competitively invite a wider range of interested buyers and increase the likelihood of a smoother, favorable and more successful sale.

Whether you’re looking to make a top dollar sale, sell a home quickly, or simply give your Sellers the utmost Real Estate experience, ensure your listing looks it’s best and is priced to sell. Buyers want to drive up and walk into a cared for home both inside and outside. By removing highly personal items, we leave room for them to dream and imagine the space as their own. A professional home staging team can do this and so much more— tastefully designing and styling your home into a dream property that shows beautifully in pictures and in person. Avoiding these common mistakes will ensure that every client has a seamless selling experience.

If you’re considering home staging as part of your selling journey, click here to read the Top Three Rooms to Stage.