Mistakes to avoid when selling your home

Your home is one of the most expensive assets you'll ever own. It only makes sense that when you sell this asset, you avoid as many pitfalls as possible to ensure a smooth sale and a return on investment. There are common mistakes that inexperienced home sellers make which end up setting them back financially. To prepare you for your home sale, have a look at the following mistakes you should avoid to make selling your property as seamless as possible:

1. Selling your home privately

Selling your home privately seems like a great idea. However, agents have expertise that you don't have. They are well versed in the art of communication, negotiation, and mediation, which is necessary when two parties are making such a huge transaction. Selling your home without an agent can present a lot of issues. For instance, do you actually know how much your home is worth? What about listing your home online and all the necessary paperwork needed for a successful sale? An agent will make sure all of this is done, which eliminates stress and gives you time to focus on your other endeavours.

2. Settling on the first agent you meet

So, you've found an agent online and you're ready to have them list your house and sell it. Not so fast... Before settling on an agent, make sure you ask the right questions. Ask them if they registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board. Do they have a fidelity fund certificate? How many years have they been in the industry? How many houses have they sold before?

3. Not considering the costs of selling a home

Selling a home sounds quite attractive. It's easy to envision thousands of Rands in your bank account. Many people overlook the costs involved with selling a home. These include agent commission, the costs of staging a show house, repairs and renovations, mortgage, bond cancellation fees, rates and taxes clearance certificate, levies clearance certificate, compliance certificates, and moving costs. It's important to set money aside for these costs, as well as any other unexpected costs that may arise during the process of selling your home.

4. Making your asking price too high

Just because you have an emotional attachment to your home, it doesn't justify pricing it at 30% above its market value. Remove the emotional attachment you have to your home and analyse it objectively. Your asking price should make sense for the area your home is in as well as the current economy. A qualified real estate agent should be able to guide you in this regard.

5. Not doing a home assessment before selling

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when selling your home is not conducting a home assessment to determine whether anything needs fixing. The worst thing that can happen is having a buyer's home inspector come back to you with a long list of faults that will require you to dig deep into your pockets and possibly affect the sale negatively. Doing a home assessment puts you ahead and will help you put your best foot forward.

6. Making expensive home renovations

Expensive renovations don't necessarily add to the value of your home. You may spend a fortune on renovations and find that potential buyers don't like the style of the home and would like to change it. This will affect your finances, as you would've spent money that you won't recoup in the sale.

7. Not home staging to attract potential buyers

Home staging involves setting your home up for potential buyers to view. To stage your home, you have to depersonalize and declutter your space. Your agent will bring potential buyers to view your home, preferably when you aren't around. Investing in home staging requires money. You have to invest in making your home marketable to people of different tastes and if your budget allows, you can just hire a home stager to decorate your house for you.

8. Thinking that the highest offer is the best offer

The highest offer isn't necessarily the best offer. Sometimes people who bid lower than your highest offer are willing to be more flexible when negotiating. For example, if one is bidding high, they may have certain requirements they'd like to be met in order for them to purchase the home, whereas someone who bids lower may be more flexible.

Using the above tips, you can make sure you avoid the common pitfalls of selling your home.