Selling your home can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be.

There’s a lot to do before it goes on the market. There are questions to be asked, emotions to detach and many things to be aware of simply because you are selling. It can be overwhelming and daunting to say the least.

Don’t make the selling process harder than it needs to be. Start your home-selling process with your best foot forward and avoid making these 5 mistakes:

1. Don’t FSBO (For Sale By Owner) when selling your home

In 10 reasons why for-sale-by-owners fail, data from a National Association of Realtors survey on FSBOs is shared. It shows that less than 10 percent of all home sales are FSBOs. Less than 10 percent! You may feel you have the skills necessary to sell your home. You may want to avoid paying agent commission fees. But when only 8 percent of all home sales are FSBOs, it proves that going it alone is a mistake.

2. Don’t skip properly preparing your home for sale

If your home isn’t properly prepared or staged, it’ll be tough to sell.

• Remove hard-to-clean odors when selling your home. If your home smells like smoke or you own a pet(s), invest in professional cleaning services.

• Declutter your home. When selling your home, it should always be show-ready. Remove photos and knick-knacks. Clear countertops and downsize the contents in your closets. Yes, even the toaster should be put away.

• Thoroughly clean kitchens, bathrooms, etc. from floor to ceiling. Don’t forget the tops of doors, door panels and baseboards, light fixtures and fans. Read here for 15-minute and intense clean up ideas for every room in your house.

• Boost your home’s curb appeal. If your home doesn’t look good on the outside, it will be hard to get potential buyers to come inside.

• Make improvements to your home, but don’t go overboard. Don’t think a home improvement expense is going to add dollar-for-dollar value to the home. A home maintenance expense adding a dollar value of any size to a home at all isn’t a for-sure thing.

3. Don’t stick around during a home tour

If you’re hesitant to hold a showing or refuse to leave as potential buyers tour your home, your chances for buyers making offers on it greatly diminishes. Potential buyers want to imagine themselves living there. Just looking at photos or trying to get a feel for the home with you lurking in the background will minimize the number of offers given, if you even receive any.

4. Don’t share too much on social media

Venting about the home-selling process and sharing incorrect listing information on social media is a big mistake. Keep things to yourself or between you and your real estate agent.

5. Don’t overprice your home

Overpricing your home and refusing to compromise is the biggest seller mistake. If you think your house is worth more than the market suggests or that a low commission will save you money, constantly turn down offers thinking a better offer will come eventually. You could end up with a home you don’t want.

Be smart about the offers that come to the table.

Don’t make selling your home tougher than it needs to be. Work with your real estate agent and avoid these seller mistakes to get your home sold. Call Charles D’Alessandro, your Brooklyn real estate agent with Fillmore Real Estate at (718) 253-9700 ext. 206 or email [email protected]. Put his 30+ years of excellent real estate experience to work for you today.

Selling your Brooklyn Home For Sale By Owner!

Is it really that difficult to sell your home by yourself?  It depends.  Do you like to market, negotiate and fill out legal documents?  If yes, you may prefer to sell your home without the help of a Brooklyn real estate agent.

Before you make your decision, consider these three disadvantages of selling your Brooklyn home as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO):

1. You may under-price or over-price your home for sale. If you’ve overpriced your home, you won’t get many interested buyers.  When you drop the price of your home a few weeks later, you’ll have missed the “new on the market” window of opportunity that brings in a lot of potential buyers.  If you under-price your home, buyers will wonder what’s wrong with it, and if it sells, you’ll be leaving money on the table.
2. You have to pay to market and advertise your home for sale.  When you sell your own house, you’ll spend money on marketing and advertising costs including for sale signs, online ads, print ads in newspapers and real estate magazines, as well as the cost to be included in the MLS.  When you hire a Brooklyn real estate agent, they pay to market and advertise your home.
3. You are responsible for all the legal paperwork needed to sell your home. This means you must know what paperwork is required by the state and how to fill it out correctly.  If you fail to do this properly, it can delay the sale or even leave you open for a lawsuit down the line if something is wrong or missing.

If you determine that listing your home as a FSBO is not right for you right now, hire a Brooklyn real estate agent to sell your home for you.  Although you’ll have to pay commission, it will save you time and effort (and maybe even money) in the long run.

If you’ve decided to hire a Brooklyn real estate agent, I’d be honored to be interviewed for the job.  Please give me a call me Charles D’Alessandro your Brooklyn real estate agent with Fillmore Real Estate at (718) 253-9600 ext 206 or email me at [email protected] to schedule a free no obligation interview or market price review.