Mistakes When Selling A Home

#1 House is not spotless
Ask yourself this, would you ever sell your car without washing and waxing it? Of course not. You know you will get top dollar if it is spotless and shiny! Enough said about this one.

#2 Landscaping is not in tip top shape
This is the first impression. Many buyers feel that if a home seller does not take care of the yard maintenance, what else are the neglecting?

#3 Front door and entry not freshly painted
Again, it's all about the first impression. While your real estate agent is getting the key from the lockbox, chances are that the buyer is looking around the entry. Is the door painted? Are the cobwebs overhead all cleaned and removed. This might seem like a pretty small issue but again, first impressions are important.

#4 Home is cluttered with to much furniture and "stuff".
Make sure that you go through each room and remove furniture that is not adding to the look of the room. If it is just taking up space, get rid of it! Remember, you want the rooms to look large.

#5 Hire a full time real estate agent
For many years it has been easy to sell a home. Times are now very different. Do you want an agent that is focussed on getting your home sold? I don't believe you can do this job in a quality way and do it working part-time.

#6 Hire a full service firm
Don't be fooled by the "limited service" companies that say they are full service. In real estate as in all areas of life...you get what you pay for! Now more than ever you need a full service agent that will do everything it takes to get your home sold for top dollar.

#7 Hire an agent that is good at marketing themselves
If an agent does a pretty good job of marketing themselves, chances are much better that they will do a good job of marketing your home. We have all seen the cheap, low budget postcards that agents send to your neighborhood. Is this how you want your home presented? What about the internet? Do they show up anywhere on a Google search? If they don't do you think your home will do any better?

#8 Hiring a local expert
Hiring an agent that claims they know the area better than anybody really does you no good! How can this be you might as? Knowing an area well does not help you be better at marketing. Let's face it, selling a home is more about marketing than anything else.

#9 Hiring an agent that is NOT tech savvy in terms of marketing
This is a big one! Why? Because 85% of buyers now begin their home search on the internet. As we mentioned above, selling a home is mostly about the marketing and in this day and age it is mostly about marketing online! Be aware as most agents will tell you that they will be "marketing your home online" Putting your home on their corporate website is fine, but it is just a start. Putting your listing on their personal website sounds great, that is until you realize that their website gets no real traffic. "I will put your home on 10 different websites!" Again, it sounds good, but in reality it doesn't get seen much. One sure fire way to check to see if your agent does a good job of marketing is to do some Google searches in areas they may have listings. Are you selling a luxury home in Boca Raton? Search "Boca Raton luxury homes" on Google to see if the agent shows up anywhere. If he does show up, is it his or her personal website or one of their listings. Hopefully it's the later. Remember, buyers are going to the internet to buy a home, not find a Realtor. Yet most of the websites you find on these searches are agents selling themselves...not their listings. Hire the agent that is selling his listings!