3 Seller Attitude Mistakes That Can Sink A Home Sale

Seller attitude mistakes can be enough to stop a promising home sale in its tracks. While ultimately the condition and price of a property has the most influence over its sale, the interaction between buyers, sellers, and agents also plays a part. If you are running into unexpected obstacles during the sale of your home, it may be time to ask yourself hard questions about whether you're contributing to making the process more difficult than it needs to be. Here are three common mistakes that sellers make that can trip up a home sale.

Setting the price too high

Pricing strategies for properties on sale is an important part of the selling process. When you list your home, your agent will evaluate its condition, your financial goals, and data regarding comparable properties to recommend a sales price. In some cases, the final listing price is determined some financial minimum that a buyer wants to make to pay off a mortgage or fund the purchase of another property. But is your price realistic? Is it based on market data and the current condition of your home? When your pricing decisions are emotional or not congruent with the value that prospective buyers perceive, it can cause your property to languish on the market with few showings and no offers.

Being unwilling to negotiate or make concessions

From the buyer's perspective it is important that a home price seems reasonable. But it is often equally important that a seller be willing to have some flexibility and negotiate. Is a seller willing to negotiate on the price at all? Are you willing to make any concessions to the buyer in response to issues that are identified during the selling inspection? Sticking to your guns and fighting unreasonable demands makes perfect sense. But complete inflexibility – especially when indulging a request would cost very little financially – can backfire and prevent you from selling your home.

Being sloppy about staging and cleaning

Even the most beautiful property can be off-putting if it is dirty, cluttered, or has too much personal information about the current owners. Selling best practices strongly recommend that you clean, declutter and depersonalize a property as much as possible. It helps buyers see themselves in the property, while also minimizing the chances that an issue will stand out during showings. Failure to take these steps can convey a lack of care for the property or that a seller isn't motivated. These kinds of concerns are completely avoidable with some preparation and a small investment of time each week.

Are you a seller in Orange County, CA whose home has not sold as quickly as you anticipated? Contact The Edie Israel Team today to arrange for a personalized consultation to discuss your situation and determine whether seller attitude mistakes, price, marketing or other issues may be slowing you down.