5 Most Common Home Selling Mistakes

I was working to improve upon my Progressive Marketing Plan for selling a home when it dawned on me that I am seeing the same home selling mistakes being repeated all the time by the "Failed To Sell" group of homeowners in the Tallahassee real estate market.

So I got out a pen and paper and started taking notes, and the results were a consistent repetition of what I will call the "5 most common home selling mistakes." Day in and day out I talk to frustrated homeowners who have spent the past six to twelve months languishing on the market with little to no activity on their home, all because they made one or more of these mistakes.

If you will pay close attention and avoid these very common errors being repeated by homeowners, you will not have to join the dreaded "Failed to Sell" group of homeowners who want to move but are not doing so.

The 5 Most Common Home Selling Mistakes

1. Understanding Time And The Current Trend Of Home Values - Real estate is like all other commodities ... values go up and values go down. Value is a relational concept, thus a successful home seller is aware of the current relationship between supply and demand and prices the home accordingly. If values are rising and the home owner has an abundance of time, then risking a higher asking price is of little concern. But if prices are dropping, then every minute wasted by the home owner "hoping" for a higher price is actually causing the home owner money.
2. Knowing Where The Buyer Of Their Home Is Today - The first thing that I do when I consider a home for my marketing program is to determine where the likely buyer of the home will come from. While it is great having 20 years of experience in the real estate brokerage business, it doesn't really take a rocket scientist to know that the likely buyer of a 4 bedroom home in a desirable school zone is most likely a family with children. Thus, the targeting of the Progressive Marketing Effort should be towards the location and demographics of the most likely buyer of the home.
3. Failing To Utilize All Three Exposure Methods - During the boom years of the housing market, all it took was a sign in the yard and a home would sell. But that is no longer the case, with national home inventory levels at an all time high (and Tallahassee approaching 13 months supply of homes). A proper real estate marketing plan will be based upon the fact that 94% of home buyers are using the internet to find their home, and all three exposure methods (active, passive, and progressive) are needed to expose the home to the highest number of prospective home buyers.
4. Failing To Ensure A Proper Interview For Professional Services - Of all the mistakes, this one is most common and often leads to the homeowner suffering through the other mistakes. 64% of home sellers hired the first agent they spoke to, and 97% of them interviewed the agent right in the home that needed to be sold. While this might be most convenient, the fact is that "all of us look alike" in your home, and you end up just signing up with the best "talker." A proper interview should take place in the real estate office that the home seller is contemplating for the job of marketing and selling the home. Think about this ... the home owner is getting ready to spend tens of thousands of dollars with this company, shouldn't the home owner inspect everything before hiring? Maybe if more homeowners would go in and interview with the agent and the broker, we wouldn't see a failure rate among home sellers approaching 60%!
5. Misunderstanding The Effort Required To Achieve A Successful Home Sale - Last, but certainly not least, is understanding how much effort is needed today to sell a home. With 94% of home buyers using the internet, a Progressive Marketing Plan requires hours worth of marketing efforts each and every day, diligent follow-up with the many information seekers and comparison shoppers, as well as a host of other "behind the scenes" operations that are critical in obtaining the top dollar for the home seller. There is no way that somebody running a "listing agent" approach can even begin to compete with an organizational effort in marketing and selling a home. The bottom line, do not hire a real estate agent, hire a real estate company if you want the best effort in getting your home sold.

If you have a home to sell, and you avoid these 5 most common home selling mistakes, then you will join the 40% of successful home sellers that did not let a sour housing market hold them back from achieving the goals that were important to their families. Check out our Progressive Marketing Plan and let us know if you would like help in getting your home sold. Even if you are not in the Tallahassee area, we will find the top real estate company in your area which is using active, passive, and progressive techniques in the marketing of their home listings.

*Joe Manausa Real Estate is a brokerage company headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida. Its unique business model provides specialists to both home sellers and home buyers, and the results speak for themselves. JMRE has significantly more 5-star reviews on google than any other local competitor. Joe Manausa Real Estate is a leader in internet marketing and utilizes search engine optimization, email marketing, social media and data analytics to get their clients’ home sold faster and for more money than any other Tallahassee brokerage firm. For more information, visit www.manausa.com or call us at (850) 366-8917.