Often house sellers put their property up for sale and several months later still have not seen any offers to consider. There can be several reasons but let’s consider four potentially costly mistakes.
Reason 1: Your house was never actually ready to be marketed. So, the house comes on the market with the broken gate, ceiling stains from a burst geyser five years ago, a half dead garden, etc. Spend a week or two to fix issues similar to the abovementioned, as this will prove so valuable when buyers start viewing your property. Presentation is everything — so get the work done before marketing the property. Your estate agent will no doubt also be more enthusiastic in his/her marketing efforts.
Reason 2: You have over capitalized on your property, and it no longer matches the neighborhood. This happens when additions and upgrades make the home stick out from among its competitors. Buyers don’t only by property, they also ‘buy’ neighbourhood.
Reason 3: You’ve priced your home based on your needs and not on the market. You cannot just price your house at N$3m so that each of your three children can get a million each. Especially not when similar houses struggle to sell for N$2,5m or less. This pricing strategy always ends in failure. Sellers can control the “asking” price, but they don’t control the “sales” price. The market does. This strategy is doomed as willing and able buyers that could have loved your home, never see it because the gap between asking and market price is just too wide.
Reason 4: Getting emotionally involved in the sale of the home. This is one of the biggest challenges home sellers faces when putting their house on the market. Especially when the owner has personally spent years on improving the property. Once you decide to sell your house, it’s no longer a home, but a commodity. It needs to be prepared and marketed as a product and priced according to the market. It doesn’t matter what you want, only what the market can bear on pricing.
Avoiding these mistakes is not that difficult. There are plenty of resources and professionals, who are there to help you step over the pitfalls. Do the research early and listen to the right, knowledgeable people. Sell easy, sell well!
