Selling a house can be overwhelming yet time-consuming, similar to buying one. One may sell one’s house when downsizing, relocating, or trying to take advantage of a hot housing market. The process of selling a house has many steps and connected elements, which may cause one looking to sell the house to make certain errors. Avoiding these mistakes is crucial to safeguarding one’s finances and ensuring a smooth house-selling process.

Misjudging the cost of selling
Closing costs make up the largest portion of home-selling expenses. A few years ago, closing costs were estimated at 1 percent of the total sale price of houses. This percentage tends to fluctuate depending on the state of a given house and other factors related to the house sale transaction.
Apart from closing costs, other expenses include preparing one’s home for listing. Then, if necessary, the costs are also associated with home improvements and repairs. All these costs mean that one may spend more than thousands of dollars when one decides to sell the house.

Setting an unrealistic price tag
When one sells one’s home, the temptation is always to price it as high as possible and then cash in on it once it is sold. Many sellers do this and end up with nobody willing to pay absurdly high prices for their house. Today, there are websites and real estate experts who can accurately estimate the value of houses. It’s easy for one looking to purchase a house online or offline to detect and ignore overpriced homes up for sale. Homes with low interest from potential buyers sit on the market for longer and cost their owners several times more to sell off than normal homes.
To counter this, one needs to price one’s house realistically and only then put it up for sale online or offline. Doing so shows maturity and realism for homeowners looking to sell their flats.

Attempting to work alone to sell
Some homeowners are under the false impression that selling their homes is an easy task that does not require more than one person to handle the job. Not having a professional real estate agent limits a homeowner’s exposure to their market knowledge and general know-how about how houses can be sold quickly and at good prices. So, homeowners who work on the task alone to avoid paying commissions end up with losses.
Selling a house needs to be a collaborative process in which multiple experts are involved and paid by the homeowner for using their expertise for their benefit. Ultimately, the total commission is not even a lot of money compared to other opportunity losses caused by not hiring the experts.

Keeping clutter
One must remove the belongings when presenting the house for viewing and potentially attracting buyers online. Decluttering enables homeowners to show each room and other aspects of their homes in the best light. Decluttering involves removing objects of all sizes that homeowners and their other occupants do not need anymore. For example, oversized couches, closets, and other large furniture and home decor pieces fall into this category of removable. Keeping clutter makes a house look stuffy and less attractive than it could be.

Hiring an inexperienced agent
When selling a house, working with an expert for a successful transaction is important. While some homeowners may be tempted to use family members or friends to save money, it’s best to avoid working with inexperienced agents as they may do more harm than good. These agents may not know the current market trends, the best language to use in selling a property, or the most appropriate prices and figures for specific properties. Therefore, working with a seasoned professional who can guide one through the process and ensure a smooth sale of one’s biggest asset is crucial.

Hiding major repairs
Buyers value honesty and transparent communication from sellers when looking for a home to purchase. Unfortunately, some homeowners may try to hide information about their homes, which can have a negative impact on their integrity. It’s important to note that buyers often discover the truth about the information that has been concealed. For instance, if a home has had a leaking roof or bug problem that has been fixed, it is advisable for homeowners to be upfront about it in the listing when putting up their home for sale. Although being honest may reduce the value of the house to some extent, potential buyers will appreciate the transparency and be more willing to consider purchasing such homes. By being truthful, sellers can build trust with buyers and increase the likelihood of a successful sale.

Only considering high purchase offers
Once a house is put up for sale, homeowners will begin receiving offers they can reject or accept from potential buyers if all the things work out for them. Considering only the highest offer is a mistake, as potential buyers could pull out of the purchase at any time, and rejecting all the other offers will result in not having any offers on the table to sell the house. This mistake is similar to another: not considering one’s broader financial condition while selling one’s house.