Watched a great show tonight that I had to summarize here. It was on HGTV and went over 25 of the top real estate mistakes (the ones I see most often I've put in bold). . .
25. Buying a House for It's Decor: Well of course you wouldn't do this one, but it's not a bad reminder to try to see a home 'beyond' its staging or beautiful furnishings. Furnishings come in second as the costliest expense of owning a home and its not often you may not WANT to take on the expense to furnish a home the way a builder can afford to stage one.
24. Not Providing Easy Access for Showings: Especially in this market you want to avoid putting any types of restrictions on your showings, i.e. limiting agent showings to 'by appointment only' or asking for several hours or days notice when an agent calls to show it (its exceptionally difficult to plan showings when you have several properties to see, some times sellers want to drive right past one on our list, other times they stay in a listing for more than an hour. Let an agent give you an hour window, or more if you can, and allow them to show anytime in that window.)
23. Not Researching the Neighborhood
22. Overbidding at a Property Auction
21. Trying to Make the "Hard Sell" While Closing
20. Waiting Until Spring to Sell Your House
19. Treating Real Estate Like the Stock Market
18. Failing to Market Your Home in Different Ways
17. Not Considering Resale Potential When Renovating
16. Buying Without Seeing the Property
15. Trusting Everything the Advertising Says (charming ultimately equals small right?)
14. Picking the Wrong Agent
13. Not Hiring An Agent
12. Buying the Most Expensive Home on the Block: guilty as charged, I've done this very thing. Ultimately your safest bet investment-wise is to purchase the ugliest house on the prettiest block, or said another way, the least expensive house on an otherwise expensive block.
11. Not setting a realistic budget: While you may be approved to spend several hundred thousand, or several million, of course doesn't mean you should (or have to).
10. Viewing the Property Only Once: PLEASE go back at least two, if not several times! I'm always amazed how briefly buyers will view a home before asking that we write it up. I guess they know when it's love but it assuages my fear of your potential buyer's remorse to show it to you a few times! (Yet I'm the one who convinced my ex-husband to buy a house without him having seen it).
9. Not Being Proactive At Closing: Both you and your agent should have a copy of the HUD 1 Settlement Statement PRIOR to closing and it should be reviewed and approved by you both before you sign anything at escrow.
8. Doing Major Renovations or Remodeling Before Selling
7. Skipping the Loan Pre-Approval Process
6. Falling In Love with the First Property You See
5. Buying a Home Without an Inspection
4. Overlooking Extra / Hidden Costs: property taxes, water, heat, all add up!
3. Buying What You Want vs What You Need
2. Setting Too High of a Sales Price: In this market properties become stale after being on the market many months and it's imperative to price competitively to get any initial interest.
1. Failing to Showcase Your Home and Make Cosmetic Changes: Every home I know of needs something (which is the bane of the 'happy homeowner's' existence, there is always something to be done!) At a minimum listings should be clean, clean, clean; as Barb Schwartz who coined the 'staging' term refers to it, "Q-Tip clean". From there minor repairs needed, organization of personal items, and paint touch up are the least that should be done before a property is on the market.
