Top Home Sale Mistakes That Cost You Money

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Selling a home in Portland with this sizzling hot market is easy, right? Well, yes and no. Your decisions can affect your home’s final sale price by as much as 20% of the total value, according to a recent Consumer Reports survey. Your choice of real estate agent has quite a bit to do with it, but there’s more. Read on to find out what mistakes you should avoid when you sell your Portland home!

Pricing too high

When homes are going into the hands of buyers paying the list price or above, is it really possible to price a home to high? Absolutely, and it is more risky than ever. With average total market time down to 43 days in April (the most recent month for which RMLS real estate data is available), homes that stay on the market for much longer than that are going to raise red flags. If that happens, you’ll start to lose money on the sale because potential buyers will be scared off even if you do lower the price.

A far better strategy is to price your home according to the going rate in your market or even a touch below (which a good real estate agent will be able to figure out) and generate offers. You’ll be able to choose amongst the best offers or counteroffers to get the price you want. It takes more effort on the part of your agent — but that’s how we earn our commissions!

Not Ready to Perform

Portland is big on music and live performances. One thing you’ll notice is that musicians never start playing until they’ve done all their sound checks and set up the stage for a smooth and seamless show. It doesn’t matter if the concert ends up starting late — they want the audience to see them at their very best.

Your home sale is kind of like a live concert. You only get one shot to impress potential buyers, and putting your home up for sale before you and your real estate agent are completely ready is like starting to sing before the mic’s been plugged in.
The real estate equivalent of a sound check is taking really, really good pictures of your home. According to research by the National Association of Realtors, 92% of home buyers shop online for homes, and the pictures they see of your home are going to be what convinces the to take a look or a pass.

If pictures are the sound check, home staging is where you haul all of your equipment onstage and set it up. You might even have a background screen and fancy props. Get a home stager to do it right! They can either help you by working with what you already have, or they can fully furnish a vacant property. We have excellent recommendations. Less is more, and you want your stuff to compliment your home, not distract or detract from it. My listing package includes a professional home staging evaluation free of charge. I also have a professional photographer take photos of your home and a graphic designer in house to make any changes to those photos before I post your listing live online. There’s no reason for you to lose money on your home sale just because your home wasn’t ready to be shown!

Wrong real estate agent

How do you pick a good real estate agent? Interview a few. They should be members of the National Association of Realtors (you’ll know if you see them using the REALTOR trademarked title), which requires their adherence to a strict code of ethics.

Check your potential agent out on Zillow. There is a place for clients to review their agents and you can read their unedited, verified comments. Zillow also helps to verify the agent’s sale record. This is much better than checking Yelp or Google reviews where any friend or family member can leave that Portland real estate agent a review. In addition, check to see if the agent has any special certifications or awards that might help them sell your home. See all twelve of mine here.

Paying too much commission

All real estate commissions are negotiable. Check out our reasonable commission rate coupled with full service and increased marketing!

I hope these tips have helped you understand how to get the maximum value out of your home as you enter this wild ride of a Portland real estate market. If you have more questions, we’d be happy to take your call!

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What My Clients Are Saying

You're looking to buy a house and reading reviews because this is a major decision. We entered the market to purchase a home very inexperienced and skeptical. We now own a house thanks to Stephen and his network. Stephen will be our first choice whenever we decide to buy or sell a property in the future.

George