You have decided that you want to sell your home. It’s important to not make mistakes though – that can wind up costing you a good amount of money. What do you need to avoid doing?

Before you put “real estate agent Camarillo” into a search engine, there are a few things that you should know to avoid before setting up your home for sale. Your realtor can help guide you with other things, but here are some basics.

Make Sure You Know The Full Cost of Selling Your Place

What we mean by this is that you should know about realtor fees, and other things that go into the sale of a house. You have to know if you have something else lined up … otherwise you might be paying for two things at once. Also, make sure that you are aware of HOA fees and other things that can add to the cost.

There might be the possibility that you have to rent a place in between your old and new place. Have all these things in mind and discuss any questions you might have with your realtor. They can help guide you.

Don’t Unrealistic Prices

This is almost always tied into sentimentality. You have many great memories of your home and you feel that it is worth a lot of money. The problem is, your potential buyer will not understand that and will be turned off if you set the price at a level that is well above market value.

Here is a situation that really calls out for you using a realtor. They will be able to help you separate your feelings from the reality of the housing market. That way, you can set a price that is more in line with similar homes with the same dimensions and are in the same neighborhood as you are asking for.

Selling your home can be a very emotional time. Don’t let it cloud your judgment and wind up costing you money. Do this with a clear head.

Don’t Ignore the Market Around You

What kind of places are around you? Have your neighbors done a lot of work on their homes, like new roofs or other improvements? How does your place look by comparison?

If you want to bring your home up to part, then you might want to invest in some upgrades too, especially if it has been a while. Your old roof might be in need of a renovation.

By doing this, you are making your home more attractive and it can make people more willing to pay a higher price for your home. It’s all about knowing what your surrounding market is like. Talk with your real estate agent about what would be best.

Don’t Hide Major Repairs

Don’t think that you are going to be able to sell your home that has a leaky roof. That won’t slide- and if it is caught in an inspection by a buyer, it’s going to reflect badly on you. Most likely, bad enough that the buyer runs off to go find another home to purchase.

Yes, making major repairs will possibly be expensive. You can get some or all of that cost back when you do sell the home. This time, with a perfectly functional roof that will keep any water out of the house.

Don’t Just Go For the First High Bidder

Wouldn’t you love it if someone came in and offered more for your home? Before you finish visualizing those dollar signs, you need to see if they have any contingencies.

A contingency, for example, would be their having to sell their other home first before the sale goes through. That can make you have to wait longer. So, sift through all the offers first and look for contingencies.

Don’t Sell If You Have Negative Equity

What does this even mean? It means that you owe more on your mortgage than you would get if you sold your house. Your real estate agent would also call it being underwater.

This is an absolute last resort for you and you are facing dire circumstances if you don’t sell. It’s likely to be much better to just remain where you are and get your equity back to where it should be. Then you can explore selling your home when you are in a much better financial position.

Don’t Do a Poor Job of Staging

There are a lot of things that can go wrong when you stage your home for potential buyers. You didn’t pay attention to lighting, you left a lot of clutter (this is a time to really firmly tell your kids to put their toys away), and you got so used to the odor of your don’t rawhide bone you forgot that it exists. All of these can be very fast turn-offs, so do these if you want to get a sale.

Here is where a really good real estate agent is going to make a difference. They can point out all of these things prior to the showing and help you get things to where they should be. Then you will feel confident about your showing.

Don’t Hold On to a Bad Real Estate Agent

This can seem like a hard one, since you might be hard-pressed to define exactly what a bad real estate agent has done. But if you notice that you are being treated as if you are very low on their priority list and they are not returning calls within a day, then it would be a good idea to look for another one.

Ultimately, you have to determine that you are doing this for yourself and that it is only business. Be firm when letting the first agent go. That way, you will be able to focus on the sale of your home. These are just some of the mistakes to avoid. Others include making sure you have major repairs done – not doing that could halt a sale. If you follow this advice, you should be able to get a good amount on your sale.

Content help

Meryll Russell from Search 805 Homes has been a realtor since 2004 and got her Broker’s license in 2019. She has sold homes all over Southern California. Meryll received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from USC. She has over 20 years of sales and negotiation experience.