Top 15 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Home

Mistakes home sellers make when selling their home, can affect the financial outcome of the sales transactions. Basically more mistakes when selling a home, less chances you can get closer to the price that you want. When it comes to selling your most valuable asset there are debates of what to do or what not to do to get the top dollar. If you are already working with a professional real estate agent in your area, they know what to do to avoid these mistakes. Since we believe in educating consumers along the way, whether it’s a buy or a sell or investment, this article outlines mistakes home sellers make.

Avoid These Biggest Home Selling Mistakes in Toronto

Selling a house is a significant life event, and in a competitive real estate market like Toronto, making mistakes can be costly. Avoiding common pitfalls is essential to ensure a successful and profitable sale. In this article, we’ll highlight some of the biggest home selling mistakes and the key errors to avoid when selling a house in Toronto.

In this article you’ll learn the Top 15 common mistakes to avoid when selling your home! The mistakes that home sellers make range from Appearance, to Pricings. View the full list of the home selling mistakes to avoid down below:

1. Over Pricing Your Home

One of the most significant mistakes to avoid when selling a house in Toronto is overpricing. In a hot real estate market like this, it’s tempting to set a high listing price, hoping for a windfall. However, overpricing can deter potential buyers and lead to a longer time on the market. It’s crucial to set a competitive price based on a professional appraisal and market analysis. Overpricing a home will backfire directly on the sale process.

Many home sellers might think overpricing a home will keep a room for negotiations, so after negotiations they can get the price they want. Others might have an over estimated value of their homes. Whereas the Market is going to dictate the value of a home.

A top REALTOR is aware of the right pricing strategies when it comes to the sale of a home. So if you are working with one, you shouldn’t be making this mistake. The problem with over pricing is Eliminating Qualified Buyers from your Buyers Pool.

For example, a house worth approx $800K, the owner decides to price it $900K, however pricing it that high, will eliminate buyers who can afford $800K-$900K , who are good prospects to be the buyers of your home, and have expectations of an $800K home. On the other hand, those who look at homes $900K or above, have higher expectations too, ( i.e. one more bedroom, or washroom, or a bigger lot, or a better school district etc). Then your house has to compete with houses which are at a higher level. So this eliminates many Qualified buyers for your home.

Studying the market will help sellers and their agents to price the home at the optimal point. In that case you won’t take the risk of losing qualified buyers with over pricing. So always study the market conditions, whether it’s a sellers market or a buyers market, before setting a price.

Read More : Why Do Some Listings Don’t Get Offers?

2.  Not doing a proper cleaning

This one is another mistake that a home seller can avoid with a little bit of effort. Clutter and Dirt, distract the buyers. When you want to get the top dollar from the sale of your home, you have to present it as spotless as possible. Remember, buyers are buying their most valuable assets, so they can be and have the right to be picky. Then you need to show your house as presentable as possible.

For that you can either hire a Professional Cleaner, to deeply and thoroughly clean your home. Depending on the area that you live, or the size of the Toronto house or Toronto condo that you have, the professional cleaning cost can be from a couple hundred dollars to several hundred dollars. But this totally worth it when it gets to selling your home.

3. Your house smells and you don’t do anything about it

When you are marketing your home for sale, you have to expect different buyers to view it. Some buyers might have allergies, or can not tolerate strong smells. Thus you need to make sure to get rid of any strong smell in your home, at least for the period that you are marketing your home to sell. Examples are, if you smoke in your home, smoke will stay at home and remediating that is a bit costly. Or if you keep big pets in your home. If you want to get the top dollar for your home, it’s a great idea to do something about it. If a buyer is a smoker, or has pets, they might not care about the smell. But you can not tell who are the buyers currently in the market.

Then if you smoke in the house and the house smells funny, you might need to repaint the place, or consider deep cleaning of the carpets etc. If you keep pets, you might want to get all the carpets and floors deeply cleaned.

4. Too Much Clutter

Clutter will distract buyers. You might have several pieces of things that are valuable to you, but if you want to get the most amount of money for your home, you need to consider a little bit of decluttering. If you have too much furniture, or a lot of stuff, it’s a good idea to store them in the property or outside of the property.

If possible for you, rent locker storage for a while ( during the time of marketing your home). Or at least store your extra stuff in the basement or garage for a while.

Staging is a great idea to make it presentable. A top Toronto real estate agent might offer staging, or staging consultation as part of services they do for marketing your home for sale. Ask them about that when it gets to selling your home. Staging helps the process of the sale, and makes your house more presentable to the buyers.

5. Your Home is Too Personalized

We like it or not, having too many personalized items in the home won’t let the buyers feel very comfortable. One of the things that you want when it gets to the sale of your property, is that the prospective buyers feel they are at home, and this can be their home. In order to help buyers feel at home, you need to depersonalize as much as possible.

When you hire a great real estate agent, they should be able to help you with these. But since you are reading this article I name a few items you can do. It starts with smaller things such as removing your family photographs during the showings, to storing your souvenirs from abroad in a locker or a separate room.

Also it’s a good idea to store religious or political belongings during the showings or photography too. As you don’t know what type of buyer will see your home during the showings. And you don’t want to distract the buyers with too many personalized items.

6. Not Paying Attention to Your Curb Appeal

When marketing your home, as much as you pay attention to your home’s interior, you still need to pay that much or at least a bit less attention to your curb appeal. Curb appeal is the First impression, and first impressions are important. If you neglect outside of your house, you might risk deterring potential buyers.

Among the things that you can do in Toronto, if it’s not winter, is to pull weeds out, and do some landscaping. If it’s winter, make sure to shovel and salt the front and driveway. Painting the front door is a good idea if the front door is not in a good shape.

7. Not Tidying up After Your Kids or Pets or Before Showings

If you have small kids at home, make sure to tidy up after them and before any showings. You don’t want to distract the buyers of all the nice things that your house has to offer.

Or if your pets spoiled the living room while playing, make sure to  clean up after that. It’s a good idea if you can take your pets out with you during the showings.

Or if you have small kids, bribe them with movies or their favourite snacks to keep them in line. Or even take them to park or movies or their favourite food chain when you have numerous showings booked.

8. Withholding Material Information from the Buyer

Withholding material defects from the buyers is not a very good strategy to get the most amount of money for your property. It’s not ethically right either. Instances such as leaking or flooding or other material defects shall be disclosed to potential buyers. Look at the example below:

For example you had a flooding in your basement a few years ago, or there is a leak somewhere there. If you don’t tell the buyer, and they send you an offer, and the offer gets accepted, you might have a deal but with risks. The buyer most probably hires a professional home inspector, a professional home inspector can find traces of moisture or flooding. There are inspection devices that can show even minimal moisture behind a wall. The inspector gets back to the buyers and informs them about it. Then your whole sale is in jeopardy. There is a huge risk that the deal falls apart, or even if you are lucky, the buyer would still want the house, but with a huge discount. So they request to knock off the price or they are gonna walk away from the deal.

It’s always a wise idea to Disclose material defects before selling your home to the buyer. Ask your real estate agent about what you MUST disclose and what you should do about it.

9. Using Unprofessional Photos

Most of the buyers start their search online, and before they even read the description about your home, they would look at the photos. If the photos are appealing to them, they keep browsing down and look at the descriptions.

With the expansion of social media and high tech cell phones etc, many people have a hand on photography. No matter how great a photographer you might be, it is still worth paying a Professional Real Estate Photographer to do the photography. When you hire a professional real estate agent, they take care of this and it usually doesn’t have any costs for you, if your real estate agent has this in their services included.

Poor Marketing and Listing Photos

In the digital age, potential buyers rely heavily on online listings to decide which homes to visit. Low-quality listing photos or inadequate marketing can deter buyers and limit your home’s exposure. Invest in professional photography and ensure that your property is listed on multiple real estate websites to maximize visibility.

1o. Not Hiring a Real Estate Agent

Some sellers believe they can save money by selling their home without a Toronto real estate agent, but this can be a costly mistake. A skilled real estate agent has a deep understanding of the Toronto market, can provide expert guidance, negotiate effectively, and ensure a smooth transaction. They can help you avoid legal issues and get the best possible price for your home.

11. Staying around during the showings or Open houses

Another one of the mistakes that home sellers make is to stay home during the showings and accompany the buyers. Well you might think that’s a good idea to explain to them about the house, or even start negotiating the price directly. As much as I understand how a seller might think that’s a good idea, that actually is not. To negotiate the price you need a Negotiation expert next to you. Sometimes you might tell too much to the buyer or their agents, and that would make your negotiation position weak. If you can’t leave home for any reason, at least consider these:

A. Don’t follow the buyers, let them view the property. When you follow the buyers, they don’t feel comfortable and might not discuss many things among themselves.
B. Don’t answer questions about the price and moving date or similar things. Ask the buyer or buyer’s agent to talk to your real estate agent.

Don’t stay home during the Open Houses, for the same reasons as above. To prevent giving too much information about the price or other motives. And also to prevent making the prospective buyers uncomfortable and distracted.

12.Neglecting Home Staging

Many sellers underestimate the importance of home staging. A well-staged home can make a powerful first impression and help Toronto home buyers envision themselves living there. Neglecting this aspect can lead to lower offers or longer listing periods. Investing in staging or decluttering and depersonalizing your space can pay off significantly.

13.Ignoring Repairs and Maintenance

Neglecting necessary repairs and maintenance is another common mistake. Buyers in Toronto are often willing to pay a premium for move-in-ready homes. Failing to address issues like leaky faucets, peeling paint, or outdated appliances can drive potential buyers away.

14. Inflexible Availability for Showings

Being inflexible about showing times is another mistake that can hinder your home sale. Potential buyers may have busy schedules, so it’s essential to accommodate showings whenever possible. Limiting showings could cause you to miss out on potential offers.

15.Disregarding Market Trends

Toronto’s real estate market is dynamic, and market conditions can change rapidly. Ignoring current market trends and not adjusting your selling strategy accordingly is a mistake. Keep an eye on market updates and work with your real estate agent to adapt to shifting conditions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, avoiding these common mistakes when selling a house in Toronto is crucial for a successful and profitable home sale. Overpricing, neglecting home staging, poor marketing, and maintenance, forgoing a real estate agent, being inflexible about showings, and ignoring market trends can all lead to costly errors. By taking a strategic and informed approach, you can navigate the competitive Toronto real estate market and achieve a successful home sale.

All in all, if you are planning to sell your Toronto home and get the Top Dollar for it, use the help of a professional. A professional real estate agent has tens of real estate transactions each year, whereas an average homeowner sells 5 homes during all years of home ownership. A professional Marketer and Expert Negotiator is what you need to get the top dollar. Find and contact a top Toronto real estate agent in your area here. Have a free of charge consultation with them and then decide who is the best fit for you.

Working with a top Toronto real estate agent will help you avoid those mistakes, and get the top dollar for your home. Real Estate Commission in Toronto varies based on the services that you get. Make sure to hire the best in order to get the best results!