Here are four seller myths you need to be aware of in this market.

If you’re thinking of selling your home in this market, beware of these four myths:

1. You need to buy your next home before selling your current one. There are a lot of people in our market specifically who are moving here from all over the country, and they’re able to give you the time you need to sell. This is a popular retirement area, so oftentimes buyers can give you more than a 30- or 60-day window.

2. The condition of the home doesn’t matter. You can pretty much just put anything on the market and sell it, right? Actually, that’s only the case if you price the home correctly. If you put two listings next to each other and one has been very well-maintained while the other looks like a hoarder lives there, the latter might sell for $30,000 less. That might be an extreme example, but condition always drives price. 

“When a buyer sees the letters ‘FSBO’ on the sign in your front yard, they automatically deduct 6% from what they were going to offer you.”

3. You can price your home above the market. You may be able to up your home’s listing price by 2% to 4% because that’s where the market is headed, but the home still has to appraise. This means you can’t just add $50,000 to it and sell it to the first person who agrees to pay that price. You’ll run into appraisal issues by doing that. You have to stay within reason when pricing your home above the market. 

4. You don’t need a Realtor. I know someone who recently went the FSBO route (for sale by owner) and put their home on the market all by themselves. He got a decent offer compared to what’s been selling, but the deal fell apart. This actually proved to be lucky for him, because only then did he decide to hire an agent. After that, he sold the home for $37,000 more, and it was only on the market for two days. When a buyer sees the letters ‘FSBO’ on the sign in your front yard, they automatically deduct 6% from what they were going to offer you. You’re not saving any money by listing your home yourself. 

As always, if you have questions about this or any real estate topic or want to know what your home is worth, call or email me anytime. I’d love to help you.