4 Mistakes To Avoid When Selling Your Home

You’ve been scaling the property search websites for months, you’re hankering for a bit more space and your gut feeling is that the time is right. The moment has come to sell.

But with all the admin to handle and the emotion of selling a property that may hold cherished memories, there is a danger that you’ll fall into some of the many selling pitfalls. So, what are the mistakes to avoid when selling your home?

Director here at Cambridge Estate Agent Hockeys, Jeremy Trott, gives the below advice…

1. Not being flexible with viewings

One of the biggest home selling mistakes is not being flexible with viewings. Your agent is marketing your property, people are interested and they want to have a look. But you don’t fancy having the masses trekking around your home or you’ve got work to do or the kids are having dinner.

The fact that there is a buzz about your property is a good thing – you want to sell it, don’t you? At the best price? So be flexible, the inconvenience is short term and well worthwhile to ensure a positive experience for your potential buyers.

2. Don’t shirk your cleaning duties!

Another huge selling mistake that people make all the time is shirking their cleaning duties. Viewings are going to take place in your house, so make sure it looks presentable!

You wouldn’t have the bins overflowing when hosting a dinner party or leave dirty dishes on the side when the in-laws visit. First impressions are extremely important, so make sure the house is tidy and clean. When your prospective buyer walks through the front door, you want them to be blown away by what they see for all the right reasons.

3. Trust your agent’s suggested marketing price

You love your house, you’ve been in it a while, it holds great memories, the garden is a decent size and it’s in a good area – so it must be worth more than the agent is suggesting? Yes, the agent set a fair price, but with everything it has going for it surely your property must be worth just a little bit more? Not necessarily.

Trust your estate agent, they will have vast knowledge of your locality as well as the market, and demand so listen to their suggestion. Don’t make the selling mistake of being greedy and putting off prospective buyers. If the price is right, people will come calling – and if there’s huge interest then a bidding war will ensue anyway.

4. Don’t paper over the cracks!

You suspected you’d be selling up soon, so you decided to ignore some of the superficial, and not so superficial issues with the house. The leaking pipe that’s weakened the kitchen ceiling, the area of damp by the living room window that has been steadily getting worse, or the crack in your bedroom wall which has started to open up. You’ve just made another big mistake.

Depending on the survey that your buyer instructs, some of these issues may well be flagged – but even if they aren’t, anyone viewing the property will have an eagle eye for things which could help them drive down the price. Our advice is to get any issues sorted before your house goes on the market. If your property is in good condition, good offers will follow.

Get your property valued by an expert

When you've done the hard work it's important to get a valuation by a local Cambridge estate agent with expert knowledge of the area, so they know all the possible selling points of your property. If you are looking to sell property in the Cambridge area, we can help - why not request a property valuation today?