5 Home-Selling Myths to Stop Believing Immediately

If you’re thinking of putting your home up for sale this year, and you’re planning out how you’re going prepare your home for the market, pay attention—these myths can cause home sellers some trouble:

1. You can do it solo. I’ll say this: Yes, you can sell your home on your own. But I’d follow that up with this question: “At what cost?” There’s always a cost when you sell your home by yourself. This year, an agent I know placed an offer on a home that was For Sale By Owner. We figured out that the home in question was priced at least $15,000 to $20,000 under the market price. Of course, the agent put an offer on the home and got it for a great deal. The seller didn’t know what they were losing out on because they didn’t have access to the metrics that we, as agents, do—metrics that allow us to use data to properly price homes. Unless you’re actively involved with the industry, there’s a lot of critical information you’ll miss out on.

2. You know what your home is really worth. It’s really difficult to assess the value of your own home without a professional understanding of the market you’re in. The emotions a seller has for their own home can skew their perceptions of its worth.

3. It’s fine to sell a home as-is. There are things we can do to prepare a home for sale that allows us to make low-cost, high-impact improvements Before putting it on the market, there are low-cost, high-impact improvements we can make to prepare a home. Touching up paint, updating light fixtures, and cleaning up the landscaping are all examples of simple, little things homeowners can do that will boost your home’s value. Selling your home as-is is rarely a good idea. The time and relatively low amount of money you put into making these improvements will turn into a better price at the closing table.