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When you want to put your home on the market, there’s a ton of prep work to do before you can even make a listing. But when you’re against the clock, as you’re keen to buy a new home or you’re moving within a month or two, having a few seller issues is the worst possible thing.
The best thing to do is try and get ahead of the problems, through identifying them, fixing them (if you can), and only then approaching the market. But if you’re not sure what problems might come up, you won’t know how to prepare!
With that in mind, here are the three most common problems a property seller can run into.
You Can’t Find a Buyer
This is an unfortunate truth of the housing market, but sometimes there simply aren’t any buyers.
Whether the prices are too high for the general buying market or most people have just bought a home and your property is entering the scene a little too late, it might take a long time to find a buyer.
You can check to see if this is going to be an issue beforehand, by heading online to property sites and looking up listing history. If properties in your neighborhood have been sitting there for 6 months or more, you may need to change your plans altogether.
Your Home is in Worse Condition Than You Thought
There’s a window with a broken lock. The foundation is a bit muddy. The front door could definitely do with a re-paint. These aren’t really problems though, right?
While they may seem purely cosmetic, they can be signs of something gone wrong even deeper into the structure. Mud around the foundation could even mean you’re dealing with subsidence.
You could even pull back some old, worn through plasterboard and find signs of rat droppings in there! When that happens, you’re going to need a top pest control service to come round ASAP.
Make sure you address these issues before you put your home on the market.
Every Agent Recommends a Different Thing
Estate agents can sometimes be tricky to deal with, so a lot of sellers shop around for one they prefer working with.
And when they do, they come across a whole host of different staging ideas and market data, which makes following any selling advice very difficult to follow!
Indeed, most agents are going to recommend trying different things when preparing for home views or open houses, and you’ll always want to try and independently verify any marketing insights they provide.
This is going to take a bit of time and effort, but doing a bit of your own background research will make a difference to your selling journey.
If you want to sell your home, get ready to run into problems. While we all want a smooth moving experience, when you’re trying to get a property off your hands first, the stress is going to mount like never before.
