Sellers: Don’t Fall for These 2 Misconceptions

If you’re listing your home soon, don’t believe these misconceptions.

We often cross paths with people looking to put their homes on the market but have a lot of misconceptions regarding the market’s competitiveness. Some, for example, think they can sell their home on their own and get top dollar for it. That may be the case, but there’s a lot that has to happen behind the scenes for a home to get sold. Here are the top two misconceptions you need to stop believing if you’re thinking of selling your home: 

1. Getting your house under contract is simple. So many sellers think that all they have to do is put their homes on the market and eventually it’ll go under contract, and that’s simply not true. Sometimes getting a home under contract is the most difficult part of the home sale process. There’s a lot that goes into getting a home under contract outside of just finding a buyer who wants to buy it. Your agent needs to have a good understand of different financing types, which lender-required repairs you need to prepare yourself for 

“There’s a lot that has to happen behind the scenes for a home to get sold.”

On top of that, there are a lot of people involved in a real estate transaction. If there’s a loan involved, for instance, that means lender processors will be involved too. You also have to deal with appraisers, home inspections, etc. A lot of coordination needs to happen in addition to the transaction side of things. On average, there are usually 20 or more people involved in a home sale just to get from contract to closing. 

2. You can list your home at whatever price you want. When The Ramsey Rhoads Team lists a home, we normally go over comparable sales first. Why? Even in a hot seller’s market like ours, you may fetch multiple offers and boost your sale price, but your home will still probably have to undergo an appraisal. Roughly 90% of all buyers use some sort of financing to make their purchase (FHA, USDA, etc.), and their lender will require an appraisal. Not every lender will be willing to underwrite a house sight-unseen like we saw sometimes last year. Not every buyer will be willing to buy without first having a home inspection either. If your home is, say, 120 years old, would you really expect the buyer to not want to do a home inspection after the home is under contract? 

So remember to set proper expectations before putting your home on the market. In any case, it’s our job to keep you protected and help you overcome any hurdles you encounter throughout the home sale process. If you have any questions or would like to list your home with us, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We’d love to speak with you.