4 Home Selling Mistakes Your Real Estate Agent Makes
Your home is the most valuable asset you have. Making the decision to sell it is one that takes an immense amount of time and thought. There are usually two main goals now: Sell it for as much as humanly possible and let it not take forever.
Achieving these is going to take a lot more than just putting a sign up in the front yard. While Covid has created some special challenges, these common realtor mistakes hold true for when we get out of this mess also.
Every transaction should have two agents: one representing the owner of a property and one representing the person that will be the owner of that property. The Listing Agent represents the owner and a Buyers Agent represents potential buyers. I have worked on both sides and have noticed some recurring mistakes. Let’s dive in.
Pricing Your Home
Every owner wants the most possible money for their house, and as a Listing agent we are financially incentivized to make it so. However, a proper pricing strategy should always be developed. If you pull up a Zillow Zestimate, a Realtor.com value and a Redfin value, you will always get three different numbers. These are never 100% accurate and are usually 10-25% above or below what a house will sell for.
Many listing agents will promise the world in order to get the listing, only to disappoint you with reality when no offers come in or lowball offers are received.
I generally start with a detailed Comparable Analysis based on what has sold in the neighborhood. This is what an appraiser will do and you will have to answer to it down the road. Using this as a base line, you can adjust the listing price to draw attention and multiple offers.
A great agent will price strategically to draw in buyers and complete a successful transaction at the highest possible amount.
Preparing Your House For The Market
There is an art to getting a home ready for the market and that goes well beyond decluttering and painting some walls and the details of the home is where many agents go wrong.
Buyers want to know what they are getting into and they will dig around looking for problems. When was the roof last replaced? Why does this light not work? These questions and one hundred others will come up during showings.
Knowing the history of the house, researching permits, doing inspections and fixing problems before they become issues are key to keeping buyers interested and drawing in a respectable offer.
I am baffled when I walk into a listing and ask the agent what type of plumbing the house has and they do not have an answer. It shows they did not do the prep or they are hiding something.
Being Available For Showings
In a post-Covid world there are no open houses. Every showing is made by private appointment and it can be challenging to accommodate a lot of buyer inquiries into a schedule that is safe.
When I request to tour a property and the agent only offers a very limited choice of showings I know they have a full plate. A great agent will accommodate every request and find the time to make a home available.
Communication
We live in a perpetually connected world and it is rare to never that we aren’t within inches of our phone. Communication is key when there are so many moving pieces as there are in a real estate transaction.
A great agent will not only promptly respond to questions from the seller but to those inquiries for showings and questions. Going four hours to reply to a text when there is an active listing is a big red flag.
Home buyers are naturally nervous, just think about how you felt when you purchased your home. A great agent will put everyone at ease.
Selling your home is challenging, a great agent will anticipate the natural twists and turns and do their best to keep your stress at bay.
Michael Robleto
REALTOR®-Compass Real Estate
213-595-4720
Michael Robleto is a Los Angeles based REALTOR® that specializes in Historic Pre-War residential properties and those with architectural merit in Pasadena, Los Feliz, SIlverlake, Eagle Rock, and Mount Washington. Michael uses his vast knowledge of historic homes, residential construction, and modern-day marketing to predict and solve the many problems that arise in real estate transactions. His client accolades of insight, prompt communication, integrity, and hard work support the fact that he is not your average agent.
Michael leverages his personal passion for historic architecture to provide his clients with the unknown insight into the pros and cons of older homes. Michael, the son of a contractor, a California native, grew up in an older Bungalow home and has spent 23 years in Southern California admiring the unique architecture of the region. Michael brings 20+ years of negotiation and sales experience to his seven-year career in residential real estate. He often writes on homeownership strategy, historic residential architecture, and related topics that can be found on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram under the common profile name of his blog; BungalowAgent.
Michael is a committee member and frequent volunteer for the preservation efforts of Pasadena Heritage and the LA Conservancy. When not working you can find Michael on hiking trails statewide with his faithful German Shepherd Axel.
