Common Challenges When Selling A Home

The fact that there are no two real estate transactions alike is one of the best things about working as a real estate agent. It means that there is never a dull day when working in real estate, but it does not mean that this is good for both buyers and sellers.

There are many challenges to overcome because no two transactions will be the same. These can occur throughout the entire transaction, and even before your home is listed for sale. Top challenges when selling a house include dealing with unrealistic homebuyers, and managing the emotions that come along with selling a house.

Here are the 10 biggest challenges home sellers face when they sell their house.

Local market conditions

There are several challenges to overcome before you decide to work with a local realtor or sell your house “by yourself”. Local real estate market conditions play a major role in determining whether or not a home will sell. You should think about the local real estate market before you decide to sell your house.

Is it a buyer’s market or a seller’s market?

The terms “buyer market” and “seller market” are well-known. You should be aware of the type of market that exists in your locality before you sell a house.

If your local real estate market will be flooded with listings, the competition is strong. This means that you are likely to experience a buyer’s market. Homebuyers can be more selective about the houses they are interested in, which increases the likelihood that your house will not be seen. It is obvious that this is not what you want when selling your home.

It is also possible that the market is neither a buyer’s or seller’s market. When housing supply and demand are relatively equal, this is a balanced market. It means that there may be many homes for sale, but there are also a lot of buyers in the market.

Time of the year

Each local real estate market has its own unique characteristics. When a house is listed, the time of year can be a major factor.

In general, the best months to sell a house are often March, April, and May. Your local real estate market, however, will have a major impact on the decision of when to sell your house. In some cases, it is better to sell your house during the winter and fall months than wait until spring.

Handle emotions

You’ve now been warned if you didn’t realize that selling a house can be emotionally draining. When selling a house, homeowners can experience a variety of emotions, including excitement, anxiety, nervousness and stress.

One of the 10 biggest challenges you’ll face is how to deal with the emotions that accompany the sale of a house. You can handle emotions by being sure that you want to sell the home. When selling a home, it’s not uncommon for homeowners to experience seller’s regret. It is important to remember that this is a business transaction and that emotions should not be involved.

Choose a Realtor

There are thousands of agents in every market. So choosing the right Realtor can be a challenge. There are many average real estate agents, others who are horrible, and only a few top agents in every market.

How can you choose the best Realtor to sell your home? It is important to know the importance of not just choosing a realtor who will list your house for the highest amount or a real estate agent that claims they can sell your home due to an open house.

Knowing how to interview potential agents is another way to overcome the challenge of finding a realtor who is a star. Some sellers will completely skip this step, which is a big mistake. Some homeowners do not know the proper way to interview a realtor when selling their home.

A “dud” realtor can make selling your home a daunting task. By choosing a top-notch realtor, and following their advice and guidance, the other nine challenges will be easier to overcome.

Price your home correctly

It is impossible to predict the price of a house when you are selling it. Many home sellers face a challenge when it comes to pricing their home correctly.

A home that is overpriced can have devastating effects. Overpriced homes will generally not get many showings or inquiries. As a house sits on the marketplace, buyers begin to wonder if there is something wrong with it. It may not be that there is anything wrong with the house, but the longer it sits on the market the more buyers begin to wonder what’s wrong.

If a home is priced correctly from the start, it will attract a lot of interest and showings in the first or second week after listing goes live and may even sell within that time frame. Pricing your home to sell is a challenge that every homeowner faces.

Get your home ready to sell

Preparing a home for sale is one of the biggest challenges homeowners face. When preparing a house for sale, there are many things to consider. There may be some things that need to get fixed or repaired before listing a house, depending on the owner’s desire and the condition of the home. Some of the most common things that homeowners fix or repair before selling their homes include fixing roof leaks and plumbing problems.

Certain projects, such as a $20,000 renovation of your kitchen, would not make sense if you plan to sell in the next few months. Certain projects, however, can be done prior to selling, such as painting the interior and exterior, replacing outdated light fixtures or removing wallpaper. These quick and cheap “improvements”, which are easy to do, can make a house look more appealing to buyers, possibly leading to a faster sale.

No one enjoys a bad smell. Some homeowners are challenged by foul odors. It’s crucial to address foul smells when preparing your home for sale. Asking someone who will give an unbiased opinion about the odor can be a great way to determine if it is something that needs to be addressed. Smoke odors or pet odors can often deter potential buyers from buying a house.

Maintain a “Show Ready Home”

If you ask anyone if they have enjoyed maintaining a “show ready” home, it will likely be a NO! It is time-consuming to prepare a house for showings. This is a difficult task for homeowners who are selling their homes. It may seem simple to keep the rooms clean or decluttered, but it can be a real challenge.

Many homes are staged in order to reduce the amount of time they spend on the market. In many cases, staging a house can involve removing items you use every day. The recliner that you use to read your favorite books may need to be put in storage in order to maximize the space in the living room. Things like this can become very frustrating and annoying after a while.

Unrealistic homebuyers

Homeowners often face this challenge when trying to sell their home. Homebuyers today are often unrealistic in many different ways. Most often, a buyer will be unrealistic about the price of a home. One of the biggest challenges sellers face is dealing with lowball offers. Many buyers, regardless of whether the home is priced correctly or not, want to offer a homeowner a much lower price than what their home is actually worth.

Many of these buyers that want to make lowball offers also expect the house to be in perfect condition. Today’s buyers don’t want to do any work on the house they buy. This includes minor cosmetic updates such as painting and carpeting. It can be frustrating for sellers who have priced their home so that it reflects the need for those minor cosmetic updates.

“Pass” inspections

Homebuyers often ask if they can have an inspection done on the house they want to buy. Buyers have the right to request a variety of different inspections. These include home inspections, pest inspections, and others. Home sellers’ biggest challenge is to “pass” these inspections.

There are no specific rules for passing a home inspection. The buyer decides if the home passes or fails. This is a problem that home sellers face when trying to sell their house because each buyer has different opinions about what constitutes a “passing” or acceptable inspection. Some will not be concerned about a “double-tapped circuit” in the electrical panel. This is an inexpensive and quick fix. However, some buyers will be scared away by such a simple issue.

A pre-listing home inspection can be a great way to ensure that the inspection passes. A seller can consider a pre-listing home inspection before putting their house on the market. This way, the seller can correct any issues that are found by a home inspection and avoid alarming a potential buyer.

Get a satisfactory bank appraisal

Receiving a satisfactory appraisal from a bank may be difficult to achieve when selling a house, depending on the type of financing that a buyer is using to purchase the property. This challenge is not present if the home is purchased with cash.

The bank will need to complete an appraisal of the property if the buyer wants a mortgage. Bank appraisals can be stressful for both the seller and buyer, as well as all other parties involved. An appraiser who is able to show that the price agreed between the buyer and the seller is the same as the market value is what constitutes a satisfactory bank appraisal.

This can cause problems if the bank decides that the value of the home is lower than the agreed-upon purchase price. Pricing a home correctly is important because a satisfactory appraisal will be required. The bank will not lend more money to the buyer if they cannot determine that the price of the house is comparable with its value. Of course, it’s ok if the appraisal comes back higher than the agreed upon price, but this is less common.

Close the deal

After overcoming the ten challenges above, closing a deal should be easy, right? Wrong. Many things can prevent a real estate transaction from closing.

Before the closing, it is common for a buyer to be unapproved. A buyer may accidentally get unapproved for a mortgage by doing certain things. This is not in the seller’s control, but it can be a challenge when selling a house.

Final thoughts

Knowing that there will be challenges when selling your home can make all the difference. Many of the challenges that home sellers face when selling their home are beyond their control. However, others are within their control and these are the ones the sellers should try and focus on. Remember that every real estate transaction is unique, and that other issues may arise.