7 things Cheadle home sellers should never say!

Whether the property market is buoyant or flat in Cheadle there are a few things we have heard some home sellers say that they think will get them the best results but tend to do more harm than good! 

Of course, you want to sell your house for as much money as possible, that’s understandable, but these 7 things you can easily think and feel when selling your home, might be best not being expressed out loud, if you want to sell your house quickly and for the most money possible.

1) “My house is better than all of those house”

Before you list your house, your local estate agent will typically do a comparative market analysis on your house to help you get a feel for how your house stacks up against recently sold and currently available homes in the area.

While it’s understandable that a homeowner may feel their house is better than all the comparable homes in the analysis, it pays to be objective. Each house is certainly different and yours may in fact be better in some ways than the comparable houses, but there’s a reason and a science behind why the agent arrives at where they think your home sits in the market price wise. 

Trust your agent’s experience and judgment. The tendency to overestimate how much better your house is than others that have sold can easily lead to overpricing your home, which can ultimately hurt the saleability. It’ll likely take longer to sell than it should, and you’ll probably get less than you would have if you priced it appropriately from the outset. 

2) “We should build in some wriggle room”

Even if a homeowner sees the sense in what the data shows and agrees with the agent’s recommendation on what the market value is, some sellers still want to list considerably higher than the data supports. They want to “build in some wriggle room” so they have room to negotiate because they feel buyers will always come in with a lower offer to start.

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy when you do that. If you price too high and build in “wriggle room,” it forces the buyer to come in lower than they would have because they feel the need to create some wriggle room and come up in price during negotiations — if they even make an offer at all. Building in that wriggle room can cause a buyer who may have come in with an offer to hold off, because they don’t want to insult you.

Once again, you’re better off pricing right around where the analysis suggests. Sure, some buyers may come in with a lower offer no matter where you price it, but by pricing it appropriately, a motivated buyer who wants your house won’t mess around and in the current climate in Cheadle, this strategy is creating more interest, more offers and often the price escalates above the original asking price. 

3) “I’m selling the house as-is”

This is common to hear a homeowner say before they officially list their property, and after having felt like they gave in on the asking price. It’s almost like a concession they’re looking for because they agreed to list their house for less than they think they should.

In a perfect world it would be great to sell a house as-is and not do any repairs reductions for items found during the buyer’s survey. But in the real world, there’s often something that a buyer will want you to fix.

It’s fine to hope you can get away with digging in on any home inspection issues, but if the inspection reveals things that are wrong with the house, you need to be at least open to addressing the issues. How much you have to agree to (if anything at all) will depend a lot on how much interest you had from other buyers, as well as the negotiations that occurred before you agreed upon the offer. The bottom line is, setting your mind to selling as-is could potentially set you up for disappointment, if not the loss of a sale, when you start off with this mentality.

4)“I’ll wait for a better offer”

There’s a rule of thumb in estate agency that your first offer is often your best offer. It’s not entirely true of course; sometimes a seller takes a pass on the first offer and a better one does come along some time down the road. But it happens often enough for you to think twice before saying a straight no to the first offer you receive.

Too often a seller will forgo a solid offer, hoping to get a better one if they just wait and keep the house on the market, only to find that every offer in the future isn’t as good as the first one. Unfortunately, other than turning back time, there’s not much you can do but settle for less than you could have if you had taken the first offer.

5) “I’m not reducing my price”

A lot of times sellers do end up listing their house at a higher price than they should have, and after a few weeks the initial buzz of buyer activity slows down. No offers from buyers after the first couple of weeks and fewer viewings usually mean it’s time to consider reducing the price. Reacting quickly is very important. 

When a price reduction is suggested, some homeowners firmly claim they’re not reducing their price – not now, not ever. While you may eventually get an offer, once your property has been on the market 6-8 weeks without any serious interest, the chances of achieving the original place are minimal. Eventually most sellers do come to terms with having to reduce their price, and once they do, the house usually sells if they reduce it the appropriate amount.

Save yourself time, aggravation, and money by reducing your price as soon as the market shows you there’s no interest at your current price.

6) “They can take it or leave it”

Ultimatums rarely work well in any negotiations, but a lot of people feel like that’s the way to get what you want.

While most buyers and sellers aren’t seasoned negotiators, buyers won’t just roll over and accept whatever terms you want just because you say they can either take it or leave it when you reach the point where you want to draw the line. If you tell them to take it or leave it, there’s a good chance they’ll opt for leaving it.

Rather than offer this ultimatum and losing a potential buyer, think of smaller concessions you can make to continue the negotiation process and listen to the advice of your partner agent. 

7) “I don’t need to sell”

When a seller is frustrated with a lack of activity, no offers, or a low offer, they often say something along the lines of “I don’t need to sell” – What they’re basically saying is, “If I can’t get what I want, then I just won’t sell”

Okay, fine. But if it gets to this point, it’s probably a combination of every other thing mentioned above, and the seller just won’t budge from their own point of view. If they truly feel that way, and they don’t want to listen to good advice, then not only do they not need to sell, but they also probably won’t be able to sell their house.

While it may not sound like a big deal, with the history of how many times a house is listed (and for how long) readily available online, it can hurt the seller down the road. Buyers look at that data and it affects how they think and feel about the house in the future. It can lead to getting less for the house than they should have or would have, just because they put their house on the market and let it linger because they weren’t truly motivated to sell.

So, if you don’t truly need or want to sell your home, you’re probably better off waiting until you do.

If you are thinking of selling your home or if it is sticking on the market and you are looking for a fresh approach, speak to Patrick, Joe or Maurice on 0161 428 3663, e-mail sales@mkiea.co.uk or why not visit our office on Cheadle High Street for a chat, or you can book a valuation here online https://mkiea.co.uk/valuation/