Debunking 5 Home-Selling Myths

Connecticut Real Estate Expert Andy Sachs

There are five myths that home sellers need to disabuse themselves of before they enter the market. Learn more here.
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I recently read an article from Inman, a fantastic resource for all things real estate, that discussed some of the myths that home sellers in the market tend to believe but shouldn’t. I've picked five of the most common myths to share with you all today, so that I can explain why they're so harmful to the sellers who fall for them.
1. “I don’t need to have a listing agent visit my home until it’s ready.” I can’t tell you how wrong that is; preparation is key when selling a home. Here, we work with our clients not just months, but years in advance. We always help our clients plan their sale around the events in their life and early in the process, we think about the kinds of things we can do for the home to help it sell when the time comes.
2. “I don’t need to upgrade the property for sale.” Increasing numbers of buyers are looking for move-in ready homes, so the more a seller does to get the home to that level, the higher the returns. Today’s buyers are fundamentally different from how they were even a couple decades ago. They either don’t have the expendable cash to do the upgrades, don’t have the patience to do them, or they don’t want to be caught on the weekends doing them. They want to enjoy their new home or be able to take trips; they’re not inclined to spend day after day upgrading their home.

When buyers do come to your home, it should be a validation of what they’ve seen online.

3. “I need open houses to be able to sell my home.” Open houses are still a wonderful way to sell a property, but buyers already know about your home before they come to the open house. When they do come to your home, it should be a validation of what they’ve seen online. If your online listing and your actual home don’t align, you’ve probably lost your buyer.

4. “I need many open house signs at key intersections to draw people in.” An open house may very well grant your listing more exposure, but again, it only matters as much as your home validates your listing to those buyers who are still early on in their respective homebuying processes. Most people who attend open houses aren’t quite ready yet to take a plunge; they’re still doing their research and checking out their options. However, if your home is properly prepared, it could well take someone who wasn’t ready before and help them realize that maybe they are. In the end, though, you don’t need quite as many signs directing people to your open houses… we have GPS in today’s internet age.

5. “If buyers really want my house, they will pay more than the market value.” In our market, your success really does come down to your home’s pricing and marketing. If the value isn’t there in a buyer’s eyes (and remember that they have access to more information than ever before), then they won’t make an offer. Try to be within striking distance of the market; people don’t often blatantly make lowball offers.

If you have any questions about today’s topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. We look forward to working with you soon.