Last Updated on July 1, 2023
10% of home sales in 2021 were for sale by owner (FSBO) homes. Although homes that were sold by an owner are likely to sell for less, many people still opt to sell a home without an agent.
If you’ve decided that selling a home yourself is the right move for you, it’s crucial that you take the right approach to the sale. Preparing carefully and ensuring that you’re knowledgeable about the process will be key to having a great experience selling a home without an agent.
When selling your home in Atlanta, be sure to avoid these common FSBO mistakes.
1. Not Presenting Your Home Well
One of the biggest mistakes that owners make when selling is that they fail to improve their home well enough and present it well to buyers. If you’re selling a home on your own, you need to ensure that you do everything you can to make your home look appealing to buyers from the very first glance.
Boosting your home’s curb appeal, decluttering your home, and staging your home are some of the ways that you can make your home look amazing and make it easier to sell.
2. Skimping on the Real Estate Listings
Another place where owners who are selling their homes go wrong is that they neglect to perfect their listings and invest in great content for their homes. Many Atlanta area buyers look online these days when searching for a home to buy, so you need to be sure that they can easily identify what makes your home special.
Sharing great property photos, videos, and 3D tours can help you paint your home in the best light. You should also aim to ensure that you fill out the listing description thoroughly and highlight all of the great features that your home has.
3. Choosing the Wrong Price
Failing to list your home for the right price is one of the major mistakes you need to avoid if you’re selling it yourself. Many homeowners list their homes for way more than it’s actually worth while others undervalue their homes and don’t get as much money for it as they could have.
Be sure that you carefully study the other homes that have sold in your area and understand how to price homes properly. It can be well worth the extra effort if you want your home to sell quickly and for a good price.
4. Not Knowing the Selling Process
Failing to understand the home selling process is also a big setback that FSBO sellers go through.
When selling a home, there are a lot of legal matters that need to be taken care of and plenty of paperwork to deal with. If you don’t understand exactly what you’re doing, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by all of it or to make big mistakes.
Be sure that you learn everything you can about the process of selling a home before you do it so that your sale will go as smoothly as possible.
5. Falling for Scams
Unfortunately, there are a lot of home-buying scams in real estate and it can be harder for FSBO sellers to identify them.
In some cases, a buyer may offer to buy the home before seeing it in person or try to rope you into a tricky situation that ends up with you losing significant amounts of money. On the other hand, some investors may simply try to take advantage of a seller who isn’t experienced with real estate and doesn’t know the true value of their home.
Regardless of the type of scammer you’re dealing with, an agent can help protect you. They’ll be able to help you spot potential scams from a mile away and ensure that you don’t fall for them.
If you do decide to sell your home without an agent anyway, be sure that you’re wary. If something seems too good to be true or if someone seems suspicious, be sure to listen to your instincts.
Avoiding These FSBO Mistakes in Atlanta
If you’re planning to sell a home on your own, be sure to avoid the common FSBO mistakes listed here. Be sure that you present your home well, perfect your real estate listings, and understand the process of selling a home.
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