CHAPTER 10 Learn From Other's Mistak om Other's Mistakes
To avoid selling your house for less than it’s worth and leaving money on the table, it’s helpful to find out what other people have done wrong. These are examples of costly mistakes, including mistakes made by banks. The final story demonstrates how pricing your home right the first time
is crucial in a changing market.
UNDERPRICING: THE EASIEST WAY TO LOSE MONEY ON YOUR HOME SALE
The #1 reason people lose money on their home sale (as in, not getting all the money they could) is underpricing. They think their home is worth ‘x’ dollars without researching the value. They put their house on the market, sell it for less than it’s worth, and never realize their mistake. Once I went to a garage sale for a For Sale By Owner sign in front. I asked the seller how much he was asking. He told me and bragged that he already had a buyer for it after only a few days. I didn't tell him, since it was too late, that I could have sold it just as quickly for $50,000, because it was too late. He'd already committed. That is why it’s so critical you have a real understanding of the value of your home in today’s market, and a person who is not working as a full time real estate agent and has only done a transaction or two in decades, is not competent to sell a home, much less set the market value. It's like doing brain surgery on yourself after watching a You Tube video.
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