I have been selling homes in and around Austin, Texas since January 1997, and I have helped many, many sellers as a listing agent. I am also the broker and owner of a company with 16 agents, and I train others on how to sell real estate.
In a nutshell, part of my job is to prevent my clients from making costly mistakes. I tend to see people make the same common errors, year in and year out. By making these mistakes, they might keep their home on the market too long, or even, in many cases, keep their own home from selling at all. I've taken the time to record some of these errors here for your benefit. This is a long post, so you might consider printing it or bookmarking the page for future reference.
OVERPRICING
Frankly, the price is very important, especially with other underlying economic factors afffecting consumer confidence. One of the best ways to prevent your home from selling quickly, or at all, is to list it at too high a price. I'm sure that you don't want to pay too much for things, and neither do potential buyers of your home.
This is a sensitive issue for most people, because we tend to identify somewhat with our homes. Many people think of their homes as an extension of themselves and their lives. This is partially true, because our homes are the places where some of the most important events of our lives occur: the baby's first steps, hugs and time with family, cooking and family meals.
While this attitude is understandable, when it comes time to sell your home, it's necessary to take a different view. A home sale is a business transaction. Your home, which you value so highly, and may even still somehow see as "basically new," will not be seen as such to potential buyers who are looking for a home in excellent condition, in a good location at a reasonable price.
Keep in mind that market value is determined by what a motivated and qualified buyer is willing to pay for your home, not simply what you feel it should be worth.
NEGLECTING NECESSARY REPAIRS
I have had clients who want to get everything perfect before selling, which is a problem in and of itself, but more often as agents we see deferred maintenance items on homes that we 
are looking to list.
"What the heck is deferred maintenance, Jason?"
What this means is that sellers are saving money in the short-term by allowing things to remain broken, but when it's time to sell, it's time to fix these items. It's probably best to put yourself in the buyer's shoes for a moment - would you like to buy a home with problems that the seller refused to fix? Perhaps if it was priced well under market, but otherwise you wouldn't.
Another common trait among sellers that we have worked with over the years is the idea that you have negotiated a fair price, so the buyer shouldn't ask for any repairs. Again, put yourself on the other side of the deal. While the buyer may be thinking this way, the more likely scenario is that they want the right price AND the right condition.
NEGLECTING TO STAGE YOUR HOME
This one is certainly more difficult in some cases than in others. Every once in awhile, I see homes that 
are "showing ready", but usually they need some help preparing to show. First and foremost, de-clutter! You may be able to throw away a lot of things, or you may need to rent a storage unit, or both if you are in a serious clutter zone. Regardless, this is an absolute necessity in a competitive market. Your agent can usually help with some good ideas, or you may wish to hire a professional home stager (highly recommended if you can find a good one). We know several good stagers who can help.
As a side note, you want to make your home as neutral as possible, in order to appeal to the broadest spectrum of buyers. Home builders have known this for years, which is why they hire professional decorators to assist with the design and staging details. You want to eliminate any odd decor items that may appeal to your unique sense of style, but which may appear strange to buyers.
GETTING HUNG UP ON SMALL STUFF
I worked on a ranch sale years ago that was a multi-million dollar transaction, and it was almost blown over the deer feeders, which probably cost $1000-2000. When you are selling your home, keep the big picture in mind rather than allowing yourself to get hung up on something small. Another example would be refusing to pay for a necessary repair (you will have to do it no matter what if you really want to sell), or not paying for a one-year limited warranty. Is it really worth blowing your sale over something little?
TURNING A BUSINESS ISSUE INTO AN EMOTIONAL ISSUE
As I mentioned above, a home sale is really just a business 
transaction, although it can often be difficult to make this distinction when you have so much of yourself invested in your home. I have had a number of occasions when my clients did not personally like the people buying their home, but I have to gently remind them that they will not have to deal with them very long, and then they can move on with their lives. Don't allow your emotions to prevent you from getting your home sold. If you don't like the buyers, it really doesn't matter, as long as the terms are agreeable.
Keep the big picture in mind and move forward.
TRYING TO SELL IT YOURSELF
Nationally, over 80% of the homes listed "for sale by owner" end up listing the property with an agent. Clearly, this is a very low success rate. To be sure, there are exceptions, such as when you are in a VERY hot area with good drive-by traffic. Statistically, you actually stand a better chance of opening a new restaurant than you do of selling your own home.
If you do decide to "go it alone", keep in mind that you are responsible for screening everyone that sees the house, and for being available during the day for showings. You also need to familiarize yourself with the contracts, and find a suitable office to close the transaction. Add to this the relatively new challenge of tighter mortgage guidelines (Can this buyer truly qualify to buy the home?).
These are all details that your agent can and will handle for you.
CHOOSING THE WRONG AGENT TO REPRESENT YOU
If you choose the wrong person to list your home, this is something that is difficult to overcome during the sales process. If the agent has a bad, pushy or argumentative personality, no matter how experienced they are, RUN the other way! Having a dishonest agent is another terrible situation to be in as a seller.
Some agents will mislead you in order to get you to accept an offer that won't work for you, or they may try to scare you into thinking that your home won't sell at all unless you drop the price dramatically.
Primarily, you want someone who is friendly, loyal, honest, and who has your best needs in mind. Next, knowledge of the market is important - make sure you understand what you are competing with, and which homes have recently sold. Lastly, an agent with good marketing skills is worth their weight in gold.
NOT TRUSTING YOUR AGENT (unless it's the guy above)
Now that you have hired the CORRECT agent, trust them to do their job, unless you are given a strong reason to think otherwise. This includes allowing the agents to communicate on your behalf, rather than attempting to speak directly with the buyers. In some cases, it is necessary or even advisable for this to occur, but usually it doesn't help matters, especially during the negotiations.
In addition to selling lots of homes, I have watched a bunch of the home-selling shows on TV, and time and time again, I am able to predict the outcome (price, problems, etc.). This comes from experience, and it is something difficult to teach or to learn from a book. Trust that the advise your agent gives you is solid, as this is what they do every day.
SELLING AT THE WRONG TIME
Selling with bad timing can happen at least three different ways:
a. you are selling and you don't know where you are going, 
b. you put your home on the market immediately before you have to move, or
c. you are selling at the wrong time of year.
If you have no idea where you are going to buy next, it's probably not great to put your home on the market, unless you simply cannot afford your home anymore, or if you are in imminent danger. The inevitable outcome of listing too soon is that you will receive an offer from someone who wants to move in right away, and you are forced to either reject the offer or move to temporary housing, then move again when you find the right home. If you are like me, you don't enjoy moving, so why put additional stress on yourself?
If you are building a home with a particular timeline in mind, or if you are starting a new job and you have some time to prepare, don't wait until it's too late to get your home listed. You don't want to leave the home vacant and (worse) have two house payments while you are trying to sell. It's never too early to contact an agent and ask when you should list, with your particular needs and timing.
We sometimes have clients who spend too much time getting their homes ready to sell, and they miss the big selling window in our market. Don't spend an inordinate amount of time preparing your home and end up missing the primary selling season in your area.
NOT GIVING POTENTIAL BUYERS ACCESS TO YOUR HOME
This is a critical point: buyers DO NOT work around your ideal schedule. If it is a reasonable time of day (i.e. you are awake and most normal people also are), LET THEM LOOK. Even if things are in disarray, LET THEM LOOK. Even if the buyer's agent doesn't give you any notice, LET THEM LOOK. Although I always try to prepare for showings the day before they happen (or at least several hours ahead of time) and I train our agents to do this, there are times when a buyer will spot a sign and ask about a particular home that is not on the list. Sometimes, they buy this home. Keep that in mind when you have your home listed.
Another good point which warrants mentioning here is to get out of the house when buyers are looking. Preferably, this means going for a walk or going to run errands, but at the very least, go outside and give them some privacy while they are looking with their agent. Buyers never feel at ease when you are in the home hovering around them. LET THEM LOOK on their terms. If you are concerned about valuables, lock them up somewhere.
BUYING THE WRONG HOME IN THE FIRST PLACE
This is another area where having a good agent comes into play. A good quality agent will prevent you from buying something that is not a wise decision (next to railroad tracks, under a freeway overpass, etc.). If you can make a smart decision on your purchase, when it is time to sell, you will be much happier. You can't change the location of your home once you have made the purchase.
Although this is not meant to be an exhaustive list of important items when you are selling your home, these are among the most common problems that I have seen personally. I hope you have found this list to be helpful. Please feel free to contact me (Jason Crouch) at 512-796-7653 (cell) or by visiting our Austin Real Estate website at http://www.austintexashomes.com. I look forward to helping you with your sale!
If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me elsewhere or subscribe via email?
If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can also visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. If you're interested in social media training, visit 210 Consulting. Thanks!
Super job! Great post!
Ha ha .......those are terrific Jason....I don't know whats more fun the writing or picking the photos to go with it! Love it all........:-))
What do you mean by 'blown over the deer feeders?' I was just reading that again and scratching my head.........Oh and I was also wondering, does your partner blog? Does he/she read your blogs?ler"?
Outstanding Post, great tips!!!
Jason- These are excellent points and you went into detail with each point which is important for the seller to read and understand.
I like to say, Once you list your house, it is no longer your home. It is a transaction.
Jason, great post with great information for everyone. Lately we have been seeing in the listings that we need to call the LA before showing and then we can't connect with them to arrange it. Ugh.
Very good article for customers to use as reference material. Now let's hope they really read it and take it to heart.
Jason,
You make some really great points. I have just one question for you and that is How did you get a picture of my home? :-))
Don R.
Great list, Jason. Every point is something to discuss with the seller at some point early in the process. Motivation for selling is so important, if they are truly motivated then they will see the advantage of all these suggestions.
Jason- truly amazing and the pcitures are the best I have ever seen.
Jason, Great post. You have covered all the points. Hope sellers read it.
Jason, EXCELLENT POST ! One of the first questions I ask is why they are selling their home ? it helps to determine how montivated they are and if they will be likely to compromise ~
Jason...
Wow. How long did you work on this? I'm bookmarking it, it's superb. I like the last point the best. A lot of people call me about auction when a property has been listed a long time and I always use this line:
"The same reasons your property hasn't already sold are the same reasons it will not do well at auction!" At the end of the day, the property has to stand on it's own merit!
Jason - wow what an outstanding list. You really put together some excellent information!
Very good tips! I liked the pictures that went with them, too... This is a good list to hand out to sellers. :)
I find it's the small stuff that causes the most problems for people - they get so hung up over something that is small potatoes. Great post, Jason!
Jason, this should be a tutorial for all those FSBOs out there. On the buy side a good agent does remind you about location and not ending up house poor either. Great detail on this one. You put a lot of effort into this with the pictures.
Jason, this is so true. I have worked with a number of sellers (as we all have) who are not willing to accept the market analysis and pricing strategies for their home. They tend to have an inflated view on the value of their home and insist on listing it at a higher price... I call this the "cha ching factor."
In the beginning I booked these listings only to run the gamut on the listing contract and eventually expire (after a lot of time and effort a well as marketing dollars). The seller then will move on to the next agent and, if they do list at a lower price, it will most likely still be too high... and so on and so forth.
I followed some of these listings and have seen most of them expire regardless of which agent was involved and the ones that eventually did sell were the ones in which the seller lowered their asking price (over time) to the level that was recommended in the first place.
I worked on a transaction with an agent in Stark County who has been successful in getting his listings priced correctly. He has been successful in getting offers and selling homes in a short period of time. He's a new agent and when his first sale came in within the second week of it's listing a fellow agent in his office told him it was "beginner's luck." Well, I've checked on his activity over the past few months and he seems to continue having that "beginner's luck!" His homes have been moving quickly.... I need to get with him again and find out how he's able to get his clients to list their homes at a price level that will move them in a short period of time. My hat is off to this agent (a newbie) and I want to learn more from him.
It's more than "beginner's luck," of course!
Jason,
Great list! I would like to add one and that would be to negotiate no matter how ridiculous the initial offer. You never know you might just be happy with the end result. Buyers are out there putting in low offers every day. It is human nature for them to do this. Everybody wants to get the best deal they can, buyers are no different. I ALWAYS advise to at the very least counter. If you don't it could be a loss of a potential sale. Who knows?
Jason, I agree with Liz. Sometimes I can not tell what is funnier, your words or the pics. Personally, I like the agent in the red coat and may need to use that picture at some point. Hope you do not mind. Great list. Thanks for sharing.
Jason:
Another Great post! Hey if you go into this office anytime this week would you mind picking up my flyers and when you take me to lunch I can get them from you. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Don't forget to bring your phone so you can know when to stop and go.
Good article I think you hit the nail on the head and covered the main bases.
Excellent, Excellent list Jason! I especially liked the point about having more of a chance in opening a restaurant than in selling a home. Having worked in the foodservice industry in the marketing end, I am well aware of how many restaurants fail in their first couple of years. That statement was really an eye opener for me.
Jason With 32 years behind me I agree with all you say and your pictures are the best - a great job, Karen
This is a great post Jason. I am sure everyone here appreciates how much time you put into this post and the time you put into it. Members like you are what makes these types of communities so great.
This is excellent! Very well put together and so thought out...you don't mess around when you do a list! Great job!
Jason, great points here. I can remember a deal that I had a while back that the seller walked on because of $125 dollars. It was so minute that I told the Realtor to pay it herself. Her comment to me was that her commissions were not going to be used to save the deal and if the seller wanted the deal they would have to pony up. Short sotory, I just talked to the title company who picked up the fee themselves and took it off the HUD.
Jason, Thanks for the info. We're trying to sell my mother's home now that both she and dad have passed away. I have printed your information out for my brother who is working with a local Realtor in MS. Very thorough. Thanks!!
I like your post and agree with every word of it. The pictures made it very lively.
Great post Jason! Hmmm, I think I need to go back and read it again -- I was reading the last few paragraphs while talking to you. Now, I have details of the post mixed up with details of our gathering in Austin. :~ Seriously, it is a great post with very good information every potential Seller should read and follow.
"dancing in the rain!"
Jason, this is so so funny - and not! I really love the graphics you used here!
Well written and thought out...good job Jason...
GA Real Estate Agents
OH MY Jason! I have a series of these tips in the works as I have one client now who has a gorgeous home and refuses to allow showings and NEVER picks up prior to showings! I've got some good photographs to go along with it too! But, EVERY one of these items have always been important for the sale of your home but, NOW even more than ever! GREAT post!
Jason, LOL @ "get out of the house". Can't get much plainer than that :) Seriously, this is a terrific list for sellers to follow and I hope that we are all addressing these issues up front before we stick our phone number on a sign in the yard.
Great post. The TV shows on home selling drive me nuts sometimes. In the ones I've watched recently, the agents walk around like lap dogs agreeing with everything the owners says, never showing any enthusiasm or voicing strong opinions on what to do. Maybe it's the shows I watch or the editing, but it makes the agents look like number monkeys - show up and give a price. Giving advice is so much omre than that, and starts way upstream in the process. I could rant for hours, but your post sums it up well!
This is one of your best, Jason. I've been absent for the past week aside from a few random comments, and this was a great reminder of what I miss when I put AR aside. I know you get your share, but I'm flagging this one anyway. Begs the question why it isn't featured already? Great, great stuff.
Jason, can I use this, please?
Great information, and eye catching graphics too. Sellers really need to pay attention to all factors to get the sale in this market.
LIZ - "Blown over the deer feeders" means that the deal was almost ruined because of a disagreement over the stupid deer feeders. :-)
Agree with Paul, should be a featured post, great job. Love the staging photo. Got stuff? and more stuff? and more,more stuff?
You are right about getting hung up on the small stuff. I once had a sale almost fall apart over a $40 shelf in a $500,000 home.
Jason, these are great:) I love the last one, too! Great advice!
JASON - Good advice to all sellers. If only more of them would read this post and understand that these are real issues, and not just something that we tell them to be the bearer of bad news. Selling a home takes work, and the clearest path to a successful sale is one that has had as many obstacles as possible removed.
Jason, this is some great advice for sellers in the Austin area and, well, really everywhere else too. Like Adam said above, selling a home is work, and it is not just our job. It is the job of the seller as well, and like any job there is a job description and expectations. You have laid them out very well here.
TO ALL: Thanks for your comments here, and thanks to those of you who flagged this for a feature. It was featured on Localism, although I really don't know what that means with regard to extra exposure with the newly launched design. However, I did get 600 points for this post, so that made me happy! I hope you're having a great day!
Hi Jason, You wrote an outstanding post! You could turn that into a booklet or more! You are an expert in the real estate profession! Thank You for revealing authentic reality!
Rock on Jason-Excellent post and I might have to email this one around.
Congrats your post was selected for THE BLOGGERS CHOICE SELECTION
MIDORI - Thanks! That is very cool. Please feel free to use this in your training if will help.
Wonderful tips and advice jason...and great detail for the seller. ...now if they only follow lead.
SALLY - That really is the crux of the issue, isn't it? We can provide wonderful advice for our clients, but they have to ACCEPT it. :)
Wonderful post, with some great information, I loved the pictures.
Have A Great Day
What a wonderful post. You are to be commended for putting this in easy to understand language with great visuals.
www.kathytorline.com
Very well written and helpful. You nailed it on the head, but for most FSBOs, are they really listening? Does this approach of coaching help turn more prospects into clients? Is this something that you present at seller presentations? I will be looking for more of your blogs.
www.kraemerrealty.com
Jason - excellent post, and I appreciate the information. There are so many factors when listing a home for sale to get it "SOLD". I appreciate your post!