Don’t make these 3 home-selling mistakes!

Kimberly Bean
Kimberly Bean
Published on July 29, 2020

It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re selling your Southern Maryland home. After all, for most people, selling a home isn’t something they do every day.

So, take this chance to learn from others’ mistakes. These are three of the biggest oops we see in our real estate work.

Mistake 1: Disregarding the value of curb appeal

There aren’t a lot of studies on just how much or how little value “curb appeal” adds to a home. The most widely-read is a decade old, published by professor Alex X. Niemiera with the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech.

What his study found is that landscaping can boost the value of home in various ways. The sophistication of the design gives the most bang for the homeowner’s buck – up to 42 percent in additional value.

Larger plants add up to 36 percent to the value, and a diversity of “plant material type” is worth 22 percent.

Another study during that time period found that large plants were the hot button with homebuyers, rather than sophisticated landscaping.

The fact is, curb appeal does add perceived value to a Southern Maryland home. Not only that, it is the sole determining factor to getting people out of their cars and into the home.

In that way, curb appeal may also determine how quickly the home sells. If your landscaping can use a makeover, go online for inspiration. HGTV.com offers amazing before and after photos, and we can always rely on Pinterest for inspirational photos. Go to pinterest.com and enter “curb appeal” in the search box.

Mistake 2: Making expensive improvements for the wrong reason

You will naturally want to make the repairs necessary to get the most money for your Southern Maryland home. The mistake we frequently see, however, is homeowners who feel they need to make expensive cosmetic upgrades to justify a higher selling price.

“A good rule of thumb for improvements is if it costs you $2,500 to update your bathroom, you should see a market gain of $10,000 to justify the improvement,” says Michelle LeBow at FamilyHandyman.com.

You just will not see that large of a market gain from an updated bathroom. Let the new owners do the updates, and price the home accordingly.

Mistake 3: Hiring the first Southern Maryland real estate agent you speak with

According to National Association of REALTORS (NAR) studies, most real estate consumers hire the first real estate agent they speak with. That’s right: Americans apparently spend more time researching Amazon.com purchases or restaurants on Yelp.com than they do choosing a real estate agent.

It’s amazing when you consider that a home is many people’s largest financial asset.

Not all Southern Maryland real estate agents are alike. Just as some hair stylists, attorneys, and plumbers are more experienced, more skilled, and offer better services, so are real estate agents.

It’s important that you interview at least three agents before hiring one to help you sell your home.

Hughesville MD Homes for Sale and Real Estate Services in Southern Maryland. You now have a search engine to help you with your Southern Maryland home search! And I’m ready to provide you with a custom home valuation if you’re considering selling your home. Let’s connect to discuss how I can help you. Contact Kimberly Bean at 301-440-1309

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