Things For Home Sellers To Avoid

  1. Avoid being at home while your home is being shown. 
  2. Work with your agent to verify your home's buyers' qualifications, including their loan approval, down payment and earnest money deposit; before you sign a contract.  It's not overkill for your agent to call the buyers' mortgage pro before you sign the contract and get a level of comfort for how robust their qualifications are. 
  3. Don't get overly emotional about receiving a lowball offer; counter at the price you and your agent decide makes sense based on the total circumstances, including your motivation level, recent comps and the interest/activity level your listing is receiving.
  4. Avoid mid-stream price renegotiations by having a full set of inspection reports and repair bids at hand when you list your home. Buyers: try to avoid renegotiating the entire deal unless you get some major surprises at your inspections or inflating small repairs to try to justify a major price cut.
  5. If you get multiple offers and are tempted to take a sky-high one or one that claims to be all cash, consider requesting proof that the buyer has sufficient funds to make up the difference between what you think the home will appraise for and the actual sale price, and statements showing the cash truly exists.Â