5 Things to Never Say When Selling a Home
Are you guilty or have you been guilty of saying any or all of these things when selling your home? I think if anyone has ever sold their home, we all have probably been guilty of saying at least one of these things if we found ourselves in front of a buyer!
It’s a lesson worth remembering: Home sellers need to watch what they say to home buyers and their real estate agents.
Real estate professionals recently shared with realtor.com® the phrases they say sellers should never utter:
1. “Our house is in perfect condition.”
“The home inspection may reveal otherwise, and, as a seller, you don’t want to wind up putting your foot in your mouth,” says Cara Ameer, a real estate professional with Coldwell Banker. “There simply is no such thing as ‘perfect condition.’ Every house, whether it is brand new or a resale, has something that needs to be fixed, adjusted, replaced, or improved upon.”
2. “We’ve never had a problem with …”
Sellers need to be careful to not utter any fibs, even those that seemingly are small, when selling their home. “You’re setting yourself up for potential liability,” Ameer says. “You may not even be aware of the problem at first, but it could translate into an embarrassing moment upon inspection.”
3. “It’s been on the market for …”
Sellers should never talk how long the home has been on the market with potential buyers, says Pam Santoro, a real estate professional with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. The information is available on the home’s information sheet for buyers to see for themselves. Sellers who wish to highlight this may find buyers believing they can get cheaper since it’s been on the market longer or have buyers wonder what’s wrong with the home that it has been lingering.
4. “We spent a ton of money on X, Y, and Z.”
Sellers who think that just because they spent a ton of money on some upgrade to the home shouldn’t believe that upgrade will be so desired by home buyers nor will it necessarily get them a ton of money back at resale. “The buyer doesn’t care whether you spent $10,000 or $100,000 on your kitchen,” says Ameer. “They are only going to offer what they feel the home is worth in relation to area comparable sales.”
5. “I’m not taking less than X amount for my home.”
“If you send a message that you are inflexible or not open to negotiating, it may not invite buyers to even try to work out acceptable price and terms as they will feel defeated from the start,” says Ameer. “Word may spread that you have this sentiment as a seller, and people may start to avoid the house.”
View all of the phrases at realtor.com®.
Source: “6 Things You Should Never Say When You’re Selling Your Home,” realtor.com® (Jan. 12, 2016)
