The 9 “deadly sins” Knoxville & Farragut sellers commit

by Jim Lee
(Knoxville, Tennessee)

Jim Lee, Knoxville REALTOR®

These 9 “deadly sins” are the most common I see almost everyday in the Knoxville & Farragut Tennessee real estate market. If you truly want your house to sell in a reasonable amount of time and for a good price, DO NOT commit any of these 9 deadly sins.

1. First, and probably worst, is overpricing. I hear sellers and their agents all the time saying things like; “we’re just trying a higher price for a while.” and “make us an offer, we’re negotiable.” The sad fact of the matter is that overpricing not only drives away buyers, it often drives then to more reasonably priced Knoxville sellers who are also negotiable. Here’s a perfect case study.
2. Not listening to your Realtor. Selling houses is what we do for a living and most of us are pretty good at it. You need to listen to your Realtor if they are suggesting painting or improving something. Here are 40 tips to “Dress your Knoxville house for success” and help it sell faster.
3. Micromanage the marketing. Just because you had a Tennessee real estate license 20 years ago or sold Amway doesn’t qualify you to market real estate in today’s very competative market. Here’s a valuable hint; lots of open houses wastes a lot of everyone’s time. The only people that come are noisy neighbors and potential crooks who want to check out what you have they might want.
4. Not “staging” your home to sell. Selling Knoxville area homes these days is as much about theatre and presentation as it is about location and price. Statistics show that professionally staged homes sell for a 6.9% higher price and in much less time than non-staged homes.
5. Failing the “smell” test. That old saying about “you can’t see the forest for the trees” really applies here. Objectionable odors you don’t notice such as pet smells, cooking odors, tobacco smoke, and others are a huge turnoff for buyers. Get an “outside nose” to give your house the “smell test” and tell you honestly what it smells like.
6. Controlling your pets. Sure your love your “Fluffy” or little “Snookums” but not all buyers appreciate animals of any sort in the homes they’re looking to buy. The very best way to handle this is to send your pets on vacation with a friend or vet while your house is on the market. Second best solution is to keep them caged or penned up while the house is being shown. This also goes along with the smell test, number 5 above.
7. Ignore feedback from potential buyers. Sure, not every buyer is going to like everything about your house. But if 3 different buyers say they love your house but hate the red walls on the dining room that’s a good sign it’s time to get out the paintbrushes or call a professional to fix the issue.
8. Talking to potential buyers viewing your home. The best place for you to be when buyers are touring your home is someplace else. Go shopping, go for a drive but please go away. Buyers feel less inhibited about looking and asking questions if the homeowner is not following them around and hovering. Additionally lots of potential buyers won’t raise objections if the homeowner is nearby. Your Realtor needs to hear what buyers are saying and they talk much more freely if you’re not there.
9. Not putting your house in tip top shape to sell. This probably should have been number 1 or 2 but all the sins are important. Paint up, fix up, throw out, and do everything you can to put your home in showroom condition. You noticed how car dealer polish up and shine their used cars to make them more appealing and saleable; this technique works for Knoxville & Farragut houses as well.

There you have it, the 9 deadly sins I see Knoxville & Farragut area sellers commit on almost a daily basis. If you have a house to sell in the Knoxville or Farragut Tennessee area please do yourself and your sale a favor and don’t commit any of these “homeselling sins”.

For more tips on how to get your Knoxville area home sold quickly for a good price visit KnoxvilleMLS.com, theres a wealth of home selling knowledge there for you.

Happy home selling.