To sell your home fast and for the best price, watch out for these common home seller mistakes

Selling a home is part logistics and part emotion, and most of the mistakes to avoid when selling your home show up where the two meet: an inspection turns up a surprise issue, the clock is running, and the quickest fix wins over the best one. Or you decide to list your home as-is and hope for the best. While these solve an immediate problem, in the end they can prevent you from selling your home quickly and getting the most out of your sale.

Here are 10 common mistakes we see home sellers make, in roughly the order sellers encounter them. Since prevention is often the best medicine, being aware of these ahead of time can help you to avoid making them yourself. 

1. Waiting too long to get started

2. Not hiring an agent

3. Skipping repairs

4. Not budgeting for the cost of selling

5. Overpricing

6. Leaving clutter and too many personal items

7. Skipping staging and prep

8. Neglecting curb appeal

9. Going DIY on photography

10. Selling your home as-is

1. Waiting too long to get started

Starting late usually comes from one of two places: waiting for the perfect market, or waiting until you’ve saved enough to prep the home. Both waits can cost you the season you meant to sell in, and neither is easy to predict. And while spring and summer are often touted as the prime seasons for selling, in truth, homes sell during every month of the year. 

So if you’re thinking of listing your home soon, being proactive is one of the best gifts you can give your future self. It will give you time to find a real estate agent, assess the condition of your house (and the current market), and put together a timeline and budget for any pre-sale prep.

2. Not hiring an agent

While selling your house independently can seem really appealing, there are definite tradeoffs when you list it as “for sale by owner.” You might save some money by not paying agent commissions, but you also miss out on the knowledge and experience a good real estate agent can bring to the table. 

An agent comes equipped with local market expertise, a network of buyers’ agents, pricing data and trend awareness, and practice reading offers. Selling without an agent? That puts pricing, marketing, paperwork, and negotiation all on your plate at the same time. 

And if that isn’t persuasive enough, consider this: statistically, homes sold by owners spend more days on market and sell for less.  

3. Skipping repairs

Skipped home repairs rarely stay hidden. If they’re not immediately visible, they’ll show up at the buyer’s inspection, where they can turn into a negotiation and sometimes seller concessions. 

While some owners may need to sell their home as-is, most buyers look at deferred maintenance as additional time, money, and effort that will be added to their plates on top of the costs of the down payment, closing, and monthly mortgage payments. If these additional costs seem too high, that may lead buyers to hesitate and eventually back out of the deal altogether. 

Buyers do the math on deferred maintenance. A study of home sales in 2024 found that homes described as “needs work” or “TLC” sold for around 8% less than expected. Sellers can avoid this potential pain by doing a pre-listing inspection to target essential repairs before they put their homes on the market. 

4. Not budgeting for the cost of selling

The most common budgeting mistake sellers make is planning around the agent’s commission and nothing else. Selling a home costs money before it brings any in: commissions, closing costs, repairs, prep, photography, and moving all add up, and many of them come due before your sale closes. 

A few steps make the number less of a surprise:

• Ask your agent for a net sheet. It estimates what you’ll take home after commissions, closing costs, and other expenses, so you can see your real bottom line before you list.

• List every cost in one place. Include the ones that are easy to forget, like pre-listing repairs, cleaning, staging, photography, and moving.

• Get quotes before you list. A contractor’s quote for the must-fix items is a better planning number than a guess.

• Note when each cost is due. Some are paid upfront and others at closing, so knowing the timing helps you avoid a cash-flow scramble.

5. Overpricing

Overpricing is one of the most common mistakes sellers make: a home priced above what comparable homes support tends to sit, and a long listing can leave buyers wondering what’s wrong with it.

Your agent should provide you with a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) and look at comparable homes that have recently sold in your area. Pricing should be at what that data supports, even if it’s less than you hoped. Your agent knows your neighborhood, so lean on them for advice.

Your home’s condition is a major part of the pricing conversation. 94% of buyers prefer homes that are move-in ready. Getting your home ready before it goes on sale can help your house stand out in a more crowded market.  

6. Leaving clutter and too many personal items

Buyers need to picture their own life in your home. Walls covered with family photos and a fridge crowded with souvenir magnets might fill you with warm memories, but they make it more difficult for buyers to see themselves there. 

Decluttering can help rooms look more spacious, draw the eye to the attractive features of a space, and make buyers feel less anxious or overwhelmed. 

And neutral surroundings help, too. Eric Ferraro of The Rob Smith Team Inbound Atlanta says, “What most people want is a neutral space in which to make their own.” Bold colors and busy patterns might express your unique style and taste, but they can make it harder for buyers to envision themselves in the space. 

7. Skipping staging and prep

A home that hasn’t been staged or prepped can look smaller, darker, and less cared for than it really is. Prep also covers the basics that are easy to stop noticing in your own home, including odors from pets, cooking, or smoke. Buyers notice smells quickly. Deep cleaning and neutral-colored paint can make an interior space feel bright and fresh.

Virtually-staged photos may have a relatively low price point, however, you run the risk of losing the trust of potential buyers when they arrive to see a completely different reality.

“What enticed [buyers] online to come into the house is now just empty rooms. There is nothing worse than a bait and switch where you feel like you’ve been duped.” Damon Vaz, Vaz Interiors

A professional home stager can apply their design sense to make your home look more spacious, flow better, and put buyers at ease–all within your budget. Sometimes simply rearranging what you already own and removing excess clutter is needed to make a better impression. 

8. Neglecting curb appeal

Buyers form an impression before they reach the front door, and online, the exterior photo is often the first image they see. Overgrown foliage, an unkempt lawn, and peeling house paint tell buyers a story before they’ve seen a single room.

Mowing the grass, trimming shrubs, and pressure washing the siding and walkways are small, low-cost ways to create a better first impression. Refreshing the exterior paint in the same or a more neutral color can also do wonders.

9. Going DIY on photography

For many buyers, the listing photos are the first showing: as of 2024, 94% of buyers used an online shopping resource when looking for a home to buy. With so much online content, unattractive photos will just be swiped past. Dim phone shots, crooked angles, and a litter box in the corner of the frame are a fast way to lose a click. 

A good professional photographer knows how to capture the visual story you want to tell about your home, including 3D photography if you want to create an online tour to attract potential buyers. Your agent is a great starting point to get local photographer recommendations. 

Thinking about altering the photos you took yourself? If you decide to use AI-altered photos in your listing, label them clearly. Buyers appreciate knowing what’s real; many states are now making it a requirement.

10. Selling your home as-is

Selling as-is means listing the home in its current condition, with no repairs or updates beforehand. It can seem like a reasonable choice when time is short or the home needs more work than a seller can take on, but it often costs more than sellers expect. Some buyers skip as-is listings entirely, and others come in with lower offers that build in a cushion for the unknowns. Remember that as-is doesn’t remove your disclosure duties. 

Put real numbers on the decision before you choose. Get a pre-listing inspection and contractor quotes for the must-fix items, then compare what the work would cost with the discount buyers are likely to ask for. Lean on your agent for their advice: they can help you decide which upgrades are most likely to add value and which ones you can probably skip. 

Getting market-ready without the cash-flow scramble

Selling a home will cost you money. The good news? The mistakes mentioned in this article can be fixed before your home goes on the market – and you won’t have to pay for them until your home closes. With a Notable pay-at-close loan, eligible sellers can get up to $50,000 to get their home market-ready with no upfront costs and no monthly payments, then repay what they used when the home closes.*

Your agent, your contractor, and your timeline stay yours. Checking what you qualify for uses a soft credit pull only, so there’s no impact to your credit score.

* Individual results may vary. Interest may apply. Loan eligibility is not guaranteed. Loan funds, interest, and fees are due twelve months after origination, upon the sale of your home, or upon acceleration, whichever occurs sooner. Subject to the terms of your loan agreement, and these terms and conditions (Notablehome.com/terms). Notable NMLS #1824748.