Avoid these basic home selling mistakes

Even in a seller's market, it still takes considerable time and energy to close the deal. Whether you're a seasoned real estate veteran or selling your own home, take care to avoid making these common mistakes during the home-selling process.

Forgetting the inspection

A home inspection is a vital yet often overlooked step in the selling process. Before even thinking about putting a house on the market, make sure to get an inspection from a professional company first. A home inspection company will identify any underlying issues, like those pertaining to safety, remodeling needs and much more. Once completed, take the inspector's findings seriously. While an inspection may reveal more issues with the property than you were prepared to deal with, getting them worked out sooner rather than later will lead to far fewer headaches in the future.

Neglecting repairs

Buyers will expect any home they visit to be in the best condition possible, or head for the door at the first sight of an issue. After having completed a home inspection, ensure that all repairs are addressed before viewing begins. One of the biggest issues that an inspection will reveal is a structural fault. Since this deals with the foundation of your home, this is perhaps the most important fix that must be made as soon as possible. Pest inspection is another essential step in the process that will require immediate treatment. Other frequent issues made clear in an inspection include water leaks, mold, radon levels and faulty wiring. These issues should be taken care of before they have the chance to impact the final value of your home.

Photo concerns

When crafting the listing for the house, images of the property and interior are essential to generate interest among potential buyers. One of the quickest ways to turn customers away from a listing is to include low-quality images, or worse, none at all, according to Maximum Real Estate Exposure . Consider hiring a professional photographer to ensure higher quality photos of the house. A good photographer will also know how to stage photos with the right lighting, background and detail to make them pop. Even posting too few images can be a turn-off for buyers, so make sure the photos show a wide variety of rooms and hint at the potential of the space. While good photographers don't come cheap, making room in the budget for one may end up paying dividends.

Not giving the realtor room

If you're utilizing the services of a realtor, you can trust it's in their best interests to sell your home in a timely fashion. To do so requires cooperation on both sides. Realtor Bill Gassett considers this one of the most common and most harmful pitfalls of selling a home. He notes that many current homeowners who enlist a realtor to sell their house do not give them enough freedom to simply do their jobs. "Hovering over the agent and the buyer pointing out things you think are important are not what will sell your home," he writes. "They get paid for doing this so make it easy for them!" Gasset also advises homeowners to adhere to showing commitments. Canceling showings or placing excessive limits on them means fewer interested buyers and frustration for all involved.

Pricing and negotiation

Many who sell their home are reluctant to trust that a realtor will recommend a competitive price to list it at, and for good reason. You want to get the best deal, and you've probably developed a strong emotional attachment to your home, and see much more worth in it than anyone else might. However, pricing your home for more than your realtor suggests may prevent you from selling at all. This could lead to it being labeled a toxic property and drive even more potential buyers away. If you're using a realtor's services, it may be best to take their advice. The same goes for price negotiation. Don't take it personally if a buyer wants to talk you down to something lower. Use this to better gauge the price of your home and what you may really want to get out of it.