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Keep Your Home Sale from Falling Apart

Tuesday, July 31, 2018   /   by Sheri Roundy

Keep Your Home Sale from Falling Apart

After finding a buyer, all you have to do to make it to closing is to avoid these five traps.

Finding a buyer for your home is just the first step on the homeselling path. Tread carefully in the weeks ahead because if you make one of these common seller mistakes, your deal may not close.


Mistake #1: Ignore Contingencies

If your contract requires you to do something before the sale, do it. If the buyers make the sale contingent on certain repairs, don’t do cheap patch-jobs and expect the buyers not to notice the fixes weren’t done properly.

Mistake #2: Don’t Bother to Fix Things That Break

The last thing any seller needs is for the buyers to notice on the pre-closing walk-through that the home isn’t in the same condition as when they made their offer. When things fall apart in a home about to be purchased, sellers must make the repairs. If the furnace fails, get a professional to fix it, and inform the buyers that the work was done. When you fail to maintain the home, the buyers may lose confidence in your integrity and the condition of the home and back out of the sale.

Mistake #3: Get Lax About Deadlines

Treat deadlines as sacrosanct. If you have three days to accept or reject the home inspection, make your decision within three days. If you’re selling, move out a few days early, so you can turn over the keys at closing.

Mistake #4: Refuse to Negotiate Any Further

Once you’ve negotiated a price, it’s natural to calculate how much you’ll walk away with from the closing table. However, problems uncovered during inspections will have to be fixed. The appraisal may come in at a price below what the buyers offered to pay. Be prepared to negotiate with the buyers over these bottom-line-influencing issues.

Mistake #5: Hide Liens from Buyers

Did you neglect to mention that Uncle Sam has placed a tax lien on your home, or you owe six months of homeowners association fees? The title search is going to turn up any liens filed on your house. To sell your house, you have to pay off the lien (or get the borrower to agree to pay it off) first. If you can do that with the sales proceeds, great. If not, the sale isn’t going to close.


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Keller Williams Realty St. George
Sheri Roundy And Jamie Archibald
308 W. Tabernacle
St. George, UT 84770
435-313-1255
435-531-9085

Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Listing data provided courtesy of the Internet Data Exchange Program of The Washington County Board of REALTORS, Multiple Listing Service. The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange Program of The Washington County Board of REALTORS, Multiple Listing Service. Real Estate listings held by brokerage firms (licensees) other than Keller Williams Realty St. George include the name of the listing brokers. The information being provided is for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Data is updated as of September 26, 2023
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