At Home In Scottsdale | Your Guide to Scottsdale Real Estate

HGTV recently aired a special presentation on the 25 Biggest Real Estate Mistakes.  Their list has many suggestions, some that I find especially important to emphasize with both buyers and sellers. Some of the biggies for Scottsdale sellers include:

#2 - Setting Too High of a Sale Price

I’ve written about this in the past (Are you pricing your home through your rear view mirror?).  More recently I read a post by Laurie Manny about Chasing The Market Down - Are you Guilty?, which does an excellent job of describing the pitfalls of pricing to high.

#18 - Failing to Market Your Home in Different Ways

Marketing your home in many ways is a must.  Just having a sign in front of your house and posted in the Arizona Regional MLS will not suffice.  In my mind, spreading the word that your house is for sale, and with the maximum detail, is imperative.  Some of the tools that have resulted in inquiries, and sales are: single property site including floor plans, showcase listings on Realtor.com, vflyer postings, Craig’s list, and many more. Syndication is a must.

#21 - Trying to Make the “Hard Sell” While Showing

Sellers can get in the way of a home sale.  It’s best to leave the house when you have a showing or an open house scheduled.  The potential buyer has much greater latitude to look around and imagine living in a home, with no distraction or feeling that they are being watched. 

Just this past weekend, I showed a Scottsdale property, on Saturday and then again, on Sunday.  The owners did not leave.  It was difficult for my client and I to discuss the possibilities of the home (which she really did like) with the owner sitting within listening distance.  On Sunday, the buyer brought her contractor to view the home with her, and again, the sellers sat, observed and listened, without giving us the courtesy of viewing the home in an unobstructed and uninterrupted manner.

The HGTV article also outlines the other 22 mistakes, and if you’d like to watch the program, it is airing on the dates below:

• April 20, 2008 5:00 PM ET/PT
• April 21, 2008 6:30 AM ET/PT
• May 14, 2008 4:00 PM ET/PT