The Internet is a wonderful thing. It’s full of lots of information we can use to improve our lives, learn something new, and there’s even lots of advice on how to sell your home yourself. But as many of us have learned, not everything we read and see on the Internet is necessarily true or appropriate, especially when it comes to your local real estate market. Handling Vacaville homes for sale or Fairfield homes for sale requires strategic approaches. There are some serious pitfalls or missteps that can derail a sale, cost you money and may even expose you to legal liability. Before you decide to take that leap, consider some of these common mistakes to avoid:

Overpricing your home. You want to sell your home for the highest price possible, naturally. But listing your home at a price that’s above what other comparable properties in the neighborhood can be detrimental. For one, buyers and their real estate agents may avoid looking at your home if it’s priced above current market value. You can lower the price later if you aren’t getting any interest in the property, but you may have lost out on potential home-searching buyers in the meantime. And if your home has been on the market for more than a few weeks, buyers naturally begin to wonder why. Depending on the current market conditions, some sellers may actually list their homes for less than what they expect to get to encourage multiple competing offers above the asking price. If market conditions are worsening, however, this could backfire, too. You could end up receiving offers that are lower than list price. Research your current local market conditions and set your price accordingly for Vacaville homes for sale and Fairfield homes for sale.

Thinking Prices Are Always Going Up. We hear almost daily how home prices are consistently rising and that there is a severe shortage of inventory in many markets pushing up prices. While it’s true that real estate values historically increase over time, increases aren’t always linear. The real estate market is cyclical, meaning there are months or years when home prices rise and also months or years when prices fall. It’s common to see homeowners (and some agents) price their homes for $5,000 more than the neighbor’s home sold for last month under the assumption that home values have increased since then. Again, do your research to determine market conditions at the time you are considering selling.

Trying to save money by selling the home yourself. Some folks do successfully sell their home without using an agent. If you have the marketing skills to effectively advertise your home, meet with prospective buyers to show your home, negotiate a contract, provide disclosures, open escrow, and address issues that come up during property inspections and the loan process, it might work for you, too. Before you take that step, consider a few things for handling Vacaville homes for sale or Fairfield homes for sale: Using a Realtor to market your home gets it listed on the Multiple Listing Service for your area, meaning exposure to hundreds of other agents working with a pool of potential buyers; your home will also show on popular sites like Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. Your Realtor will also prepare documents, provide disclosures, and deal with issues as they come up. One other important thing to keep in mind – A large percentage of the commission goes to the agent who brings in a qualified buyer, providing an incentive for agents to show (and sell) your home. The bottom line? Consider the pros and cons before you take that leap for Vacaville homes for sale and Fairfield homes for sale.