Beware these three deal killers both before and during the home selling process.

Recently, I spoke with someone from one of our local title companies. During our conversation, he said something that was pretty eye-opening: 15% to 18% of home sales collapse after going under contract.

To put that into perspective, that means that out of 100 deals, somewhere between 15 and 18 of them will fall apart. To prevent your deal from suffering the same fate, today I’ll list three “deal-killers” that you should avoid.

The first deal-killer on the list is not working with an experienced agent. Certain factors make our Lake Ridge market challenging and unique, and agents who are still new to the business suffer from inexperience that makes it difficult for them to successfully navigate through challenges that arise. It’s best to work with an agent or team that has years of experience and plenty of sales volume under their belts like the Allen Johnson Team.

“15% to 18% of home sales collapse after going under contract.”

Other sellers make mistakes related to timing, preparing, pricing, and relationships.

• Timing. Presenting news to your buyer and their agent and negotiating in a timely way are essential to the success of your sale.
• Prep. Make sure you’re crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s ahead of each stage in the selling process. That means making preparations before you list your home, making sure inspections are complete, and making sure you reach the settlement table. • Pricing. Your pricing strategy can either make or break your sale. If you price correctly from the start, challenges that may arise will be much easier to address. • Relationships. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been able to salvage a deal based on a strong relationship we had with the agent on the other side. When agents collaborate well together, deals get done. It’s that simple.

The last deal killer is sort of a combination of the first two. To illustrate my point, let me share a quick story. We listed a home in Westridge that contained poly pipes, which is normal for certain homes in this area. The buyer’s agent was actually from Alexandria and was totally unfamiliar with poly pipes.

As a result, they wrongly informed the buyer that replacing the pipes would cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000. In reality, we got them replaced for closer to $5,000, which made all the difference in keeping the deal alive.

If you have any questions or you’re thinking about selling your Lake Ridge home, please give us a call. We’d love to sit down and speak with you!