Avoid These Common Real Estate Mistakes When Buying or Selling Your Home

You can make the most of any market

©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/MONKEYBUSINESSIMAGES

In the early 2020s, when interest rates hovered around three percent, it seemed like everyone was desperate to put down roots in the Garden State, and the bidding wars and house flipping would never end. Yet here we are in 2024 and raised interest rates have cooled a once-sizzling market, resulting in some owners reluctant to sell, and many buyers are unable or unwilling to take on a mortgage at twice the rate it was a few years ago. Plus, home prices stayed fairly high, defying the conventional wisdom that as rates rise, prices fall. Why?

“There simply aren’t enough good homes for all the people who want to get in them,” says Amy Paternite, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker in Maplewood, noting the still-fierce competition, especially in towns with good commutes to New York City. Clearly, not everyone is willing to wait it out— families outgrow apartments, empty nesters tire of maintaining empty homes, and others need to move for a million reasons.

Whatever your timeline for buying or selling, avoiding these common mistakes will help you make the most of any market:

BUYER: Waiting for interest rates to drop

“The time to buy is now,” says Paternite. While it’s tempting to sit the market out, it’s typically a bad move long term, she says. Even if interest rates drop, prices may rise to meet the demand from sidelined buyers and sellers—it’s impossible to predict.

Over the course of a 30-year mortgage you’ll pay a lot less for your home by buying now at a lower price with a higher interest rate, says Leah Dowd, a sales associate with RE/MAX Instyle Realty in Skillman. “You can’t change your home’s purchase price but you can refinance your interest rate when market conditions improve.”

SELLER: Overpricing your home

If you want to get the most money for your home, don’t puff up the list price. “You’ll limit the number of prospective buyers that walk through, increase days on the market because your home will sit, and won’t achieve the highest selling price with the best terms,” says Dowd. Smart sellers price their home competitively, relying on market research and their agent’s professional knowledge to choose the number mostly like to bring in the bids.

BUYER: Being inflexible

Potential buyers need to decide what’s most important to them, whether it’s a great commute, top-ranked schools, a prime location, square footage, modern updates, an affordable price, or whatever matters most. “When buyers get too hung up on certain things, they might miss out on an incredible house,” says Dowd, noting this is especially true in terms of reconciling the price they want to pay and the reality of what it takes to get the home they want. “If a buyer isn’t willing to pay market value, there is a buyer out there who is willing to.”

SELLER: Spending on the wrong updates

Fixing your home to sell is smart … to a point. “There’s a difference between repairing chipped paint and any significant damages to a home, and investing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on upgrades and renovations which may not even appeal to potential buyers,” says Stefani Werring, a sales associate with Weichert Realtors in New Vernon. Some things have an amazing ROI, like fresh coats of paint inside and out. But a renovated country kitchen? Not if a potential buyer prefers mid-century modern. Instead, she suggests offering the cost equivalent of a renovation as a concession instead.

BUYER: Getting hung up on cosmetics

Yes, it’s hard to see past that cringe kitchen last updated in the ‘80s, but being able to see past cosmetic imperfections is crucial, says Werring. “Soliciting the help of a designer, or even a friend or relative who has a good eye or vision for design, can save the buyer a lot of time and money,” she says, by allowing buyers to prioritize good bones over dated decor that can be remodeled.

SELLER: Not hiring a staging company

Even well-decorated homes tend to be cluttered and personal with family photos, which don’t show well since they make it harder for buyers to see themselves in the space. “The way you live in your house and the way you stage your house to sell are two totally different things,” says Paternite. The right design professional can transform a typical family home into a Pottery Barn catalog—which makes buyers swoon. “It evokes feelings,” she says, and feelings lead to offers. Stagers streamline, rearrange, redecorate, and otherwise ensure what a prospective buyer’s first impression is: “Wow. I could live here.” Wow isn’t exactly cheap (prices can cost upwards of $5,000), but staged homes sell faster and for more money than non-staged ones do. It’s the cost of doing (good) business.

BUYERS AND SELLERS: Not working with an area expert

While your friend’s friend’s agent may be excellent in their own market, savvy buyers and sellers tap the local talent. “Working with a local expert will benefit you in ways you couldn’t have imagined,” says Paternite. From knowing which neighborhoods are trending to which rival agents are easy to work with, institutional knowledge is priceless. Plugged in agents may even be able to arrange off-market deals, simply because of close-knit relationships within the community. And the best part of working with a local is that they’ll be there for you when it’s time to sell.

—Jennifer Kantor is a lifestyle writer and mom of two from Maplewood.

Get the latest on the best things to do with your family in and around New Jersey by signing up for our newsletter and following us on Facebook and Instagram!

Subscribe to Our Newsletter!

Get fun things to do in NJ delivered straight to your inbox.

Latest articles

More from NJ Family