Mistake #1: Rushed, generic description without much thought:
“Very spacious home with huge media room and great patio / BBQ setup for entertaining, with killer SF views. Handsomely furnished. 3 bedrooms on upper level, and a 4th on the ground floor. Very Formal Dining room with Water & Golden Gate Bridge viewss…too much to mention!”
Mistake #2: Older established agents that don’t care or have the time to learn key marketing skills:
There are a number of items to consider here, and we could write a book on this. The first and most important is don’t try to outsmart your own agent. I’ve seen this so many times over. Pick an agent you trust, first and foremost, and second don’t add to the complexity of the deal by applying game theory to your own agent.
Great agents prepare their clients for possible moves by buyers. YOU must get HOME INSPECTIONS. If you skimp on the +-$2k for home inspections you go into your negotiations at an information disadvantage. This is a huge mistake. Spend the money, find out what issues are likely to come up and plan accordingly. A Second reason to have inspections is super important: PROBLEMS don’t usually derail deals, but **SURPRISES DO!!!!**
If you think your agent is too negative because they are constantly premeditating likely issues and you don’t like the relentlessness of it, you either selected an agent you don’t communicate well with or, you are pulling the wool over your own eyes. Agents deal with this stuff 24/7/365 – PREPARE before your home hits the market or you’ll have to deal with IT when you don’t have time to cost-effectively fix whatever IT is. This is also known as “losing lots of sleep and paying 2x what it would have otherwise cost” if you had 1) picked the right agent, 2) did the home inspections, and 3) listened to your agent when they were preparing you for the worst.
After 150+ $2m+ deal negotiations, I have learned a few important items:
If you didn’t price the house low enough, you likely aren’t dealing with multiple offers. If you aren’t dealing with multiple offers, prepare to be frustrated by everything and everyone for a couple of weeks (hopefully not longer). If you ARE dealing with multiple offers, the only way that you get thru this with all of your expectations met is if you get an all cash no-contingency offer. Otherwise, negotiations are just that- a give and take by both parties. The best deals are those where both parties are downright uncomfortable and don’t really feel like shaking hands at the end of it. Don’t blame everything on your agent if your feel that way- like you could have done better. If the buyer never emails you for information about how the irrigation system works, its because they feel the same way and both agents likely did the best they could with a tough situation- and almost all real estate deals are tough situations.
Last, when presented with two offers, be careful selecting the one with a better price if some of the other terms of that offer are in any way abnormal–*especially if the buyer is an attorney or an attorney is present alongside the buyer and agent in the negotiations.
I will let your own agent guide you on this one aside from the following: Treat the Disclosure Process as a get out of jail free card. Get the home inspections, fix the: sketchy drainage system, leaky roof, legacy electrical issues, or whatever… or DISCLOSE them. Otherwise prepare to be sued a couple years after the close when you have a whole new set of life challenges that you are dealing with.