Overall, selling your home should be a good experience. But common yet critical blunders that discourage buyers can hurt your ability to get the right price. Make sure to avoid them so that you can quickly and easily sell your home.

1. Not Staging the Property for the Demographic

It’s important to present your home in the right light. You want someone to walk in and feel like they’ve entered a dream. Spend some time researching the demographics of the buyers in your area. Go to some open houses and look at what others are doing to see how you can best present your home for your target market.

A young couple looking for a place to raise a family isn’t going to want the home to look the same as what an older couple that’s nearing retirement might want. Staging incorrectly can turn people away, so make sure you do your homework.

2. Not Making Easy Repairs

Well-maintained homes give off a better first impression. Leaving unfinished or neglected repairs will cost you the chance to make a good first impression. Make sure things like paint, hinges, carpets, and heaters are all in top form before you start showing the house.

3. Overcapitalising When Preparing for a Sale

It’s tempting to want to redo aspects of your home so that it appears more attractive to buyers. But you need to be smart about how much you spend. Putting $5,000 into redoing the laundry, or $25,000 into a new kitchen, might seem like a good idea, yet it’s often not. Everyone has their own style, and if they want to redo a kitchen after moving in, then they’re not going to want to pay for your brand new one, meaning both parties likely won’t be on the same page in terms of price.

4. Too Much Personalisation

It’s understandable that you have your tastes and styles, but don’t expect the market to have the same ones. Keep all renovations and decorations neutral so as to appeal to a mass audience. This gives buyers the chance to imagine what they would do with the space, which will get them excited and more apt to make an offer.

5. Pricing the Home Too High

One of the biggest challenges for any real estate agent is getting their clients to be realistic about price. Most homeowners have an inflated idea of what their home is worth, and this can have a big impact on how successful you are in selling it. Take a look at what similar homes are going for, and also pay attention to any feedback you get once the property hits the market to make sure you’re asking a price you can realistically obtain.

6. Masking Obvious Problems

If you’re home has a major problem, such as rising damp or termite damage, it’s tempting to want to hide these cosmetically. But this is not a good idea. These issues will come out in a building inspection, and if buyers foresee a big expense, they are likely to terminate the sale and keep looking.

Be aware of these six most common mistakes, and you’re well on your way to a successful and smooth sale.