If you've heard it once, you've heard it a dozen times: don't go it alone when selling your home, use a trusted real estate agent that's familiar with your area.  Despite the mountains of evidence to support this piece of advice, some people still choose to go against the grain and make very costly mistakes.


Carelessly choosing your real estate agent 

One of the easiest and best ways to ensure that you are getting involved with a person that has your best interests in mind is to do your homework on them. Most of the good real estate agents will have a reputation for the quality of their services and what they were able to accomplish for other clients.


Remember, good advice is simply good advice— so it makes no difference whether you're living in Durant, OK or elsewhere, a "True and Tried" way of finding a good real estate agent is to ask for recommendations or referrals from your friends, family, and familiar acquaintances.


Generally speaking, the longer an agent has worked in a given area, the more likely they are to know about that local real estate market and the better they'll be able to assist you than a new real estate agent or an out-of-towner that is unfamiliar with the area. If you need more tips on choosing the "right" real estate agent, read my blog post about it here.   


Deciding to sell your home on your own

Selling a home takes a lot of energy and time. Dealing with potential buyers, open houses, closing sales and of course all the paperwork and housing guidelines is not for the novice. Experienced and locally-based real estate agents (like myself) who are familiar with all the above, bring invaluable experience to the table when it comes to selling a home.  


You need to ask yourself, will you drop everything to make a showing?  Will you have the time to verify each buyer's pre-approval status before showing them the property? Are you 100% comfortable with negotiating offers and closing real estate deals?


Selling a home in Durant, OK and countless other places is a huge undertaking, and it is not everyone who can take on such an endeavor and remain calm and professional when dealing with a lot of potential buyers.  Plus, the money you think you might save by doing this yourself could be small compared to the money (and time) you might lose if anything goes awry.


Neglecting necessary repairs

Chances are that you will lose money if you don't remedy repairs before you decide to list your house. Getting minor repairs done will help significantly increase your chances of selling your home a lot faster and for the initial asking price.  It's less costly to fix things ahead of time, rather than have buyers see all of your home's faults at the open house or private visit. 


  • Replace old and worn light switches, doorknobs, and water taps. 
  • Leaking faucets can be a turn-off and make prospective buyers hesitate. So it's important to have all faucets inspected, and those that are found leaking should be repaired immediately.  
  • Repair all doors that sag, don't close properly, squeak or have a knob or hinge missing. 
  • Simple things like broken screens with holes can be unsightly. Stop by your local hardware store and they should have replacement kits to get those screens back to normal. 


If you neglect these areas, you're almost guaranteed that prospective buyers will offer less or ask for closing cost credits to pay for repairs that they will have to handle themselves after closing. 


Now that you know how to perform a successful open house, let's set up a call to see if one of our real estate agents would be the right person to sell your home in Durant, OK.