Selling your home, especially if it is the first one you have bought is not an easy task. After all it is not just a house made of bricks and mortar it is a place where a lot of memories good and bad were made. But if you do indeed decide to sell your house, you have to be adequately prepared. Here are some crucial mistakes you should not make while selling your home-

1. Keep your emotions aside: Yes, it’s your home you have decided to sell! The one that you have put your blood, sweat and toil into. But when it comes to selling it, do not take into consideration the colour scheme of the living room or the kitchen tiles, each of which you picked out personally. These things matter to you, but a buyer is not looking at buying a home with your memories. He wants to create his own in them, so be appreciative of that and try and be as detached as possible.
2. Get the right realtor: If you do not have the time to do all the groundwork and research yourself (which you probably don’t), it’s best to leave the job to a professional. But do not hire the services of the first one you find on an aggregator website. Speak to four to five realtors and trust your instinct before you make the final selection. Your realtor should be in sync with your expectations, act as a proper guide and give you the correct information about properties that are comparable to yours.
3. Get the pricing right: You have spent a lot of money and effort in buying your first home and obviously want to make a profit while selling it. But factoring in your profit expectations and overpricing your house will only drive away the prospective buyers. Your house may seem like the best to you, but it has to be realistically aligned with the prices in the market and with other comparable houses in your neighborhood.
4. Waiting for the illusive “better offer” to come along: Realtors often say that 90% of the times sellers let go of a golden opportunity because they think that their homes deserve better. While it’s ok to expect a profit, you cannot expect to get twice the amount of what the property is actually worth! Don’t let greed overshadow your logic and depend on the instincts of your realtor.
5. Marketing your house for sale: We live in the day of age of marketing today and you cannot afford to skip it. Use the internet extensively to access various real estate portals and other websites that let you post your ads for free. But make sure you put up enough pictures and relevant details of your house as you post the ad.
6. Get those repairs done: You may think that if a prospective buyer has all the money to invest in a home, he might as well shell out a few extra bucks and get those repairs done. Don’t leave it to the buyer to get them done. Sprucing up your home before you put it up for sale is a good idea and it will increase the value of your home.
7. Don’t bug a prospective buyer: Chances are, many buyers are going to visit your home when you put your house on sale. While you must show them around enthusiastically, remember not to overdo it. Give them their privacy and don’t follow them around talking about the little personal touches you have made in your home. Overenthusiastic sellers are big turn offs!
8. Remove your memorabilia: When you start entertaining buyers, remove all the personal knick knacks that you have so lovingly displayed in your home. A buyer wants to imagine himself in the house just as you did, when you bought it.
9. Don’t be dishonest: As much as you should not pester the buyer, you should not keep him in the dark about relevant problems you may have faced in the past. For instance, if your pipes or wiring needs replacements, inform your buyer about the same.
10. Selecting a buyer prudently: While selecting a prospective home buyer you have to run a credit appraisal process of your own. Make sure he is eligible for a home loan or better still, has a pre-approved loan. Else you can waste a lot of crucial time in negotiating with someone who is not even qualified to make an offer for your home.

Avoiding these cardinal mistakes will ensure that you end up making a smooth sale of your home.