5 Things That Can Go Wrong When Selling Regina Real Estate

 

1. Buyer Cold Feet

Sadly, sometimes buyers will have a change of heart and decide they no longer want to purchase your home. Buyer’s remorse can usually be overcome with counselling from the buyer’s real estate agent. However, buyers do have more freedom to legally back out of a home sale than you do. Due to the fact that buyers require certain conditions to be met prior to them “removing conditions” on the home, they can use the excuse that they couldn’t qualify for the mortgage or that they are simply not happy with the property anymore and send a fall through document. Until the sale in FIRM, sellers are at the buyers mercy and have little legal recourse. It’s usually much easier to put the house back on the market and seek a new buyer than it is to take those buyers through a legal process of any kind.

2. Buyer Financing Fall Through

One of the most common reasons a home sale falls through is buyers can’t obtain a mortgage. Sometimes this happens because the mortgage broker they were dealing with didn’t pull their full credit history and found something troublesome after the offer was accepted. Other times the buyer’s financial situation has changed between receiving the pre-approval and offering to buy the home (new car loan, new debt, job loss, job change etc). Since mortgage approval is usually the #1 condition to the buyer being able to purchase the property, if they cannot get mortgage approval then there is no choice but to accept the fall through and go back onto the Regina real estate market.

It’s nice when the buyer's Realtor® does enough due diligence to ensure their clients are 100% pre-approved and able to qualify for a mortgage before even showing homes but it’s not a perfect process and real estate agents also depend on the expertise of a mortgage broker in order to do their job properly. 

3. Major Issue With Home Inspection

Another common way that home sales don’t come together is often due to a poor home inspection. It’s not uncommon for a seller to be unaware of some of the defects of the property. Home owners don’t often take a look in their attic’s, they don’t often have their sewer line inspected and they are not always aware of code errors or plumbing problems. Sales usually fall through for MAJOR problems that were unknown when the buyer initially looked at the property and are usually defects that the seller wasn’t aware of. An example of this would be that the heat exchanger in the furnace is cracked, or the sewer line under the home and yard needs to be replaced. These are things that seem perfectly operational until fully inspected so the seller has no reason to believe there is an issue with them. 

If there are major issues that come up as a result of the home inspection, know that you are legally entitled to have a second opinion on the defect and are able to negotiate a reasonable amount to compensate the buyers for the defect as well. 

4. Disrespectful People Looking At The Home

Majority of buyers are polite and courteous but it is not uncommon for there to be a few buyers who are bad-mannered and disrespectful. Unfortunately, not all buyers and their Regina Realtors® are made equally. Some of us have more manners and common sense than others. You may come home disappointed to find lights left on in the home, evidence that shoes have been worn through the property and possibly a door left open. These things are not acceptable and you should notify your agent of them right away. Unfortunately, these are things that are very difficult to regulate in Regina real estate and often go without any disciplinary action from higher powers. 

My personal hope is that these things do not happen to you, but I apologize in advance if this ends up being your experience with Regina real estate agents! 

5. House Not Selling

There could be a few reasons your home is not selling. The three top reasons are an incorrect price, lack of accessibility to the property, and condition. If the property is priced out of the range of other comparable sales, there is a likelyhood it won't sell. If you, as a seller, are not allowing people to actually come view the home, it will be hard to sell. If you have tenants that are not providing access to the home for showings, it will be hard to sell. And finally, if the property is dirty or distressed and doesn’t look or smell attractive, it can be hard to sell. 

There are many steps to can take to address all of these problems with further consultation from a Regina real estate agent! 

There are definitely a certain number of risks you take when selling Regina Real Estate. Although some things are out of your control, it is important to take the necessary steps to help sell your home and eliminate home sale fall throughs. Being prepared and hiring the right listing agent can help alleviate some of that stress and help you successfully navigate the selling process. 

Contact Me

If you want to chat about anything Regina real estate related, give me a call at 306-552-7047 or fill out my online contact form!