Whether or not you’re a first-time seller, putting your house on the market is a difficult and scary experience.

It just takes one small mistake for buyers to be immediately turned off to your property or make you unknowingly lose thousands of dollars in the sale. Before you begin the process of selling your home, make sure you avoid these five mistakes:

Overlooking repairs

When you go to sell your home, it may seem counter-intuitive to repair major damages when you’re about to move out. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth!

Buyers are already shelling out a lot of money to purchase the house, so having to pay more to fix obvious damages can be quite the turn off. Make sure you’re not inadvertently scaring off potential buyers by not taking care of repairs prior to putting it on the market.

Poor staging/Listing a vacant house

Buyers are notorious for not being able to envision a house in any other layout than the one it’s in, which is why poor staging is one of the biggest mistakes a seller can make.

When you stage a house correctly, you are able to provide the buyer with the optimal view of the room instead of relying on their imagination. For example, using smaller furniture in small rooms will make the room appear larger, which is appealing to buyers.

Poor staging can make a house feel cramped and small, and a vacant house can be intimidating to buyers because it doesn’t feel like a home yet. Take the extra time to properly stage your house because it could make all the difference.

Setting an Unrealistic Price

While everyone wants to get the most out of selling their home; however, setting the price too high is a surefire way to scare away potential buyers.

A hefty price tag will deter cost-conscious buyers whose budget falls below your price, even if they are in love with the property. This means that your house will stay on the market longer, decreasing the likelihood of success. Houses that remain on the market for long periods of time appear to have something wrong with them, even if they are in great condition.