Top 10 Things You Should Not Do When Selling Your Home

This is my real talk list of the top ten things I think you should avoid doing if you want your home to show better and sell with less friction.

One: Hanging your TV way too high

This one is everywhere. I walked into so many homes where the TV was mounted so high it looked like it belonged in a sports bar. A helpful rule of thumb is this: the middle of the TV screen should land around forty two to forty eight inches from the floor.

A lot of people love the TV over the mantel look, but most of the time it forces the screen too high. I personally prefer artwork over the mantel, but if your layout makes the mantel the only option, at least consider a mount that tilts so the screen angles down.

And yes, I know what some of you are thinking. If you are selling, you are taking the TV anyway. That is true. But a properly placed TV makes the room feel balanced, and buyers often ask for the wall mount bracket to stay. If the bracket is already positioned well, it is one less thing the buyer has to deal with.

One quick note about the bracket: wall mounts are typically treated as fixtures. If a seller removes the mount, they should patch the holes. Usually you are not required to repaint, but patching is still the right thing to do so it does not look sloppy.

Two: Leaving the TV off during showings

A huge black screen becomes a visual void. It is not inviting, and it becomes the focal point even when you do not want it to. I always preferred having the TV on, but not with sports, not with loud content, and definitely not with anything distracting.

A calm still image is best. Something neutral, something that blends in, something that does not pull attention. Buyers should be absorbing the room, not staring at a screen.

I have literally watched buyers walk into a living room where a game was on and the husband sat down and got glued to the TV. That is not what you want during a showing.

If you want music, keep it low and peaceful. And if your home has road noise, do not try to mask it with loud music. Buyers will find out anyway, and it is always better to get a quick no than a long no.

Three: Hanging artwork too high

Most artwork is hung for people who are about six foot seven. It is way too high. The average woman in the United States is around five foot four, the average man is around five foot nine, so the artwork should be placed for normal eye level, not ceiling level.

My go to guideline is simple: the center of the artwork should land around fifty seven inches from the floor. There are exceptions, like a statement piece over a mantel, but if you are not sure, measure it. When the art is hung correctly, the room photographs more balanced and feels calmer.

Four: Ignoring scale and proportion in your rooms

This is one of the fastest ways to make a room feel off, even if the room is beautiful. I used a rule that designers lean on constantly, the idea of two thirds.

If you have a wall, the furniture you place against it should roughly cover about two thirds of that wall. Not the whole wall, and not a tiny piece floating in the middle. The same goes for artwork over a couch. The artwork should be about two thirds the width of the couch, not a tiny frame that looks lost, and not something so wide it overwhelms the room.

Even coffee tables tend to look best when they feel proportional, not too long, not too short. When you get scale right, everything looks more intentional, and buyers feel like the home makes sense.

Five: Setting the dining table like you are trying to convince someone you live in a magazine

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. The full place settings, the wine glasses, the forks, the napkins, the whole staged dinner setup. I always felt like it screamed trying too hard, and it creates clutter in photos.

I preferred simplicity. If you want something on the table, one intentional piece can work. A simple arrangement, a tray, something understated. But a full table setting usually distracts from the room itself.

Six: Buying a bunch of bright rainbow flowers and scattering them everywhere

I saw this constantly. Sellers would go to the store and buy ten small bouquets, each one full of every color, then place them all over the house. It seems cheerful, but in photos and in person it pulls attention to the smallest, brightest thing in the room.

If you want a fresh touch, go bigger and calmer. One large vase with greenery makes a stronger statement than ten tiny colorful arrangements. If you truly want flowers, keep them mostly one color, or at least within a soft neutral palette. The goal is mood and elegance, not visual noise.

Seven: Waiting until spring to deal with your yard, dead plants, and tree trimming

When I recorded this, my yard looked rough. It happens. Life gets busy, plants die, things get neglected. But if you are selling your home, buyers will absolutely notice the exterior before they ever fall in love with the interior.

Trim trees away from the roof line, because it often comes up on inspections, but do not trim so aggressively that you expose the yard and suddenly you can see all the neighbors. If privacy matters, keep enough coverage to maintain that feeling.

Also, if you are planning to sell, fresh mulch makes a huge difference. It smells great, it photographs beautifully, and it makes the whole exterior look maintained. It is one of the most overlooked improvements with a surprisingly big payoff.

Eight: Making expensive backyard investments that do not actually add value

I used my own example here because I have made this mistake too. I installed a bocce ball court, thought it would be fun, thought it would be cool, and guess how many times we used it. Almost never.

The point is not that outdoor upgrades are bad. The point is that you want to be strategic when you are preparing to sell. If an upgrade is expensive, niche, and rarely used, it may not help resale the way you hope.

Nine: Letting closets and cabinets look like chaos

Buyers open doors. They look in closets. They open cabinets. If things fall out, if there is clutter everywhere, if the closet is so packed you cannot even step inside, buyers assume the home has storage problems.

A well organized closet, on the other hand, makes people feel like the home is more spacious and more functional. If you are selling, remove the stuff that does not belong in the closet, clear the floor, and get it as tidy as you reasonably can. Buyers notice.

Ten: Leaving toilet lids up and forgetting the basics

We needed to have a serious conversation about toilet lids. Put them down. Always. Especially for photos, and especially for showings.

Buyers notice bathrooms in a different way than they notice almost any other space. Bathrooms should feel clean, calm, and neutral. Toilet lids up in photos is not a vibe. It makes the home feel less polished immediately.

A big mistake to avoid when you are moving out

As sellers get closer to moving day, they get exhausted. Then they start leaving things behind without checking with the buyer. Extra paint, leftover flooring, patio furniture, random items in the garage, full trash bins, and more. Do not do that.

If you want to leave anything behind, get buyer approval. Otherwise it can turn into conflict, and buyers can absolutely demand removal.

A quick mindset shift I loved from my Tokyo trip

I also shared something that stuck with me after visiting Tokyo. The spaces were small, but immaculate. Clean lines, thoughtful scale, greenery used intentionally, and very little clutter. It was a reminder that homes feel better when they are edited, simplified, and maintained with care.

You do not need to decorate like a Japanese home, but you can borrow the principles: scale matters, clutter kills calm, and greenery adds life when it is done simply.