Why Some Sellers Leave Closing in Tears and How To Avoid It

By Seychelle Van Poole

Seychelle is a specialist in meeting the needs of sellers and buyers, and serves as the Team Director for Van Poole Properties Group. Being named Top 30 Under 30 by the National Association of Realtors for 2011, Seychelle is an expert negotiator, marketing and sales analyst, and is dedicated to making the buying and selling process stress-free and enjoyable.

Selling your home should end with relief and excitement, not regret. But lately, I’ve been seeing more sellers arrive at the closing table stressed, frustrated, or even in tears. The reality is, most of those outcomes were completely avoidable.

Right now, three critical mistakes are derailing home sales across Texas. These errors are causing sellers to lose money, feel overwhelmed, and make fear-based decisions instead of smart, confident ones.

If you’re planning to sell soon, these traps are your best defense. Here are three home-selling mistakes you should avoid:

Mistake #1: Listening to the wrong people. Sellers are getting pricing advice from friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, and even the grocery store cashier. Everyone means well, but none of them are tuned in to your neighborhood’s real numbers or current conditions.

When unqualified opinions become louder than expert advice, sellers get confused, emotional, and unsure how to respond when offers come in. Those voices won’t write a check for your home, so don’t let them influence decisions that impact your equity.

Mistake #2: Trusting online algorithms to price a home. Here’s a little-known fact: Texas is one of eight states thatdoes not publish sold prices publicly. That means Zillow, Homes.com, ChatGPT, and Grok are all guessing. They base your home value on list prices, not actual sales, concessions, or final terms.

In a shifting market like Dallas–Fort Worth, this creates major problems. When prices are rising, algorithms underestimate your value. When prices soften, they overestimate. Both situations cost sellers money, time, and leverage. That’s how homeowners end up chasing the market down.

Mistake #3: Hiring an agent without the right experience. Experience matters, especially now. If an agent, or their mentor, hasn’t been in the business at least 14 years, they haven’t lived through a market like the one we’re in today.

Many of the strategies, negotiations, and techniques we’re using right now haven’t been needed in more than a decade. If your agent has never seen this cycle before, you may miss opportunities you didn’t even know existed.

Leaning on local expertise, using real data, not algorithms, and working with seasoned professionals who understand how to protect your equity in a changing market is how you walk into closing smiling, not stressed.

If you’re thinking of selling, I’d love to help you create a clear, stress-free plan. Call or text me at (214) 267-9222, or email SeychelleSells@vanpoole.com. I’ll help you create a clear plan for a successful closing.