It’s Still My House!! Well….
This is the place you’ve rested your head, had numerous family gatherings and lovingly taken care of for years. You’ve decided to put your home on the market and while you understand this will involve some inconvenience, the buyers will understand this is still my home, right? Well, while this is technically true, the sooner you make the transition to thinking of your home as a product to sell, the better off you will be.
This crosses all aspects of the home selling process, starting with getting the home ready for sale. Perhaps you love that old reclining chair that has taken to years to break in but ask yourself, if a perspective buyer comes in are they going to think “comfortable” chair or do they think “eye-sore” that draws their attention away from the house itself. Is that big chair giving a skewed impression of the room size? Or when it comes to painting, now is not the time to go with those bright colors you’ve always wanted to try. It’s past thinking about what appeals to you personally and time to think about what is going to attract the most amount of buyers, in a word…neutral.
How easy are you planning on making it to show and how much care will you put into straightening up before “company” comes over? Of course, no one want their dinner interrupted but are you going to turn away a perspective buyer because it might mean you have to hold off for a ½ hour. Sure, if the buyer really wants it, they will come back. But what if they have a chance to see another property that had no time restrictions and is pretty close in size, price & neighborhood to yours? You may have lost that buyer for good or you might make a buyer question how motivated you are to sell. Why wait to pack? You can get rid of extra things in the home now via storage or garage sale and actually make money. An uncluttered, neat home will get a higher selling price as it showcases the home itself, not the spoon collection you’ve been working on for years. Waiting until after offers have been made and you don’t really know what you may have lost in prices because you held off doing something that is going to have to be done anyway.
Even pricing requires an objective eye. When you are thinking about what you want to ask for, how much value you are you giving to intangible things, like your memories? These don’t mean anything to a buyer. They look at the size, neighborhood, room count etc…when they are thinking about what they want to offer. Do yourself a favor and look at what else is being offered in the price range you are considering. I assure you, any buyer will be doing the same. It will give you an idea of the competition you are up against.
It is only a matter of time before you no longer call your current address home. It’s best to start thinking in those terms the minute you decide to put the “For Sale” sign on your front lawn. Wait until moving day to make the mental transition can cost you time & money.
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6 Responses to “It’s Still My House!! Well….”
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Great post, Julie! Your writing style is so cool! This is really great advice as well!
Great Post Julie,
I have found that it always helps to look at things from different perspectives. Imagining you are a buyer and going through the different decisions can really help you market the home and achieve the goal of helping the seller find a great buyer for their home.
The questions you bring up are very important and a conversation should be had between you and the seller so that everyone is on the same page. We are here to guide our clients and help them do what is best for them in their situation. Thanks for sharing,
Adam
Julie,
Very well articulated!
We walk the tightrope helping lead our sellers into making the property a “showcase” home and not upset them in the process.
This is a business transaction first and foremost and we all learn how to tactfully inform the sellers what they should do to have the listing show to it’s best advantage.
Brian
Julie,
It is amazing how different a seller will look at things as once they have set the emotions aside.
Larry
Hi Julie,
Very well said. If the seller really wants to sell their house, then anything is possible once they decide to release their attachment and view it as an outsider. Great perspective.
Jonathan
Julie,
You have captured some emotional issues here. It is more difficult for the sellers than we can imagine. It just needs time for them to separate their emotions and like you said use “Objective Eyes.”
Shokoofeh