Sellers: Resolve not to make these mistakes
This week we have a great article by Tara Nelson of Trulia entitled, 4 New Year’s Resolutions for 2014 Home Sellers. Even though our local market here in the Silicon Valley is great for Sellers, it doesn’t mean that you can still ignore the realities of selling your home, like picking a great Real Estate agent. Follow these great resolutions and contact The Dawn Thomas Team if you’re thinking about selling your home!
1. Resolve to do your own due diligence – cutting no corners- “Here’s the thing no one tells you about selling your home: it’s exhausting. You have to:
spend hours interviewing agents
review all the neighborhood sales and try to figure out where your home fits among them
nitpick everything that’s wrong about your home
figure out what you can afford to fix and what makes sense not to
source contractors or gear up to DIY
have a bunch of little projects – and maybe a few big ones done
deal with staging and decor projects
then clean your home to within an inch of its life every single day, in some markets, sometimes for weeks or months on end.
And that’s all before you get offers.
The sheer scale of this list causes some sellers to take shortcuts at some or all points along the path. They don’t meet with more than one agent, or they don’t check references, and end up with an agent they less than love. They don’t pay attention to the detailed questions the disclosure forms ask them and end up omitting some crucial detail that comes back to bite them later, in the form of a lawsuit.
Make it your resolution not to be that shortcut-taking seller. Decide up front that if you’re going to do this, you’re going to do it right and pass your home onto the next buyers with pride. That might seem silly, but I can assure you that the sellers I’ve known who took exactly that stance almost always received the reward of a fast sale at top dollar. Buyers can sense the pride you take in your home and your disclosures. It’s a good look.”
2. Resolve to keep your eye on the prize – and the priorities- “What is your mission for moving? What is the vision you’re trying to create? When you decided you wanted to sell, you were in some state that motivated you to make a change – your home had grown too small, too large, too costly, too old, too new, too fancy or not luxurious enough for your life, or because the location no longer worked for you.
Whatever it is, get very clear on the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of your vision for this life change you’re trying to create by selling your home, and resolve to stay that way until escrow has closed. Focusing on your vision will force you to focus on your priorities. In turn, that will help you resist the urge to overprice your home, underprepare it or bicker with the buyer over silly small issues and amounts.”
3. Resolve to think things through from the other side of the table- “By definition, a first-time buyer has never been in the seller’s shoes. But as the seller, chances are good that you have been in the buyer’s position before. It is to your strong advantage to hearken back to those days when you were desperately seeking a home of your own. That perspective shift is the closest you’ll be able to get to momentarily detaching emotionally; you can walk through your home, view it’s marketing and even think about how it is priced from the perspective of the very buyers you want to attract.
Even if you don’t slash the price or give them everything they ask for, chances are good that you’ll end up creating more win-win situations if you take the other side’s wants and needs into account.”
4. Resolve to keep your head out of the sand- “Avoiding the truth about what your home is worth or the truth of buyers’ and agents’ feedback about it is akin to avoiding a shot if you need it, or avoiding the dentist if you have a cavity. It causes something much worse than hurt: real harm.
Confronting the truth that the comparable homes in your neighborhood are selling for lower than you’d hoped to get might hurt, but once the sting is gone that knowledge empowers you to make an appropriate pricing decision, stage your home to the nines or even decide to stay put for awhile longer.
Avoiding the truth poses the potential for real harm: the harm that you’ll overprice your home, underinvest in its preparation for the market or commit the same financial errors with your next home. Make it your resolution to keep your eyes wide open, head above the sand and boldly face the truth throughout the course of your home’s sale, no matter what might happen.”
