A mandatory, but over-looked, key to Selling a Property Successfully!
It is not your "home" anymore, so a shift in mentality is in order.
Perhaps the most difficult, yet necessary, adjustments to make when selling your "home" is letting go of all emotional attachments.
"Home IS where the heart is"! This will never be a false statement. "Home" is where many of your fond and/or less-than-favourable memories are created. Maybe you have raised children there, had grand-children over for festivities, accomplished great things during your time there, or have experienced great loss whilst living there.
No matter how you cut it, in many cases, our "homes" make up a large part of our inner-beings. Our "homes" are very personal and dear to our hearts for many reasons.
This can, and often, is a huge issue when one has decided a move is necessary.
A HUGE part of the selling process NEEDS to take place prior to listing your "home".
When you officially commence the listing process, you will come into contact with many Real Estate Professionals. This signals the start of a flurry of assorted opinions and suggestions. This is where I always try to prepare my clients for what is to come.
The first question I ask my Home-sellers is, "Are you truly ready to give this home up, and find a new property to call "home""? This may appear to be a simple question to answer, but requires more attention than one may assume.
Once you have made the official decision to list your "home" for sale, you have now waived any right to continue affectionately calling the property your "home".
Your "home" is now a PRODUCT that is listed for sale. Products need to be merchandised for sale. You need to view this property as a borrowed residence, a hotel room, a resting place, a transition hostel. This property is now simply where you are temporarily staying whilst searching for your "new home".
The truth is that we all believe our "homes" are worth way more than current "market value". We can only make a logical decision where price is concerned if we have started to view our home as a product. The market will simply NOT pay you more than your home is actually worth in today's market.
The second reason you need to remove your emotions from the equation is that you WILL be given feedback and suggestions regarding your overall presentation of your product. This could mean packing away prized treasures, storing away family photos, changing paint colours, or re-arranging furnishings. It could even mean that someone points out to you that there is an odour in your home that needs to be addressed, or maybe cleanliness is an issue.
The main thing to remember is that it is not about your personal styles and tastes. It is now about making adjustments to appeal to a wide variety of people (buyers) who have varying tastes, personalities, backgrounds, cultures, and religious beliefs.
I could write about this topic for quite some time.
But, the main point I wanted to make was that a seller cannot take any offense to guidance provided, nor does any Real Estate Professional mean to offend.
We are all here to ensure a smooth and successful sale for every client. We know what buyers NEED to see in order to be compelled to make you an offer. Any suggestion we make along the way is made purely to help YOU make the move to your new "Home" quicker, and more financially prepared.
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