It Is Up To You, Mr. Seller
So, Mr. Seller, you’ve made a decision that you want to sell your home. Scratch that. You’ve decided that you need to sell your home.
That’s great. You start looking at what other homes in your neighborhood are selling for. You research market statistics on homes that have sold. You peruse some websites that allow you to obtain a market analysis of your home. You go to Zillow to get some more information about the prices of similar homes in your area. You read the local newspaper, looking for tips on how to sell your home.
You’ve been gathering information for some time now, and you are weighing your options – do I use a realtor, or do I try to sell my home on my own? You evaluate all of the pros and cons of each avenue and you ultimately decide against selling it on your own and you decide to reach out to a few realtors – those whose sites you used to get a free evaluation from, and one who was recommended to you by a co-worker who recently sold his own home.
After speaking with all of the agents and listening to their presentations, you’ve settled on one agent. You just…clicked. He explained to you in detail his marketing strategy, established how he would communicate with you during the process, and provided his rather extensive resume of closed transactions over the last several years.
So you ask the usual questions as you prepare to sign the listing agreement:
- At what price should I list my home?
- How long do you think it will take for the home to sell?
- What should I do to make the home more appealing to buyers?
- Will the house actually sell in this market?
My response to those questions? It is up to you, Mr. Seller.
The whole process of selling your home is dependent first and foremost on the attitude that you bring to the table. You established that you wanted and needed to sell your home, so your actions should be consistent with that motivation.
But you’re the Realtor. You’re the professional, so you should know the answers to my questions.
That is true, I am the professional. But consider this:
· I performed a comparative market analysis of your home and came up with a suggested listing price range of $150,000-$160,000. Did you concur with my professional opinion supported by the market statistics, or did you insist that you needed $195,000 in order to place your home on the market?
· I toured the home prior to our listing appointment and took some pictures. I made several suggestions that would improve the curb appeal of your home, and even provided you a list of vendors who could perform the needed repairs at a minimal cost to you, if you were unable to complete the repairs yourself. Did you follow through with my suggestions, or did you refuse to even trim the hedges and mow the lawn, let alone make any repairs?
· I suggested de-cluttering several rooms and making some minor rearrangements of furniture so that buyers could visualize the amount of space available. Did you take my advice, or ignore it altogether?
· I informed you that the majority of buyers would be uncomfortable touring a home with either one of us present, and that your schedule needed to be flexible in order to accommodate potential buyers who want to see your home. Did you make arrangements to vacate the premises during a showing, or did you insist on being present to meet each buyer, as well as unreasonably limiting the times in which your home could be shown?
Sellers, if you are serious about selling your home, only you, based on the actions that you take, can determine whether your home sells or not. Your actions during the selling process must be consistent with your need to sell or your want to sell, and especially if you both need and want to sell your home.
In the final analysis, Mr. Seller, whether your home sells or not is entirely up to you.
Courtesy of William James Walton, Sr. , Realtor, WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Briotti Group
Serving northern New Haven and southeastern Litchfield Counties (Waterbury, Wolcott, Prospect, Naugatuck, Middlebury, Southbury, Watertown, Thomaston and Plymouth)
Call William James Walton, Sr. Real Estate Agent with WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Briotti Group (203) 558-7463 for help with your real estate needs -buying or selling - in Waterbury, Watertown, Wolcott, Middlebury, Southbury, Prospect, Naugatuck, Plymouth and Thomaston
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84 Comments on It Is Up To You, Mr. Seller
Monica - The need for realism in sellers is a topic I'll be addressing in an upcoming post. It is most necessary.
Ed - And some will still wonder, after years of trying to sell, not realizing that they were their own worst enemy.
Debbe - Thanks for the reblog. I'm sure it will help.
Bob - Some of the most dependable sellers are those who have tried it on their own and did not succeed.
Amber - There are too many sellers in that same boat, and then they wonder why buyers have so many choices...
Brad - I concur. Which is why it really is up to the sellers to get the home sold; we are only the means that they use to get it sold.
Bill - It would work wonders for them if they did.
Kerri - Go right ahead and use it to your heart's content. I hope that it helps.
Cynthia - From someone who has been in those shoes, your testimony certainly validates my point. Thanks!
Kimberly - That syndrome needs to die a quick and painless death.
Marte - Indeed, indeed. Wouldn't it be nice if all agents just ran away from sellers like that?
John - That's an interesting perspective, and I suspect that you are 100% correct. Those agents who are good at successfully negotiating with sellers are those walking away with closed transactions.
Sandy - I think every one of us can relate to those scenarios, some more often than others.
Jayne - Thanks for the reblog. I hope it helps!
Mike - Sometimes that is easier said than done, but ultimately once the seller is truly committed, it makes our jobs much easier.
DeeDee - Thanks.
Steve - I was thinking about just that for my sellers and seller prospects. Print all of my seller articles out in a neat little booklet and hand out at will.
Gene - Pie in the sky, apt description of how many people view their home's value. The sooner they let that go, the easier it is for them to do what it takes to get the home sold.
Don - Silly me for thinking anything else. For all of that, they could just go the FSBO route.
Linda - Sometimes it does feel that way, but there are some sellers who do a very good job of wearing a poker face. They're actually paying attention, but they don't want you to know it. I wonder why, though...
Jan - It sure does.
Great educational article for sellers. Many of them have done research but not necessarily in the right places. They need a REALTOR® Margaret C.
A great post.. .Boy would l like to share this one with a couple of sellers. You have it this one on the head.
Very true William. Ultimately whether a home will sell will be dependent on the seller, their motivation and their willingness to act on good professional advice. You make some excellent points.
Even Houdini had an assistant....it is not a one man show that's for sure....Good post, host, point, and best to you William....well done
William,
Thank you so much. It should seem obvious that your recommendations are what it will take to sell the house. Way to many times the REALTOR(R) takes the blame for not selling the property when the professional recommendations are not followed. Thanks for allowing re-blogging - Will do so. Best of success sir.
William, Great post and well deserved feature. It amazes me how many sellers want our professional opinion and guidance and then don’t do anything with it. Price seems to be the major issue with so many sellers.
Hi William, Interesting post and comment thread. Too many sellers expect us to walk on water when in fact much of the process is driven by them !
Hi William!
Great post Congrats on being featured! I love your statement "that only you based upon your actions can determine if your house will sell!
Currently there are many sellers on the market that although their homes are priced reasonably..they are not getting an offer. Yet the Seller insists that they will not come down on price ...or if they do they will only come down to a certain number. They want to see an offer before deciding...and yet the offers aren't coming based on the price and condition! Its a catch 22! And quite typically we the Realtor get blamed regardless of how much we try to educate our client!
Excellent post. The seller is the one that is going to determine how fast, and how much they will sell it for.
Great post! Your points are Real Estate 101 and yet for some reason we still can't get them into (some) Seller's heads!
Great Post. You have provided me with great ideas and your assertivnes is uplifting.
Thank you again
Natalie Arndt BS MA
RE/MAX PREMIERE REALTORS
Albuquerque NM
Exceptional post! Congratulations on having it featured. Be well my friend.
Cal
William I can see why this blog was featured and re-blogged 10 11 times-I have to re-blog this one. You write a lot of very good blogs. This one is definitely one of many myriad of great blogs that I have read here on Active Rain. Oh by the way Congratulations on passing the 500,000 point mark in two and a half years-GREAT JOB. Great post.
William, this should be required reading for all sellers. Excellent post.
You certainly hit the nail right on the head with that one!
Not being in real estate, that was a very informative post for an outsider like me, and the comments were equally informative, with a couple of them being hilarious, such as #57.
This was a wonderful article. I have a seller who is being so obstinate about doing what I say that I may need to fire her. I just used your final thoughts to see if I can replace stubborn with "let's work together". Thanks.
Barbara, I hope that you were able to convince your seller of the error of their ways.