Are you looking for homes for sale and buying a home in Princeton, Hopewell, West Windsor, and Montgomery? Are you preparing to sell your home in the greater Princeton area? This exercise can help you sell by getting in the mind of the buyer .

I read an article in New York Times Magazine once about an Emergency Room physician who was heaving a stroke while she was driving. She did not go to the ER until she was half paralyzed, could no longer drive and was barely able to call 911. This experience forever changed how she practiced medicine. When she became a patient herself, she saw many things in a totally different light.

Ladies, did you ever wonder if the male obstetrician/gynecologist  knows what he is talking, when he says: “it’s not going to hurt” and then it does hurt a lot. He is not a woman, how can he know? When the female doctor says the same thing, we know that she speaks from personal experience and this gives her more credibility.

How does all of this relate to homes for sale and selling your home in the greater Princeton area? 

The answer is simple - if you are a seller, you have to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer to become more effective at what you want to accomplish. It applies not just to the real estate buyers and sellers but to real estate agents as well, if they want to better understand their clients.

For example, the goal of my blog is to give the readers an advantage by providing information that other buyers and sellers may not have. Yesterday I did a small exercise to put myself in real estate consumers place. I searched the information on the Active Rain, where my blog is, as if I were a real estate buyer and seller. It was very useful and I learned things that will have to be improved to make it better for my readers. Now, let's get back to how you can do a better job as a home seller.

If you are planning to sell your home in the Princeton area you need to put yourself in the buyers shoes. How can you do this? Try this exercise. Find a good agent and ask to see homes similar to yours and for each property ask yourself these questions:

• Does it have more or less in terms of features?

• Is it located in a better or worse location?

• Is it in better or worse condition?

• Would you be able to keep your home in better or worth showing condition?

• What is the seller’s reason for selling now?

• Does the house look wonderful, but has been on the market for 4+ months?

• What were the price reductions, if any, when and for how much?

• Have there been any offers?

Be honest with yourself and the answers may surprise you. Does the house look wonderful, but has been on the market for a while? Does the price seem too low or high compared to what you were considering? If there were offers what could be the reasons they were not accepted?   

The answers will reveal what the buyers are thinking. Apply “thinking like a buyer” concept, and you will come up with the best strategy for selling your home in any market.   

I also suggest that the agents do this exercise to get a better perspective of being a seller or buyer in this market. They can also help you with your questions. I did the exrcise and will reveal the answers in my future post.

Please contact Faina Sechzer at 609-553-4175 when looking for real estate, homes for sale and/or listing your house to sell, and relocation assistance in Princeton, Montgomery Township, West Windsor, Hopewell, and Lawrenceville New Jersey. Referrals are accepted.

If you are moving out of the Greater Princeton area, please inquire about the countrywide relocation program.


Copyright   2007 Faina Sechzer All rights reserved. This information cannot be copied, reproduced, transmitted, distributed, displayed or published.