It always amazes me when interacting with buyers, sellers, mortgage lenders, Stagers, Inspectors, or title company folks how I learn something from all of them. It's a people business and life is nothing if not a big classroom.
Today's observation or lesson has to do with clarity. Seeing your way clearly through a problem to the steps to a solution seems to come down to a handful of elementary things. Whether you can't decide on which house, you can't figure out why your house is not selling, you don't know how to stage a house properly, you don't know which loan to choose, a little guidance is in order. This is what I see.
Clearly define the problem. If you don't know exactly what you need to fix how can you know what solution to apply to it.
Measure it in some way. How many houses do you need to see, before you should find the one perfect for you? What are your five must haves in features in a home? How many days on the market with no offers should you go before you lower the price? If you compare a conventional loan and an adjustable rate product what is the worst case payment when the adjustable rate adjusts? In staging a home, what SPECIFIC items must be stored to open up a room's space?
Break the problem down. Sometimes a problem is too big to look at in one chunk. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Say you are selling a house. This week is the open house. Next week is the Realtor tour. Then you will add in some print advertising, etc.
Finally, consult with the experts. Experts can be professionals like Inspectors, Realtors, Appraisers, Loan officers, but don't forget your own research on the Internet and books and even bouncing ideas off friends and family.
Clarity comes when you work at it. It doesn't magically happen. And in the end, weigh everything with slight more weight toward your intuition then your head, and above all, it's your life, YOU MAKE THE CALL. You're the referee, but there's no need to be blind one!
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