Selling your family home can be an emotional experience

 

In the past few years, I have had many clients who were faced with selling the family home they grew up in. For some it was a home they inherited when their parents passed, and for others it was the home their parents could no longer manage alone. A few moved out of homes where they raised their children and played with their grandchildren. For all of them, it was an emotional experience.

 

I have been seated at the closing table with clients who couldn't hold it together when they had to sign off on the sale of the home they had loved for so many years. There were others who shed a few tears when they took that final walk through the living room where the family watched TV together after dinner, through the kitchen where Mom prepared the best family meals imaginable, and out into the backyard where Dad taught them to catch a baseball, swing a bat, or shoot a basket. One client reminisced about her first kiss on the front porch, and her husband nervously asking her dad for her hand in marriage over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. So many wonderful memories - it's hard to let go.

 

Last year, I sold a home for a retired couple who had built their home themselves on a three-acre lot they purchased in their early marriage. They planted all of the trees on the property, built fences to pen their children's horses, goats and other critters, and planted a lovely vegetable garden every spring. The husband built the barn to house a couple of horses, and when the children were grown, he turned it into his workshop. When it was time to say goodbye to the home they had loved for almost 40 years, it was tough for them. The buyers, a young couple with three small children, promised not to change things much, and told the sellers it would be a beautiful place to raise their kids. When I drive past that house now, I see children playing in the driveway, and dogs romping in the back yard. My sellers would be happy to know that love continues to grow in their old house.

 

When you find yourself in a position to have to sell the home you and your family have loved for many years, you need a Realtor who will understand your emotions, and at the same time help you make the best business decisions for your family. Whether you have inherited a house from your parents, or are faced with selling the home where you raised your children, your Realtor should help you reach your business and financial goals for the sale of your home, while at the same time, display understanding, empathy, and compassion when it comes to the emotional side of the transaction.

 

Here are a few tips I have gathered up that have helped my clients get through an emotional transaction.

 

1. Pick out something in the home that you can take with you as a remembrance. Maybe there is a stepping stone in the yard that one of your kids made, a decorative windmill in the garden, or a birdhouse in your favorite tree. Find something that will be a reminder of good times, and take it with you to your new home.

 

2. Detach from your home a little at a time. Before it goes on the market, start packing up the sweet family mementos scattered throughout the house. By clearing away some of your family treasures early on, you can accomplish two goals: you'll begin the detachment process, and you'll de-clutter the house so potential buyers will not be distracted.

 

3. Leave a meaningful gift for the new owners. If your kids enjoyed many years playing on the swing set in the backyard, maybe the children of the new owners would have fun with it, too. Maybe you have pictures of your home as it was being built. The new owners would appreciate seeing the stages of construction on their home, as it was being built so many years ago. The gift you leave for the new owners could be as simple as a bottle of wine and a hand-written note wishing the new family many years of happiness in the home you are passing on to them.

 

If you are selling a home you or your parents have loved for many years, find a Realtor who understands the importance of honoring your memories, and who will guide you through a successful transaction with compassion. With the right Realtor, it will still be an emotional process, but you will have someone on your side to guide you through the transaction with understanding.

 

 

 

Rose King 

 

Serving you in Galveston County, Brazoria County, Pearland, Friendswood, Alvin, Manvel, Rosharon, League City, Webster, Clear Lake, South Belt, and the Houston Bay Area

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Email me at rose@rosekingrealtor.com

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