“Should I Stay or Should I Go?”

^{Somewhere back in time there was a group called “The Clash” that was pretty popular for some time. The recorded a song called “Should I Stay or Should I Go”. I would like to say it was about real estate, but that would not be true. It was about human relationships, and deciding whether to end one or move on.}

^{The lyrics actually do have some use in a decision to sell a home, especially one facing some age and wear issues, and moving to a new home that may have a higher mortgage, or downsizing and fitting all your “stuff” into the smaller space.}

^{If I go there will be trouble
And if I stay there will be double
So you gotta’ let me know
Should I stay or should I go?}

^{This is sometimes a difficult decision requiring the assistance of a Realtor® to give you estimates on what a new home might cost, the related mortgage if any, and what price point to place on the home you’re selling. Most agents will gladly assist you with this information for no charge. Then you can make a decision about your future.}

^{You do not have to list the home. Listing a home these days requires hours of work by real estate teams to price, take photos, make virtual tours, have open houses, create an internet presence, tap social media, and spend time on the phone giving assistance and amateur psychological evaluation. It’s extremely time consuming if it’s done properly.}

^{The typical listing in this area is for at least six months. If you enter into that commitment, it is quite thoughtless to call up in a couple of months and say “Guess what? I changed my mind!” If you read the listing agreement, you will see that early listing cancellation can require the seller to reimburse the broker for any marketing costs involve in your exercise in futility. It doesn’t make special cases for people with sick relatives, dogs with fleas, swollen bunions, or whatever. There is no need to avoid the truth in the reason you want to take a home off the market, since that only reflects your original intentions. I won’t say I turn a deaf ear to these requests because we usually don’t want to fight about it. But before you get started down the trail of listing a home, ask yourself a question: “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”}