Not The Way To Sell A House

I couldn't agree more.  A dear friend of my family, an 88-year-old widow could no longer take care of her rambler sitting on half of an acre with lakeshore. She was dependent on the neighbors to help with yard work and driving her around.  Her adult kids were against it, because she was always there to catch their down strokes. Eventually, they got on board and she decided to sell.  She marched into the same church she'd been going to since 1936, and told everyone that she had to sell.  She let two couples come over, one offered a very low price thinking that she was desperate. Then, the church manager, who used to be a plumber, huffed and puffed how much work there was and offered the price of the land.  I sat the widow down and told her that her announcement in church cost her $75,000, I was going to duct tape her mouth. She didn't understand. I explained that although she meant well she was sending signs of desperation, and she should say NOTHING, just send them to me. We had several good offers, and did get $75K higher than the good people of her church were up for.  

There is a reason she hired a professional Realtor, and she should let the Realtor do her job.

You are so right. My very first seller ("attempted" seller), on the rare occasions she actually allowed a showing, would follow the buyers around and tell them why they shouldn't buy the house. (Bears come and pull up the drain pipes, there are water issues, the neighbors are horrible, etc). Geez. Needless to say, that house did not sell, I did not ask for an extension and I learned a lot of lessons about how not to sell a house.

This was a great speech to get people to NOT buy this home.

Good morning Margaret Rome, Baltimore Maryland ,

OMG..I'm dumbfounded this seller would contact you with this negativity..Too Much Information is right! Definitely not the way to sell a home.

Holy smokes Margaret - a seller out of control. Hopefully she takes your sage advice and talks to her broker. TMI is a deal killer ++.

I agree, Margaret. . .There is entirely too much information.  I hope you are enjoying this Halloween day.

What great advice to would be sellers.  Sometimes sellers should just zip their lips. 

Accentuate the positives....much better approach.