Is Love Blind When Selling Your Home?
You purchased your home many years ago and fell in love with the home and neighborhood. So many memories have been made in this home; family gatherings, birthday parties, Holiday's, Thanksgiving Dinners. Maybe even your children were born while you lived there, children have grown up and gone to college, got married, had children of their own.
Maybe you have painstakingly remodeled the home. Agonizing over the color of tile, or cabinetry. Updated the kitchen and bathrooms years ago, replaced appliances and so forth.
Let's face it, you are in love with your home. But now, you need to sell it for whatever reason. Now reality sets in. Now you are going to put this "precious home" on the market and sell it to someone else to make their own memories.
Now the hard part. When it comes to pricing this "precious home" for sale. Obviously you are in love with this home, and quite frankly as the saying goes, "love is blind".
You have lived in the home for so many years that you tend to overlook many of the flaws, and negatives that a buyer is going to be looking at. You've been in this home for so long, it has become familiar, and after all you "love it"!
But a buyer is going to look at this home differently
Buyers have no attachment to this home. They are looking at this strictly as an investment. They really don't care much for the carpet or tile that you had installed. Maybe they really don't like the kitchen. Their taste is more modern or contemporary. They look at the home, and immediately come up with a list of 10-12 items that they will need to do immediately to make it "work for their family".
This is where it gets harder for the seller who after all "is in love with their home" and the buyer "who sees a lot of work ahead and money needed to renovate".
Sometimes it can work out, and the buyer and seller will come to terms, and many times it doesn't work out. The Buyer passes and decides to wait for something better, or less expensive, or a home that fits their needs better. A better neighborhood, better school district, closer to shopping and restaurants, walkability factor, and so on.
When you put your home up for sale, you as the seller "who is in love with your home" must detach yourself emotionally from this property. It is now "up for sale". This is why it is strongly recommended that you start to "depersonalize" your home. Remove all of the personalization so that it becomes more of an item up for sale, and no longer this "home that you love" and above all be realistic with pricing. Buyers will not be reimbursing you for every improvement you made along the way. Buyers and appraisers will be looking at your home with a much more critical eye.
This can be especially hard for some sellers, especially when you have lived in the home for maybe decades. Maybe it is now time to downsize. Maybe a spouse has died, and you are faced with not only downsizing but leaving a home that held so many precious memories. It can be a very trying time for you and for your entire family. I personally have helped many sellers who have been faced with a simiar situation. Other families, are ready to move into a condo, and no longer want the responsibility of home ownership. Other families have outgrown their first home and are ready to upsize and move into more of the home of their dreams. Maybe they need a much larger home because of extended family who will now be occupying their home. Possibly the 2-story home is no longer feasible and one level living is more convenient and fits their needs for health reasons.
Some buyers are purchasing a 2nd or 3rd home that they only plan on occupying part of the year. Every buyer and every seller has something different happening in their lives which prompts them to make a change. Change is sometimes harder than we think, and it is important to have a plan for what you are going to do when the house does sell. Where will you move to? What size home do you now need? I try to work through these tough decisions with my clients so everyone has a comfort level moving forward. I find that this is very helpful. Thinking this through is extremely important for the entire family.
Getting rid of the clutter and possessions. Most sellers have found that they have accumulated a lot of possessions, collectibles, furnishings, and so forth over the years that they no longer want, or will fit comfortably in their new home. It is important to try to deal with this prior to selling, so that at the last minute you are not stressed out any more than you need to be.
If these matters are handled in advance, you will feel much more comfortable closing in a shorter period of time, because you have a plan in place. Making a lifestyle change can be stressful, but it can also be a very exciting time of your life. With the proper planning, help, advice and assistance from trusted professionals the transition will go more smoothly and everyone will be happier.
In conclusion, change is many times harder than we think. Proper planning ahead of time will make the transition a lot easier and easier on the entire family.
Joyce Marsh and her team can assist you in sorting out the details, and determining the correct value for your home so that it can sell in the shortest amount of time, and at the highest price possible and you can look forward to the next chapter in your life. Selling and moving can be a very exciting time and with the proper planning everyone will be much happier.
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