Buying or selling a house is a HUGE endeavor. It’s an important and complex process that requires the participation of a wide diversity of people (as many as 40+ People in a single transaction), prominent potential for conflict, and strong desire of all parties to have a smooth path to resolution (the closing).

Every transaction has it’s own personality because everyone involved is human and inherently imperfect and subject to “outside interference” in the form of personal matters, other ongoing business, and the ever present possibility of “Murphy” showing up.

For things to go smoothly, the FIRST thing is for each and every person involved in the process to show up and be present. This means that we must all be intentional about maintaining focus on the important things – like understanding the terms of the agreements (Contracts and supporting documents). We must make time for this. There is zero margin built in for “Transactional ignorance” . . . the stakes are too high.

Acknowledging the importance of the above is important, but none of that is the REAL reason Houses don’t sell or get under contract and fail to close.

The number 1 requirement is that the “Principals” (Buyer and Seller) MUST be committed to their respective roles. The Seller must be “All in” with respect with their decision to sell the house, and the Buyer must be “All in” with respect with their decision to buy the house. While this might seem to be a statement of the obvious, this truly IS the singlemost reason for failed transactions. When both Buyer and Seller are resolute in their decision to buy and/or sell, there are far fewer complications. Every house sale has blips because no house is perfect (Condition issues). Other things happen – Like Mortgage underwriting requirements, timing difficulties and delays, Appraisal issues. These things simple go with the territory. They are uncontrollables.

When both the Buyer and the Seller are 100% decided to complete the process, these emergent transactional issues are not more than speed bumps. All parties collaborate to find agreeable solutions, and the process continues.

If a house is on the market and not selling, the first question I ask of the seller is: “Is there anything going on with your situation (Family, Job, or other stressors) that is causing you to question your commitment to making this move? Invariably, this question is revealing of some “air-cleaning” that needs to be done. It’s as if there’s a pall of bad mojo hovering over the house making it less “attractive” to Buyer prospects.

There’s no amount of advertising or marketing effort or showing follow-up that can overcome bad mojo.

So . . . Before embarking on this journey of buying and/or selling a house, deciding to start AND finish this process is crucial.

pssst . . . It helps to have a VERY clear vision of what your life will be like after the closing – The pot of gold at the end of the process.

Once that’s established, your role is simple . . . make ALL of the decisions, and your REALTOR’s responsibility is to guide and advise you through the process.

Strategist-CEO of Pareto Realty Real estate sales Professional Inviter-Facilitator-Practicer of Open Space Technology Opening safe space for people & organizations to self-organize around issues & opportunities BarryOwen.US Invite-Listen-LoveView more posts