My Journey as a Seller - The Beginning

For many reasons my husband and I have decided it is time to downsize. We just don't need all the space anymore.

With the shoe now being on the other foot, I thought I would keep this online blog/diary of my Journey as a seller. The emotions, the sweat, the trials, the tribulations and hopefully the victory and then my follow up Journey as a Buyer!

When we decided it was time to sell I began to look at my house differently. From the eye of an outsider, of a potential buyer.  And WOW is it a trip.

First - Do I sell it myself? That was a pretty big decision. I spoke with my Broker at length, his suggestion originally was to let another agent in my office handle it. I could see his point. However, I decided to be the listing agent myself, but he would handle all the negotiations for me. Here are the reasons:

1. I do a lot of extra marketing such as Trulia, Realtor.com Featured & Showcase listings etc that I need to be the primary lister for. How could I not practice what I preach and use these resources.
2. When I go on listing presentations - how could I tell a potential seller that I did not trust myself to sell my own house? That I let someone else handle it for me? What does that say? 
3. I guess the biggie is #1. I need to avail myself of all possible resources, hence I am the primary listing agent on my home. We will see how it goes

Second- Time to De-Clutter -Iit is amazing how much clutter gathers in a house over 15 years, On shelves, in closets, in the garage, in the basement. Number one on the list was to remove the clutter. The dozens and dozens of big silver contractor bags of clutter.

That engagement gift that has never been opened TRASHED! The pants that are too small to even dream about wearing again DONATED! The old photo albums and children's pictures I forgot I had CHERISHED!

Third - Time to give the house a much needed facelift. The ceiling where the roof leak had been fixed but not the inside ceiling - REPAINTED! The wood floors that have needed refinishing for years DONE! The dark color walls that I have hated for years but never got around to doing - LINEN WHITE! What a difference.

Fourth - What do I do about family pictures? That was a big one for me last night. After the painters left I went to put all my family pictures back up. Then I stopped. Are they too distracting? Wouldn't it be better for people to imagine their pictures? But I really love my kids pictures. What to do - what to do.

The fireplace mantle looked so naked - it was screaming for pictures. So I decided to put up the old family pictures. The Great Grandparents. I could use their good spirits looking over me, so they are the only ones I decided to put up.

Fifth - Cleanliness is next to godliness. I have cleaned the last week like I have never cleaned before. I don't think there is a corner of the house that I have missed. The last thing I want my house to be remembered as is the Dusty House, the Dirty House - I want to be the house with the great den! The house with 2 fireplaces! The clean house that we have to buy!

Sixth - The Price.  I ran the comps, I know the market. I had a price. But was it accurate? Too high or too low because of emotional bias? I wanted to be sure. So again I went in and talked to my Broker and a couple of the other successful agents in my office.

First question they asked (of course) was - How quickly do you want to sell? I bet you can guess my reply "I want to sell quickly, BUT I DON'T WANT TO GIVE MY HOUSE AWAY!" At that moment I truly felt like a seller. Remember how you felt the first time you heard yourself sounding like your mom when talking to your kids? Well that was the feeling and it was weird!

Turns out my price was close to what they thought, so I went with it know that "I CAN ALWAYS LOWER IT LATER ON." Big Cringe.

Seventh - The Sign! The lawn sign went up yesterday. That was truly weird and made it very real.

My journey is officially underway. As I write this my camera is charging. Then I am off to take pictures, make my virtual tour and take the next step on my Journey.

I hope that you will continue this journey with me and see things from the other side of the table as I share them with you.

Wish me luck and if you ae looking for a 6 Bedroom Colonial in Old Woodmere Long Island  - have I got one for you!