Yep, it’s official. Not only am I an empty nester, but I’m selling my house. Hubby and I are downsizing now that all the little birdies have left the nest.
The experience of preparing the home for sale, putting it on the market, and dealing other agents has been extremely enlightening. So enlightening, in fact, that I would recommend that everyone experience it—at least once every ten years or so. While this is not the first primary residence that I’ve bought and sold, I’ve lived in this one the longest—for most of my real estate life.
Lessons I Learned from Selling My Home
- People traipsing in and out of your home make it dirty and sometimes break things. I spent weeks prior to putting the home on the market assuring that every drawer was spic and span, that there were no fingerprints on the walls, and that every little detail was painted, fixed and repaired so that the place looks turnkey. But, every time I come home after a showing or an open house, I find dirt in new places. Handprints on walls where there were none before, tchotchkes have been moved around, and there are even clumps of dirt on the carpet. Lesson learned: Listing agents must prepare detail-oriented sellers for the fact that this can sometimes be a dirty process.
- If you want to sell fast, you need to live in an alternate reality. We are trying to sell fast, so we want to ready to show 24/7. This means we have to live in an alternate reality where the toothbrush is in the drawer, the ironing board is always folded up in the closet, and the toaster is in the cabinet. Nobody really lives like that, but it is what buyers prefer to see. Lesson learned: Set seller expectations that if they want to accommodate all showings, they need to prepare for a slightly more structured daily routine.
- Buyers say the darndest things. We are eager for feedback, of course, because we want to sell our home. Anything that we can do to make it more enticing is much appreciated. We’ve had positive feedback, but there has actually been nothing concrete that we can use to make the home sell more quickly. Some people don’t like it because they want a full ocean view, and another said that the driveway was too long. Unfortunately, these are not things we can change. Lesson learned: Listing agents may want to alert sellers not to get emotional about the process; some of the feedback may be constructive and some may be absolutely ridiculous.
- Not all agents really want to sell homes. I knew this before, but after seeing it first hand, it has become very obvious. Not all agents actually go out there and show homes in order to sell them.What I mean is that some agents face challenges working strategically through the home tour in order to effect a sale efficiently. Instead, they take buyers to see 50-100 homes, when there may be more strategic ways to get someone to a pending sale. They just seem to be browsing, just like I do at Ross and TJ Maxx. If you make an appointment to show, do you go out with the mindset that you will help convince the buyers to write an offer today? Or, do you just like to tour homes all day Saturday for the heck of it? Lesson learned: If you want to make money as a buyer’s agent, strategically prepare each home tour with the next closing in mind.
- Not all agents are comfortable with negotiation. We got an offer right out of the gate, wrote a counter offer, and then the agent balked because he was intimidated by the counter offer. We’ve actually had a few agents comment that they just want to write an offer that gets accepted. But, isn’t any sale of real estate subject to negotiation? Aren’t we all supposed to expect some back and forth? Lesson learned: Buyers agents and the clients they represent need to be schooled not to get too emotional. After all, everything is up for grabs and subject to negotiation.
The truth is that I want to sell my house this weekend. While the experience has been enlightening and taught me a lot about my fellow agents and the ways to relate to buyers and sellers, I’m eager for it to be over. I’m a woman with a plan, and that plan includes leaving my toaster out on the kitchen counter overnight 😉
Liz Zeman says
Thanks for this quick post!! I just put MY house on the market last night. UGH!! All your points are well taken, but more importantly when working with my clients. I had sellers who got very mad at some of the comments left. I did try very hard to explain, sometimes agents show lots of homes, and just feel they need to leave some sort of comment, and not to take it to personally. Just be glad your home is being shown.
AdminMelissa says
Yes, you definitely must have thick skin in the process. Thanks for your feedback.