Tip 2

The Surprising Way Home Sellers Unwittingly

Sabotage Selling Their Home.

Faulty logic isn’t the only thing leading home sellers astray these days. Emotions, too, play a key role in keeping the “For Sale” sign planted firmly in their yard. And as much as most people would like to think of themselves as purely rational beings, when it comes to selling their home, this simply is not the case. And here’s why …

 

Home ownership is at the heart of the American Dream … your home is your castle. And it’s filled with cherished memories of inestimable worth. Your home is also a huge chunk of your financial wealth. If you like your home, it has features that made it espe­cially attractive to you at the time of purchase. And you’ve probably spent untold time and effort getting it just right — not to mention your expense. 

Overestimating value becomes easy …

Understandably, such an investment makes it easy for you to overestimate the value your personal upgrades will have for buyers.   

Consider, for example, a seller who builds a wood entertainment center in the family room exactly the way she wants it … the wood color, the design—both are what she wants. And it’s the exact size for her TV. Maybe it cost her $10,000. As a seller, she may think, “Well, I should at least get the $10,000. Plus, the buyers won’t have to go through the weeks of mess it took to build it and it makes the house so much more livable, they really should pay me $15,000 for it.” 

Fast forward to a showing: a buyer comes in, sees the entertainment center and says, “Gee, that’s nice … too bad they didn’t use a lighter wood [or darker wood]. That’s a real negative to me. I may have to tear it out.” — or it doesn’t fit their TV, or the design is too contemporary, etc.

 Nor does emotional value translate to monetary value …

The line between emotional value and real monetary value can easily become blurred once you decide to sell. For instance, a seller who lives next to a school might say, “I love living right by the school.” And some people may pay a little extra for that, but for just as many people, being next to a school is a huge disadvantage because they imagine the noise, the traffic and people in their yard.

 MARKET SMARTS FOR HOME SELLERS

 So, you may be surprised to discover that for every advantage you see in your home, buy­ers can see a disadvantage. Right about now, an objective viewpoint becomes crucial because …

 

… when it comes time to put a price tag on the “brick and mortar” structure

 that’s safeguarded your very life and the lives of those you love,

 rational reasoning usually takes a hike …

But we’re all only human, and you’re certainly not alone in dealing with this … because it not only happens to home sellers in general but is also known to happen to home sellers who’re real estate professionals by trade.

 Every buyer’s market has its stories of agents with nice homes who’ve spent years making them better — but when selling in a buyer’s market, their emotional attachment outweighs everything they know about what works in that marketplace. And like any other home seller with a huge emotional investment, they overprice. Consequently, their home sits on the market with little activity because buyers have so many other opportunities.

 … So, how can YOU prevent this quagmire of emotion

 from sabotaging YOUR intention to sell your home

 in the current buyer’s market?

Despite equal vulnerability to emotional sabotage when the home being sold is her own, a quality real estate professional will help you balance this potentially self-defeating mix of emotions with sound thinking and expertise. A quality agent serves you as the voice of reason at a time when detaching from your feelings is difficult, if not impossible.

 When it comes to establishing your home’s market value, your agent has valuable insight gained every day from observing buyers’ emotional response as they first enter and then tour a home. She sees firsthand their emotional response to:

• The location … • The home’s condition …• The home’s “feel” and … • All the other things in a home that buyers react to emotionally.

Your agent will know that if your house has a bad carpet color or it’s really dark, you’re going to get significantly less value from it, because people walk in and their emotional response prevents them from seeing past the negatives. Your agent’s insight into how buyers respond gives you a huge advantage in the marketplace.

In today’s marketplace, it’s all about reality …

 If your home isn’t priced so that a buyer looking at it will say, “You know, that’s a fair price for this house,” then you’re going to be in trouble.

 So, be market smart …

• Get realistic: Your personal upgrades may not have the same value to buyers as they do to you. Your agent will help you sort this out and determine their market value.

• Listen to your agent: her objectivity will help you clarify which of your home’s features may have emotional value to you but have no monetary value to buyers. This objective feedback is invaluable to establishing a price that’s realistically aligned with your home’s real market value.

• Consider the Comparative Market Analysis (CMA): in lieu of a bonafide offer to help you know what a qualified buyer is willing to pay, your agent will provide you with a CMA on comparable homes in your area that have recently sold. The CMA includes final prices.

• Understand that with softening prices, your home’s market value may not be as high as it was during the boom’s peak. Although this is disappointing, don’t despair — because now the market value of the home you buy will also NOT be as high. And when the market turns around — as it surely will — your new home’s value will rise. Just remember: real estate is such a great long-term investment because it comes with terrific perks — tax breaks and a nice place for you to live and create memories.

• Take your agent’s advice: his insight into buyers’ emotional response will provide you with valuable feedback to help you correct your home’s negative aspects. These are usually easy-to-fix cosmetic things to brighten up your home such as taking the draperies down and letting in the light, painting, re-carpeting and removing some of the furniture and all the clutter to make the space look larger. Your agent will know what needs to be done to increase your home’s emotional appeal.

• Check out the competition: every house for sale today has competition, and yours is no exception. It’s good selling strategy to do a reality check. Go look at other listings similarly priced. Make a list of the pros and cons of your house versus each of those. This is exactly what buyers are doing. They’re looking at those other four houses and comparing them to yours.

So, in today’s buyer’s market, there’s no room for viewing your home or the marketplace through rose-colored glasses. That is, not if you’re serious about attracting qualified buyers so you can move on to the new chapter in your life. And this prompts the question of how to attract buyers who want and can afford the specifics your home has to offer.