Pretty original title eh? Apologies to Stephen Covey…
It fits though, and there is something to be learned from how home sellers have approached the often arduous task of putting their home on the market, and more importantly, turning them into residential real estate sales.
Effective Home Sellers Habit #1: Be Realistic
What your neighbor sold their home for last year, or even last month, doesn’t matter. What you “lost” because you didn’t sell your home at the peak of the market doesn’t matter. Those fancy granite counter tops you had installed? Yeah, you won’t recover every dollar you spent when you sell your home, and that holds true for any home improvement.
Selling a home ranks WAY up the list of “life’s most stressful moments”. But you have to understand and be realistic about your home worth, your neighborhood, and the real estate market you in. There are many factors that impact quick home sales. Many you have no control over (market dynamics, economic conditions, the lending environment). But there are things you can control (home condition, cleanliness, curb appeal, availability). Address what you can control, and understand the impact of what your can’t. Realistically.
Effective Habit #2: Be Open to Suggestions
You hired a real estate services professional to help you. Listen to what they have to say. You don’t sell a home every day. Your agent sells several homes a year (we’re assuming here you aren’t using your brother’s best friend’s second cousin who is part-time agent part-time barista because you want to “help them out”). If you hired the right agent (insert shameless plug here), then you should listen to their professional advice. Sure, you may not be able to do everything they suggest, but at least listen and consider suggestions your agent may have for the best way to present, market and sell your home.
Effective Habit #3: Be Available
YOU don’t necessarily have to be available to buyers interested in your home. In fact, you shouldn’t be present during showings – it makes buyers uncomfortable and they will rush through the home. But you do need to make your home as readily accessible to potential buyers as possible. In the Phoenix real estate market that means letting your agent install an electronic lockbox. It means you need to be able to vacate the premises with reasonable notice – and occasionally with unreasonable notice. Your home can not be sold if potential buyers can’t view it. “No showings on weekends” or “Showings only between 11:00am and 1:00pm on Thursdays and Fridays” won’t cut it (and no, I’m not making those up. We’ve seen this in listings..)
Effective Habit #4: Be Smart
Understand the local real estate market. Understand the home selling process. Understand the home buying process (you may not be buying, but you want to understand what your potential buyers are dealing with).
Why understand all this?
How do you understand all this? Let your agent help you understand it. That’s what you’re paying them for.
Effective Habit #5: Uhm…
Well, in the ultimate proofreading FAIL, somehow I managed to leave out Effective Habit #5 when I published this article. Sigh. Let’s have some fun with my ineptitude! Leave a “Highly Effective Habit” for home sellers in the comments and I’ll put my favorite one here with a link back to your site.
Here is what I picked as my favorite “reader submitted” Habit #5. There were some *great* suggestions, and I highly recommend reading all the comments on this post! In fact, when I get some time, I’m going to compile them all into another post…
From Sean Carpenter:
Remember to Balance Emotion with Logic: Selling your home and all the things involved with the transaction can be very exciting, but many times it is an extremely stressful event.
Homeowners not only have to worry about their home remaining clean and available to unknown Realtors and buyers on a daily basis but they often have other important things that they could be doing to ready themselves for their move. It is also true that most Sellers have a tremendous amount of pride in their home and want to make certain that the marketing and eventual sale price are reflective of that pride.
The moment you list your home for sale with a Realtor, it just becomes a house on a shelf. You may not like what the market tells you but it will never lie to you. If you don’t have showings you will very likely not receive any offers. If you get showings and still don’t get any offers you must be prepared to lower the price. Don’t take it personally.
Effective Habit #6: Be Reasonable
When (not if!) you get an offer on your home, think about all aspects of the offer. Price isn’t the only consideration. The buyer’s ability to qualify for a loan is crucial in today’s real estate and lending environment. When you get a request for repairs, consider everything closely. Do you really want to say, “I won’t fix that leaky faucet!” and risk losing a buyer because you didn’t want to pay for washer and dryer repair? And if you’re thinking, “No buyer would walk away because of appliance repair,” think again. No, I’m not saying to have to bow to every buyer demand. Do try to be reasonable though. And talk it through with your agent.
Effective Habit #7: Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions
This is YOUR home you are trying to sell. You need to be comfortable with what is going on. If there is anything you don’t understand, ask your agent for clarification. Don’t be embarrassed that you don’t know what “escrow” means, or what a title company does. Again, you don’t sell a home every day. These terms aren’t important to you 99.9% of the time. But they are important now, and often agents tend to forget we frequently speak in a foreign language. There are no stupid questions. Ask.
The Bottom Line
These “seven habits” can help you through the home selling process. No, they won’t ensure that your home sells for top dollar, but they will help you get there. And your stress levels may be greatly reduced. To be brutally honest, it will also greatly reduce the stress levels of your agent as well. That’s not a bad thing. Humans don’t like stress so anything that can be done for all parties involved in a stressful situation is a good thing.
As always, your thoughts and comments are appreciated? Anyone have an eighth effective habit for home sellers?
Photo Credit: Yours truly. I know, the photo doesn’t make a lot of sense. But the post is about “seven habits” and when I hear “seven”, I tend to think of Jack Daniel’s.
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
What happened to number 5?
Oh crap! That’s a great question…. I wonder if anyone else will notice.
Now I have to go think of one.
#6 – be reasonably good at math? 🙂
LMAO! Thanks Inna…
Be Human.
How about #5: Be Honest and Forthright. Whether you disclose it or not on the SPDS or CLUE, buyers will learn of the $23,000 claim due to the fire or the $46,000 claim when someone drove through your front room with their car. They often discover other items you are really supposed to disclose so you might as well fess up right from the start.
Be completely COMMITTED to accomplishing the sale!
Really do what your agent suggested about packing up ALL of your excess stuff, taking down the 1977 wallpaper, repainting if necessary, keeping the house picked up and ready to show at a moment’s notice, etc. Selling a house is NOT about your comfort & convenience – it’s often a pain in the neck, so you want to get it over with as quickly as possible!
#5 ~ Be Aware: Aware that everything your REALTOR is educating you about; and the differneces in the market since you did this before ~ area More than AWARE to a Buyer who likely has a Great Agent and Negotiator! No BS’ing anyone these days ~~> ??? or along this theme as this is your piece ~ Quite the fisherman aren’t you Jay ;0 @obxmlsbill
#5, try to realize that once you put your home on the market, it’s a commodity and try to detach yourself from all the personal memories. You decided to sell, look forward to your new home.
#5 Be Aware, Accepting, Unemotional, be Calm (yeah, like that’s gonna happen)
Just because you’ve lived in the house for 5 or 10 or 30 years, and you’ve taken good care of it, doesn’t mean the the home inspector won’t come up with a page and a half of problems with your house. Unless you have a home inspection every couple of years, they will come up with something you don’t agree with. “I’ve never had a problem with the fact that the bathroom sick has a crack on the underside. I just don’t fill it all the way up…”
Best REAL ESTATE post of year. Kudos.
Here’s my number 5:
Fire Uncle Louie. Take your real estate advice from the professional listing agent you hired and who is most familiar with your circumstances, not a disaffected co worker or relative with no commitment to your goal. Real estate advice that is contrary to your agent’s views *might* have value in starting a discussion or examining contingency plans.
But to be resistant and contrarian as a regular practice because your uncle (who last sold a house in 1986) is whispering in your ear can sabotage your transaction and cost big money.
Actually, I have another suggestion for 5. Perhaps 5a.
Be organized. Make sure you have all your permits and compliance paperwork in order for that deck, shed, finished basement (do you guys have basement in AZ?) and/or pool. Getting close to closing and then finding out that your deck isn’t legal, or, worse, has to be dismantled sucks and can kill a deal or delay it and cost money. Make sure all your Ps and Qs are in place with the building department before you sell.
Actually, this is the best #5 there is:
http://www.fansedge.com/ProductDisplay.aspx?pfid=33-99336&index=0
Not a Yankees fan, but it’s hard not to love DiMaggio… My dad met him when DiMaggio went to visit soldiers in Vietnam. His autograph has hung proudly on my wall for the last 43 years…
My #5 would go back to Covey.
Begin with the End in Mind.
The “end” in this case is to get the home sold successfully at an acceptable price and in an acceptable time frame. If the timeframe is short, the price may reflect that. If the price is high. the timeframe may reflect that. If you are honest with yourself about the end that is in mind, getting a satisfactory outcome is MUCH more likely. 😉
BTW- My compliments on the theme. I am a big fan of Brian’s..but doggone…this is nice digs. 😉 And hosted on Synthesis. Very nice.
#5: See rule #1
#5 Be Prepared. Since your buyers will get a home inspection and use anything found as a negotiating point in the transaction, your agent will suggest that you make necessary repairs (like the leaky faucet) prior to showing your home. While agents aren’t inspectors, they have seen enough inspections and inspection reports to know much of what could be an issue for inspectors. You’re going to make the repairs anyway so do it in advance.
Always work with the ‘goal’ in mind. You want to sell and get all that it is worth but you need to keep your perspective and priorities in order. Your goal to sell and get a new home should be first and foremost and working with your Realtor can be the best way to do that. Thank you for the great read.
Great post, Jay! This should be syndicated – is there some kind of required seller handbook? Haha – would be a good thing.
You really covered the big issues that sellers need to do. Here’s my #5.
Communicate with your agent. The biggest complaint when we talk to potential clients who were previously listed with another agent (other than that they didn’t sell), is that the agent’s didn’t communicate often or give them good information. But it goes both ways. It’s very hard for an agent to do their job when we send suggestions or information by email or leave messages and our clients never respond. We don’t know how they feel about our suggestions and where they stand. If we understood why they were ignoring our suggestions, maybe we could come up with an alternative approach that WOULD work for them. Along the same lines, if they think the marketing is missing the mark or they just hate that one picture, tell the agent. Give the agent a chance to fix it rather than just being annoyed and using that as an excuse for writing off everything the agent recommends.
Jay, nice post! My favourite bit is: Effective Habit #5! So here I go:
Effective Habit #5 Have your team take care of your website while you take care of your clients!
I don’t want to say that taking care of your current,potential or past clients that visit your website is something you can outsource completely; It’s just I find having somebody from my team taking care of the more or less technical aspects of running a real estate blog a great advantage. It leaves more time for actual work with clients. If I wrote all my posts on my blog personally (I don’t claim I do on my blog), It would take a great amount of time. I can devote this time to actually commenting other blogs or responding to comments and creating relationships. What do you think?
#5 – Not every consideration needs to be based on money – often times personal desires or wants need to be considered over the bottom line. Life is more then money and selling your home involves a lot of emotional considerations. Making the right decision often includes enjoying the process and letting go of the hold that money has on us or you.
Wow, some great responses to the “missing fifth habit,” thanks!! It’s going to be hard to pick a favorite… may have to just write a new post and link to everyone!
Be Faithful and Realistic to the Process. Selling a home is not easy. You need to constantly be cleaning, open to strangers in your home, dealing with buyers who can sometimes be very demanding, dealing with Realtors, told to get out of your home and more. Granted the end goal is often worth the effort but having my own home on market, one does have a few brief moments of doubt.
#5 When your agent gives you tips on how to stage your house take the steps. A cluttered house or one that is not appropriately staged can detract a lot of potential home buyers.
#5: Be nice. Realtors® are people, too.
Like your new blog look a lot, Jay 🙂
#5 (Actually should be number 2) Be relevant! Interview agents who will market your home where the buyers are…online! Make sure your representative can take HD photos, provide virtual tours, set up youtube videos, facebook fan pages, a dedicated website for the property, uses call capture sign riders and has a viewing feedback form on auto pilot for all buyer’s agents, to give you real input on how well your home shows!
Be Scarce. There’s nothing worse than a buyer and their agent showing up for a viewing and be greeted at the door by the seller who insists on being a tour guide.
I always want the house to be empty, no dogs, children or owners. It is I who am their broker and I am alone in charge of the viewing and sale.
It is I who IS their broker 😉
I see all 7 and are just good to read them as a real estate investor. Great post…
Jay – another excellent post both for your local Phoenix residents and your fan base of Realtors across the globe.
#5 – Remember to Balance Emotion with Logic – Selling your home and all the things involved with the transaction can be very exciting, but many times it is an extremely stressful event.
Homeowners not only have to worry about their home remaining clean and available to unknown Realtors and buyers on a daily basis but they often have other important things that they could be doing to ready themselves for their move. It is also true that most Sellers have a tremendous amount of pride in their home and want to make certain that the marketing and eventual sale price are reflective of that pride.
The moment you list your home for sale with a Realtor, it just becomes a house on a shelf. You may not like what the market tells you but it will never lie to you. If you don’t have showings you will very likely not receive any offers. If you get showings and still don’t get any offers you must be prepared to lower the price. Don’t take it personally.
Jay – good luck deciding on the best #5. You certainly have received some great insight from your followers.
Good Post, SEO Quake gives this site a PR 5 here in Van. BC
Sean wrote: “…good luck deciding on the best #5. You certainly have received some great insight from your followers.”
I certainly have! And I can’t pick a #1. Now I’m thinking I’ll just compile the Top 10 (or so) into a separate post (with appropriate attribution of course!)
So as of this comment, I’m closing “entries”. Gotta stop somewhere!
BTW, This is my favorite of all your website designs.
#5 Put yourself in a buyer’s shoes.
Jay…. not to get off topic, but you could write a blog post on how to get good blog topics… write a list post such as this one and skip a number… and then allow people to help within the comments, giving suggestions. As you stated, so many good suggestions to where you could write 2 to 3 new posts now… lol
I like very much your way of presentation.. I got more useful information on this blog.. Thanks to sharing the useful information”¦.
Thanks for taking this opportunity to converse about this, I feel fervently about this and I like learning about this subject. Please, as you gain facts, please update this blog with more information. I have found it extremely useful.
What a clean website design and a great post. Keep up the great posts!
Always I like your blog post Because You Always Comes with different ideas and information. Always I shared your site with my friends post. Keep posting and i will follow you.<a href=”http://www.duplichecker.com/writing_typ.asp”>types of writing</a>
Hi, I love your blog.You should continue. Anyways, I was wondering if it would be okay for you to link me to your blog.. I hope you’d consider…http://www.warmproperty.com
Hi Jay I am here after s long days to get your good tips by your valuable article. This article is nice because it help to new home Seller/buyer
I think #1&2 are the most important. Sellers need to be realistic and take advice – which they are paying for. Based on whether or not they decide to take the advice, a proper price can than be established. Check out the 5 benefits of correct home pricing: http://www.mississaugarealestate.pro/pricing-your-property