As Seen in the Naples Daily News and Bonita Daily News
Managing emotions and expectations is probably the single most important thing you can do when selling your home. It can be difficult to do in this market, but those who stay in control will hopefully experience a smoother transaction and a successful closing.
Don’t Get Emotionally Attached: It could be your family home that your kids grew up in and all your memories are held in the confines of the walls. Don’t fall into the trap of that misperception where selling your house will diminish those memories. If you want to get the deal done you must keep the memories and the emotions out of the transaction.
Be Reasonable: For a seller who has owned the home for several years and now is emotionally tied to it, it can be very difficult to hear the truth. That truth can come in several facets. Usually the most surprising is price. Don’t be fooled into thinking your home is worth more than it actually is. Just because you painted and cleaned up the landscaping doesn’t mean you can fetch an extra $100,000 on your sale price. The comps don’t lie. People will pay only what they feel it is worth and that is always based on recent sales in your neighborhood. Hire a Realtor who knows the comps and sells houses every day – you want a professional on your team!
Be Prepared: Stay positive, but know that issues will arise. You have to go with the flow to resolve them. Don’t be stuck in your ways and try to prove a point. You’ll end up being the house on the street that never sells. Ego will ruin you in life and most certainly with your sale. Get it sold and be done with it!
Stay Focused and Calm: Last week I had a home inspection that almost blew the sale. Keep in mind, this was a designer home in a very high-end community. The report came back 50 pages long, and unfortunately most are rather lengthy nowadays tending to scare most buyers and sellers! No seller wants to see 50 pages of things wrong with their home? The seller exploded, as I expected, and threatened to cancel the sale. I just let the volcano erupt and waited a day for things to cool and then started addressing the issues. In reality, the majority of repairs could be fixed in less than 2 hours with a handyman and cost less than a thousand dollars – mere chump change compared to finding a new buyer! Problem solved.
Need help selling, buying, or with Property Management? Gulf Pointe Properties is glad to help: 239.825.2234, Gabe@GulfPointeProperties.com, www.GulfPointeProperties.com, and www.facebook.com/absyncrealty Gabe Mellein is the broker of Gulf Pointe Properties, He is a member of The Naples Area Board of Realtors, Bonita Springs – Estero Association of Realtors, Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach, The Florida Association of Realtors, The National Association of Realtors, and is nationally certified in feng shui for Real Estate.
