Posts in category 'Selling Your Home'
12
Sometimes a House Is More Than a House
I was thinking recently about a homeowner who spent nearly a year preparing herself to sell a house.
The interesting thing is that the challenge wasn't really the market. The house was in a desirable area, well maintained, and there was every reason to believe it would sell when the time came. The challenge was that the house represented a chapter of life she wasn't quite ready to leave behind.
Years earlier, she had purchased the home after a major life change. It represented a fresh start and a new season. Over time, life changed again. Family circumstances shifted, responsibilities grew, and eventually she found herself maintaining two properties. Financially, it no longer made sense to keep both, but that didn't make the decision any easier.
For months we would talk about selling. Then we wouldn't. Then we would talk about i...
10
What I Learned From the Homes That Took Longer to Sell
If we were sitting across from each other at a restaurant, sharing a meal and talking about real estate, there is something I would tell you that might surprise you.
Not every home that sits on the market has a bad Realtor.
Not every home that sits on the market is overpriced.
And not every home that sits on the market has something wrong with it.
Recently, I went back through my own listing history and looked at the homes that took longer to sell than average. I expected to find a common mistake. Maybe poor pricing. Maybe weak marketing. Maybe condition issues.
What I found was something entirely different.
Most of those homes had a story.
One seller...
9
Why Isn't My House Selling? The Difference Between Marketing and Buyer Appeal
One of the hardest conversations I have with sellers is helping them understand the difference between marketing and presentation.
I can put your home in the MLS. I can advertise it on Facebook. I can create videos, postcards, brochures, websites, and social media posts. I can spend money every day making sure buyers know your home exists.
But marketing only gets buyers through the front door.
Once they walk inside, the house has to do the rest.
There are really two things that drive results when selling a home.
First, the home has to be priced well enough to encourage buyers to schedule a showing.
Second, when they arrive, the home has to give them a reason to remember it.
4
You Gotta Want It
There is something I have noticed over the years that no one really likes to talk about.
Some homeowners want to sell their home. Other homeowners want a buyer.
Those sound like the same thing, but they are not.
I occasionally meet sellers who believe the process works like this: hire a Realtor, take some pretty pictures, put the home online, and wait for the offers to arrive. If that were true, every home would sell quickly and every seller would be thrilled with the results.
The reality is that buyers are not shopping for houses. They are shopping for their future.
That is where many sellers unintentionally get stuck.
When you live in a home every day, you stop seeing it. The scuff mark on the wall b...
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