Selling? Depersonalize Your Home!

I should have written on this topic some time ago. I apologize for my procrastination. The topic? Adjusting your attitude when selling your home.

What do I mean by that? Here is an example. Nice listing, priced OK, plenty of upgrades, very clean and in a good Avondale neighborhood. The house did not sell and did not sell and . . . well, you get the picture.

The problem? The lady of the house did not allow many open houses. She "didn't want all those strangers trapsing through her home." See the problem? It was still "her" home. That attitude not only kept open houses minimal but actually turned away buyers sometimes before they got to the front door.

I finally had a talk with the husband (who wanted to move to his new job) and told him about his wife's attitude. I was reasonably sure that he would mention what I said to his wife. Two weeks later, we had a contract and the home closed.

Whether you believe in The Force from Star Wars or not, attitude can make a huge difference in how long it takes to sell a home. I usually tackle this head on when I spot it and it resolves.

Have you ever watched a show called the Dog Whisperer on the NATGO channel? Time and again dogs pick up the attitudes of the people around them. The show's host spends as much time working on the people's attitudes as he does working with the dog. Attitudes effect more than dogs. They can effect buyers!!

So "depersonalize" your home so a prospective buyer doesn't have to struggle to visualize the home as their own. Take down collections of family pictures, diplomas and personal momentos. Use new home models as your guide. No clutter and no personal items. It makes it much easier for buyers imagine that house as their home.

Successful Selling Strategy

A TALE OF TWO HOMES -Recently an agent in my office related a personal home selling experience of her own. Earlier this summer, this Realtor had her own home to sell in the Southwest Phoenix valley. It turns out that a neighbor with the same model home a few doors down the street was also selling.

The Realtor determined the market price for her home to be $324,000. She listing her home at $319,000 and sold it in 34 days for $309,000.

Her neighbor initially listed her home for $332,000. It stayed on the market month after month as she stair-stepped the price down in $5,000-$8,000 increments.

The neighbor's house finally sold for $287,000 after over 200 days on the market.

What is the lesson here?

Trying to follow the market down in small increments will NOT attact the buyer traffic you need to sell a home. Making the home a "good deal" price wise (hopefully at the outset of the listing) will attract what buyers there are and get you into meaningful negotiations resulting in a much quicker sale.

I have seen this happen time and again with my own listings in this market. Using this approach will get you more money for your home faster than the stair-step approach to pricing.

Richard