You’re excited, then frustrated, then blissful, then furious … all because you decided to sell your home! Isn’t it interesting that our emotions are the #1 reason why deals fall apart? (A little detail HGTV tends to scrub from their programming.)

It’s funny, most sellers that we talk to PRIOR to listing their homes laugh when we warn them about the emotional rollercoaster that they could encounter because, in that moment, they are in a rational state of mind. It’s in the heat of the the selling process when many (if not most) tend to crack. I often joke with our clients that I am messing with their personal home, their money, and their family’s stability—all at the same time! So that’s why this month’s blog explains what sparks emotions in sellers, walk through why it happens, and how to combat it.

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, STEP ABOARD THE ROLLERCOASTER!!

EXCITED

Your home is officially on the market and you’re pumped for buyers to start coming through. You have worked hard to get it show-ready and now its “showtime!”

ANNOYED

Uh oh, you start getting calls from buyers’ agents wanting to show your home. They start to stack up on your Saturdays, your Sundays, and even weeknights. You need to usher the kiddos and the dog out the door and not return for several hours … oh, and make sure the house is spotless, lights on, music on, blinds open and lawn mowed. Wash, rinse, repeat. Your car and the local park start to feel more like home!

BLISSFUL

But wait, here comes an offer! You negotiate through the terms and BOOM, you’re under contract. Those beds don’t need to be made, the dishes can stay out for the night. Life is great, and you start planning the move to the new home.

ANGRY

Just as you were mentally prepared to start packing, the buyers send in a “detailed” home inspector. Along comes a 40+ page scathing report showing all the worst parts (with pictures) of your home—99% of the issues you never knew existed. The buyers ask for thousands of dollars off the sales price, plus want you to fix the water heater, service the HVAC, and replace some damaged shingles. They must be joking, right?! Let the blood start to boil because these buyers are playing hardball and threatening to terminate if you don’t cooperate. Suddenly the buyers are the nastiest people on the planet because they are impeding your ability to move into your new home.

READY TO EXPLODE

Ok, you barely make it through negotiations for the repair items when out of the blue another person wants to evaluate your home … and that person would be the almighty appraiser. You may have priced your home a little on the high side, but in comes an appraisal that misses your sales price by $5,000. Once again, the buyer looks to you to take another financial hit, else they are bailing. Closing day is looking more like a cage match rather than a pleasant handover of your home.

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY

Good news! The Wistrick Team has a selling survival guide. For example, before you list, we tell you how to prepare for showing requests and help to organize your calendar. Prior to a home inspection, we will show you what items are hot buttons for inspectors and how to best prepare your home. Prior to an appraisal, again we explain how to prepare your home and likewise prepare ourselves to go to bat on your behalf with comparable home values justifying the sales price.

Removing emotions from a sale is impossible. We have yet to sell a single home where the buyer and seller had zero emotions. That’s normal and to be expected, but be careful that you don’t sabotage your sale over something that could easily be resolved. It happens on occasion, and about 95% of the time, the seller begs the buyer back to the negotiation table … and about 99% of the time, the buyer won’t come back. They are also operating on heightened emotions, so if they get a bad vibe, they are usually long gone. As tough as is it, we remind our sellers of what their end goal is, which is to sell. The memories, great times, and even sad times attached to your home are hard to leave, which is often what sparks the emotional rollercoaster.

If you’ve just bumped into us for the first time, here’s some info about who heck we are…

The Wistrick team has been hot on the Atlanta scene since 2004. We have seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to real estate. By functioning at a higher volume, this has allowed us to be good stewards to the general public with the valuable information we have learned by helping thousands of clients. They love it because they know they can relax when it comes to asking us questions without an ounce of pressure. Let’s be real … moving sucks! You’re busy trying to wrap your head around a new chapter in your life. The last thing you need is a pushy agent. That’s why approximately 98% of our business comes by way of referral from a past client.

If you’d like to know more about us and how we work, just shoot us an email or give us a ring, and we can start a conversation about your goals.

Cheers,

Mike Wistrick | The Wistrick Team

Keller Williams Realty Partners