Its been a tough few weeks trying to sell my own home. The realtor in me says lower the price, the seller in me cringes at the thought of a precipitous price drop. As difficult as it has been, its been a good lesson for me. As realtors we are about the business of selling real-estate, then why is this one different - because this time its personal. I am no different from every other seller who is actively engaged in the home sale process and attached to my home. Every time someone comes through and doesn't make an offer it feels like a personal attack on my home and my sense of style (irrational, I know)!
The home sale process is fraught with stress. Even in my own case where the move is an exciting one to be closer to our family to a new home that we love, there is still considerable anxiety - what if we don't like the new neighbors, what to do about childcare, will it be too long to get to work, what if we have to pay two mrtgages, etc. Imagine the stress that comes when the sale is prompted by less than pleasurable circumstances, divorce, job loss, death, inability to make payments. As realtors it is important for us to be mindful of the emotional and personal reasons that are involved in the home-owner's decision to sell and to be able to respond to these clients as people first. The best realtors are the ones who people begin to see as friends. A home-owner is much more likely to take suggestions and directions from us if they truly believe we are on their side.
Although these weeks have been difficult i've truly been able to understand what its like to live with your house for sale - always having to be extra neat, people coming by at all times of the day, having to pack up the entire family and leave at a moment's notice. I won't pretend that I am happy it turned out this way, I would have much preferred the house selling the minute we put it on the market. But since, it hasn't worked out that way, at least its given me a sensitivity to seller's issues and an ability to relate to them in a way that was impossible before.
So now seller me has to take realtor me's advice, lower the price and cross my fingers.
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