Making good decisions is the surest way to achieve the best outcome possible when selling your home. But first, you need to know what those issues are. And second, it takes discipline – which isn’t always easy - to make good decisions.

Tough Love examines five factors that require, or lead to, making good decisions.

1. The selling mindset
2. Creating a Team
   
3. Preparing your Home
   
4. Pricing to Sell
   
5. Broker commissions

1) The selling mindset

The right mindset can make a big difference in how your selling experience plays out.

This is about consciously setting aside your personal feelings about your home, your preconceived notions about it’s worth, etc., that can interfere with objective decision-making and sabotage your intended outcome.

It's important to  adopt a neutral, business-like mindset that accepts that, on the one-hand, you will have no control over market dynamics and, on the other,  you will be in full control  of the  decisions that will affect the success of your outcome.

Finally, place your trust in the experience and guidance of the local real estate professionals who will assist you.

2) Creating a team

The first, and most important, decision you will make about selling your home is the support team of real estate professionals you put in place to guide you, advise you about important decisions, and protect your interests.

Real estate transactions are like heat-seeking missiles in their uncanny ability to target a weakness in the competence of a sellers’ agent/attorney support team.

That’s why working with the very best real estate professionals is like taking out an insurance policy on getting the best price for your home in the least amount of time (and with as little stress as possible).

Unfortunately, people flunk this decision-making test more than any other. And if you’re not working with the best, your decision-making can suffer because that’s why you hire an agent/attorney team in the first place. 

So take a business-like approach to the business to choosing who you work with or you’re asking trouble in today’s unforgiving market place. Resist the urge to cut corners and simply hire a friend, family member, or someone you’ve been referred to without comparing their capabilities against others you can find with a little time and effort. 

One way to get a leg up on the process is a free referral to a top local agent who meets Tough Love's rigorous standards of service.

Your real estate agent is your primary contact, advisor, and service provider in the sale of your home. Find your agent first on the premise that “birds of feather flock together” because top agents can almost always be found working with the best attorneys and mortgage brokers.

Without trust all other considerations are irrelevant. By virtue of their licensing and mandatory adherence to a code of ethics, realtors have fiduciary responsibilities protect confidential client information and to act in their clients' best interests.

Ask your realtor candidates to discuss their ethical responsibilities to you. And make it clear their adherence to this code is important to you.

Good questions for agent/broker candidates include:

•    Is real estate a full-time or part profession for them?

•    Does he/she work mostly with buyers or sellers?

•    How many years of experience do they have and how many transactions have they handled.

•    What are current local market conditions? And how much competition is there from other homes like yours.

•    Find out what a typical marketing plan includes in terms of exposure for your home in print and on the internet. Ask for specifics about where your listing will be found online.

•    How much awareness will be created in the local real estate community about your property?

•    Ask for copies of current or recent listings posted on the Consolidated Multiple Listing System to be forwarded to you by email. Then  read the property descriptions to assess effective writing. Check for typos or spelling errors. Look at property photos to see if they are clear and in sharp focus. Attention to detail, or lack of, can provide insight into quality of service.

•    Pay attention to your candidate’s listening skills, and how well they communicate with you.

•    Find out what they feel is their most important duty to you and their philosophy of service. This will help you decide if value systems correspond with your own.  back to top

3) Today’s “buyer market” rewards homes that make great first impressions from the curb on in to the home’s interior.

It’s not uncommon for agents to arrive with their buyers to view a home, only to decide not to go inside based on a tired, uncared for view upon arrival.

Whether or not your home simply requires a thorough cleaning and fresh coat of paint, or some physical updating, is best determined by your realtor, who cam advise you on where to invest money to enhance your homes’ selling appeal – and where not to.
What buyers want

Buyers in today’s market are resistant to purchasing homes that need more than just some cosmetic freshening up. The homes that draw the greatest interest are those that are neat, clean, and reasonably well up-dated.

Finding and fixing any problems that could become issues when buyers do their own building inspections is money well spent in today’s market.

It eliminates surprises for both sellers and buyers and heads off any potentially contentious issues that can arise during the due diligence stage that precedes the signing of contracts by the parties.

Make copies of your building inspection available to potential buyers to provide them with peace of mind about your home’s condition.  back to top

4) Price to sell right away.

You have only one opportunity to make a great first impression with local real estate agents and their buyers.

The attention your home receives during its’ first two weeks on the market happens just once. It’s your golden opportunity to impress local real estate agents who represent buyers looking for a home like yours.

When agents see a home priced to sell, they immediately alert their buyer clients and arrange to show the home. So the best time to create competition for your home (even in a buyers” market), and sell closest to your asking price, is during those golden first two weeks.

A home that is not being shown enough, or is receiving showings but no offers, is the market’ way of telling you your price is too high.

That’s why “listening” to the market is the surest way of knowing when to reduce price. Not listening results in extended months on the market, a lot more stress and anxiety for the seller, and lost time and money.   back to top

5) When it comes to commissions, pay for value.

Commissions paid by sellers to real estate brokers suffer from “perception versus reality” syndrome. The typical seller understands two things: that commissions are paid to market the home and, second, negotiating a lower commission is a sure-fire way to save money and increase the net proceeds of a sale. Now let’s address the reality.

First, all commissions are negotiable. So, at the end of the day, if you feel you can receive the same level of service from one broker for less than the same level of service from another, then by all means take advantage of the savings.

Some consumers get so fixated on getting reduced commissions that they wind up falling prey to far more costly mistakes.

There are some agent/brokers who will try to “buy” your listing by discounting their commission without providing a full accounting of how much service will be provided – especially when it comes to the critically important are of internet marketing. Seller’s who fall for this tactic are disadvantaged in a difficult sellers market.

Top-tier realtors, whose value of service exceeds that of their peers, rarely - if ever - discount their fees. They know that their expertise in pricing, problem solving, and marketing are worth far more than any discounted savings.

Finally, you might want to consider whether someone who discounts the value of their services is someone who you’d want trying to negotiate your highest and best selling price.  back to top