In todays market it is both taking longer to sell your home and harder for buyers finance to be approved. This coupled with what seems prices dropping slightly every month is making for a very interesting and tough market to work and sell in. But there is always ways of making the selling process easier and quicker. The fact is that buyers who are in the market are looking for a good buy – or what they perceive to be a good buy. And usually this is associated with the price that you put on the property compared to the location and condition it’s in. And there is one thing that I have come across time and time again is the emotional attachment a seller has to their home when trying to negotiate a contract.
It is very difficult to separate the emotional attachment you have for your home from the financial investment. If you’ve lives in that home you will have spent a lot of your life in that building and there will be many memories that you treasure there. However, when you make the decision to sell, do your best to balance your emotions with this extremely important financial decision. Your property is one of, if not your largest, financial asset. Treat it as such. Help your agent market your property. Remember, this house is a product you must sell, much like a commodity on a financial market.
If you’re a seller you need to come to grips with the market if you are seriously needing to sell. Listen to all the advice and set your price and be firm on it, but also be flexible to understand where the market is telling you where your property is sitting. The hardest thing to work on is when a buyer comes with an offer for your property. The agent rings you up and says I have an offer, you go in to their office and sit down with the offer and present it to you. This moment can be one of the hardest, especially in this market.
What you as the seller are likely to face is a lower offer than your listed price and lower than the 
price you were willing to negotiate to, and sometimes by a lot. This is when it can become emotional and those emotions can get in the way of true negotiating. At this point it is fair to say you need to take a big breath and remember why you were on the market in the first place. And ask yourself is this enough money for me to move on with my life and if not how much more do I need. But you also need to be thinking where is the market telling us the property is at and how much away is this offer. From here you may want to discuss the offer with your agent and work out a plan of attack, whether this is accepting or countering with a counter offer. At the end of the day we can only hope to achieve a fair market price on the day.
It is disheartening when a seller has to settle for less than they expected but if that seller can use what they achieved to move on there is still a great sense of satisfaction for me.
Whatever it is when you put your home on the market you need to separate your emotional attachment to your property away from the monetary investment. This way you will see a bit more clearly what the market is doing and where the offer is in relation to this and you will be better able to take into account the advice your agent gives you.
The article makes sense – however – separating emotional attachment to a residence can be more challenging that one would think. I purchased my dream home two years ago and just placed it on the market. I purchased it after a long-term separation/divorce and it represents more to me than just a place to live. I am getting re-married which is a positive occurance in my life – as happy as I am about that – I am still sad to sell my house. I don’t like people I don’t know coming through and opening up closets, drawers, etc. It somewhat makes me feel like I’ve been violated even though I clearly understand this is part of the process. I have never sold a house before so this is all new to me and there are several emotions attached to this whole issue. I am working through them the best I can and trying to figure out ways to see it as an investment opportunity for our future – it is a work in progress for sure. I don’t want to beat myself up over it – but try to embrace it and learn from it – like the saying goes – easier said than done! Wish me luck!
Thanks for your comment. All the best for selling your house. Please reply here again when you achieve a result and let us know how you have tackled the challenges you are facing with the sale. Am very interested to know.
Regards
Deon