“Cherished Family Memories Reluctantly For Sale To Highest Bidder…
and we do mean high so don’t offend us with a lowball offer.”
I see this ad all the time; in community newspapers and magazines, print, online and in my email. I see it every time I pull up the day’s New Listings in MLS.
You’re kidding…no one would ever run such an ad, would they? Guess again; this is exactly what a seller is saying when s/he decides to ask their real estate agent to “just try it” and put an overpriced home on the market to see if anyone is willing to pay. (Never mind whether or not a lender is willing to lend money to a buyer to overpay for your home but that’s another discussion…)
We all think we are capable of being perfectly objective when it comes to selling our homes. “I know it’s just a house,’ we tell ourselves, “an investment, bricks and mortar, ‘a house’ not a home.” But the problem is that, for you, it is a home.
When you start to ‘de-clutter’ as your agent suggested, you find memories; in the closets, in the attic and under the beds. Memories in your families cherished collections, your children’s school art and your kitchen junk drawer. The pantry holds the ingredients for your loved ones favorite recipes and the walls hold family portraits and local artwork purchased on family vacations and outings.
You start to think about all the good times you’ve had in the kitchen during holidays, family evenings spent in the living room, putting the kids to bed in the bedrooms decorated to reflect their favorite things, the backyard parties with neighbors and friends and the satisfaction of completing a do it yourself project in the garage. You know how much a new family is going to enjoy doing those same things in your beloved home. Someone will appreciate how valuable it is, right? Then there’s the new flooring, the updated bathrooms, the new HVAC system and isn’t your lawn beautiful and well cared for? Surely the next owners will want to keep the custom made draperies that match the Pottery Barn paint in the Dining Room. You’ll leave them; for a price. The washer and dryer are only two years old; a great deal and you’ll throw those in; with the right offer.
Folks, you have long since passed the point of even being capable of objectivity. Loss of objectivity is the first step down the short road to unreasonable pricing. But can’t we just try it? Surely you, my faithful and capable real estate agent, can make them see how valuable all this stuff is? That is your job isn’t it?
My job, dear seller, is to help you understand the realities of the market and to offer up my years of experience to help you prepare your home to appeal to the largest segment of qualified buyers out there and this includes proper pricing. Then I will market it in such a way as to get those buyers through the door so they can see for themselves what a great home you are selling; maybe even get them to imagine all the great memories they can create there so that we can begin to strategically negotiate the selling price. Don’t think for one minute that your offering price is not part of the strategy or the appeal.
Your best buyer may not even get a chance to see your home if their agent tells them it is overpriced. Nobody has the time to be the guinea pig who teachs a seller that their pricing strategy is in need of some serious review. “Make us an offer”, you say, “we’ll be reasonable.” But the buyer has moved on. They are busy preparing an offer on your neighbors’ home. You see your neighbors finally decided that they really want to get on with it, no more trying; they’ve opted for doing. They just dropped their asking price by $20,000 and the buyers can’t wait to get started negotiating for their new home. They’ll be moved in before Christmas and already creating their own memories just about the time you call your agent to say “Let’s price it where you originally suggested…it’s time for us to move on.”
It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!
SarahGray Lamm is a licensed, full time, residential real estate professional in the Raleigh Durham area of North Carolina with over 60,000 hours of experience. She specializes in serving the real estate needs of home sellers, home buyers and investors in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham and Northern Chatham County and is proudly associated with Allen Tate Realtors, the Carolinas #1 independent realty company.
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SarahGray - I get so frustrated with the seller who wants to "try it". I kindly explain that it may cost them thousands of dollars to "try it" and why!!! Also, no matter what, the house has to appraise, and that might send the buyer right out into the arms of another seller---quick.
Great post. Required reading.
Love this post, SarahGray. Unfortunately, it is impossible to break through to these kinds of sellers. And then they always end up selling below the price they could have gotten if they had priced it correctly in the first place.
@Suzanne - I don't like it but I've come to realize that human nature sometimes precludes people from hearing the truth...they just want a chance to be the one lucky person on the planet who gets a cash buyer silly enough willing to pay any price for the home and who would never think of asking for an appraisal. Frankly, the odds are better if they play the lottery! Thanks!
@Jane - I hear you! When I lose a listing because I won't just "try it" I find that many months later they are still on the market and finally down to the price I suggested...only now they have damaged their negotiating power and will end up selling 10-15% lower than they would have when we first talked.
This is a wonderful look into the mindset of some unrealistic sellers!
Featured in the Group "Whacked!!!"
There are too many people out there that just want to test the waters and see how things go, be serious or be gone.
@ Richard - Thank you! There are many reasons why folks don't see reality. Just hoping to get through to a few before they shoot themselves in the foot!
@ JL - I agree but part of me always wants to look for the one thing I can say to get them to hear me so this is a shot across the bow! What I won't do....take the listing at a completely "whacked" price and be party to the downfall!
SarahGray This is a well written post on the struggles seller face, it is so hard for many to be objective; a mental block occurs and the voice of reason is never heard. I like the epoint you made that the buyer for the house might never see it.
SarahGray - Over priced homes in this present market will never garnish the attention they deserve. The competition is fierce and supply is way up. Sellers need to bear this in mind. This post needs to be handed to sellers at the listing appointment. Very well written.
Very strong supporting argument for how to handle sellers objections. I would also point out that in a "declining market" be prepared for price reductions. This will set you up for success in the future getting the reasonably priced home sold.
Hi SarahGray, this is a beautifully written and emotional description of what we encounter on a regular basis. We try and try to save each seller from making the same mistakes we've seen so many times before. But, unlike their realtors, each seller is experiencing this for the first time and usually learns only from his own experience, not the experiences of others that we relate to him in myriads of anecdotes! But we never stop trying, do we?
@Jennifer - they do struggle, terribly sometimes, with believing what makes perfect sense when we are sitting together and what they want to believe when they are alone. Until all agents choose to tell sellers the hard truth and not let them dream about the impossible just to get the listing....but I digress...
@Claude - Funny how buyers in our markets have quickly reordered their priorities to ensure they get the best opportunities they've seen in years yet sellers still hope to find the one buyer who hasn't heard that there is a big sale on real estate going on.
@Dan - Fortunately I am not in a declining market (assuming you mean the strict appraisal definition.) I understand what you mean but I'd rather share with them what I know to be true after 30 years of experience in this business in order to help them get their heads around some very difficult information. I understand why they feel the way they do yet I promise that if they will follow my thoughtfully considered and well chosen advice it will lead to a successful outcome for them. It will always be their decision...nobody likes to be 'handled'.
@Lynn - So true! We never stop trying! The state of our country these days has dealt a big blow to the trust folks feel for anyone they perceive as benefiting from their position. If that position feels diminished in any way it is that much harder. We have to work extra hard to earn trust from folks who have very little reason to believe they matter to us.
SarahGray Walking away from the listing is the best approach - your time is better spent on other endeavors Karen
SarahGray - It takes some sellers a bit of time to separate the emotion from the sale. No matter how ready a family is too sell , they have to get past the emotional clutter before they can DECLUTTER the house. It is a learning curve like everything else in our business.
I try to dig into closets, drawers, and cabinets at least twice a year to find my memories that I don't need anymore and donate them to various charities. That way I never have to upsize because I have too many memories. LOL