Selling your house can be a “SEE” (significant emotional event). It is a huge change in your life style and it is a combination of emotional and financial factors.
Everybody wants to get a high valuation of their home from the real estate agent. Happiness is to hear valuations that are in line with your expectations.
Second, you want your house to sell as soon as it goes on the market. You want people to praise the improvements you’ve made and offer full price. Yeah, right!
Maybe someone will make an offer before you have to do the dredded “open house”. Even if you have to do the open house, there will be an abundance of interested buyers.
If and when you get an offer, the people who purchase your house will be very accommodating on when you have to move out. They will work around your schedule. Again, yeah, right!
In the meantime, the mortgage payments go on, taxes accrue and you keep paying for the insurance and ultility coverage.
Now after all that, you are either looking to move to a better home or perhaps move to another city. Excitement reigns supreme. Maybe you just got married or accepted a new job and are moving to a new city.
Then reality sets in. Your house doesn’t get appraised as high as you hoped. That means that financially it is going to be more difficult than you thought. Then the realtor insists on some changes to “dress up the place”. More expense! Then you have an open house and no one shows up. Awe shit! Then the new house you made an offer on has a new buyer without the contingincy of selling their house involved. So you lose the new house of your dreams.
Suddenly everything seems out of control and that there will never be a solution. Interest rates seem to be going in the wrong direction. Houses are statistically taking longer to sell. Mix in the emotion of changing to a new job and add the stress of your kids being upset about the move.
This Grasshoppers is a S.E.E. It is a significant emotional event. Patience wears thin. Tempers flare. You get tired. You just want it to be over.
All I can say is “keep your cool”. Millions of people sell their house every year. Your house will sell. This is a statistical game. The right buyer for your house will come along. You will find the new place of your dreams. Your kids will adjust beautifully and everybody will live happily ever after. I would be amazed if selling your house was easy.
If it is any consolation, I hate the process of selling a home too. It is a big stakes game. Your only do it several times during your lifetime. It sucks!
Love,
Dad