If you are planning to sell your home in the near future, wouldn’t you love to know the secret to make the sale a success? To call something, even a real estate sale, “ideal” is to imply that the thing is near perfect, or having a standard of excellence or perfection. As nearly any seller or real estate professional could tell you—nothing is ever perfect when it comes to selling a home. While total perfection is difficult, or even impossible to achieve, there are some principles for ensuring that when it comes time to sell your home, you can aim for an ideal experience. Below are the Four Rs!
Relationship
The first principle to recognize is that all parties involved have specific roles. As the seller, it is your job to communicate your expectations and your situation openly and honestly. By disclosing your pertinent financial information, all relevant details about the home, and your timeline for selling and closing you are arming your real estate professional with everything they need to ensure a smooth process. From your real estate professional, you should expect good communication, efficient marketing, and overall professionalism. When everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction there are fewer waves, less capsizing, and smooth waters! Building and maintaining an open relationship between the seller and real estate professional is key.
Responsibility
The second principle to keep in mind is that the home itself has a job to do. What kind of first impression will your home make? Take for example the curb appeal, the kitchen, the bathrooms, and the closets? If these areas make or break a sale, how does your household up? What about clutter? Cleanliness? Empty space? Storage? Have you depersonalized the home and rid it of personal effects and proof that pets may live inside? Whether potential buyers are viewing your home online or in person, details matter. Even in a seller’s market where many homes are selling sight unseen and above the asking price, it’s best to make sure your house puts its best face forward.
Rightness
The third principle in ensuring an ideal selling experience is managing the “rightness” of several aspects of the sale: the house needs to be priced right, getting your house listed on the MLS needs to be timed right, you need to choose the right agent, and your agent needs to utilize the right tools for marketing the home. Afterall, pricing matters; timing matters; agent expertise matters; and effective marketing matters. When each of these components align, both seller and the real estate professional are happy!
Results
Finally, the last principle involves results. When a seller (and realtor!) begins this process with the end in mind, the goal for all parties involved is a quick sale. With that closed sale as the target, each party must consider the role he/she will play in working toward success. By recognizing the importance of the relationship between a seller and the real estate professional, the responsibility of the house itself, and the rightness of timing, pricing, agent choice, and marketing–the desired outcome is almost guaranteed! While perfection isn’t the expectation, a selling experience that includes a happy seller, a happy real estate professional, and a happy new homeowner sounds pretty ideal!