Expert Advice: How To Stay Sane When Selling Your Home

FastExpert partner and Virginia real estate agent, Christy Crouch, shares her advice on how to stay sane when selling your home. With decades of experience, Christy has seen it all and will give you the principles you need to manage your home sale.

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Selling a home can undoubtedly be a stressful and overwhelming experience. Since 1991, I have primarily worked with sellers, and I’ve led clients through almost every scenario that can possibly arise. Let me share my decades of knowledge with you on how to stay sane when selling your home.

Choose The Right Agent

The most essential aspect of selling your home is choosing the right agent.

Choose an agent who has experience in listing, marketing, advertising, servicing, and helping sellers.  Many agents focus mostly on working with buyers, which is a completely different service than helping a seller. Proper marketing is needed to get their home sold and ultimately closed. For a smooth sale, an agent must be a skilled seller. 

Make a list of questions and concerns you have about selling, and get those answered before you hire an agent. It’s important to interview multiple agents so that you have confidence that your agent is the best fit for you.

Set Realistic Expectations

Every seller will have hopes regarding the sale of the home. However, it’s essential to set realistic expectations regarding how much interest you’ll have on the home, how quickly it will sell, and what price you’ll receive.

Unmet expectations will lead to disappointment and frustration for the seller. It’s essential to communicate with your real estate agent throughout the process and be open to their expertise in selling.

Your agent can share with you the best forecasts regarding your home sale, such as the average days on market in your area and comparable home prices.

Make The Best First Impression

Your home’s first day on the market is like a first date. Impressions are made and aren’t easily changed.

When entering the housing market, you want your house to make the very best first impression possible. 

Take a little time to walk around your home from the outside, just as buyers will do when they view a home.  Make notes of anything you see that could deter a buyer.  While it can be difficult to see your home through another’s eyes, try to not overlook the weeds creeping in your garden or the broken fence that you’ve simply gotten accustomed to.

If you can afford to take care of the items, it’s best to do it upfront.  Once a home is under contract, any repairs that are made as a result of inspections or appraisals will need to be done by licensed contractors. 

Many repairs can be made by homeowners for much less money and much less headache.  In order to make the repairs yourself, you will need to do so before you’re under contract with a buyer. 

To simplify, if you know of anything unsafe, not structurally sound, or leaking, it’s best to have these items taken care of ahead of time. In addition, it’s critical to remove any hazardous materials like mold, lead-based paint, asbestos, etc. 

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Make It Easy To Show

Stage the home to show as best you can by thoroughly cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. Freshen up paint, flooring, decks, walkways, and mulch. Remove screens from your front windows to give a bright, crisp curb appeal.  Always have dishes, laundry, toys, and personal belongings put away before showings.

It’s best to be flexible with showings and make it as easy as possible for buyers to see your home. When the home is shown, it’s essential for sellers to leave. This allows the buyer to look at the home comfortably. Buyers tend to feel rushed and uncomfortable when sellers are there during their viewing.

Ask your agent for feedback from each showing so you know exactly what the buyers think of your home. Furthermore, find out the buyer’s Realtor’s opinion about how the home shows and the price you’ve set. Then you’ll know exactly how the market is responding to your home.

Remain Competitively Priced

We advise our sellers to consider adjusting the price every 30 days until the home is sold.  The worst thing you can do as a seller is to have your home sit on the market month after month at a price that isn’t causing the home to sell.  It’s essential to price your home correctly from the start and be open to modification.

The longer a home sits, the harder it becomes to sell.  There are three major factors that sell a home; price, condition, and location.

Direct Questions and Concerns To Your Agent

Rather than talking with friends, family or searching online about questions or frustrations you may experience along the way it’s best to communicate with your agent directly. 

Just like our doctors tell us to stay offline and avoid self-diagnosing, Realtors advise the same.  Get first-hand information from your Realtor so they can best represent and take care of you.  If your agent doesn’t know your questions or frustrations, they can’t help.

In addition, it’s best to avoid talking to other agents or buyers directly.

Remember, the other Realtor represents the buyer, which means they’re looking to get their buyer the best deal possible on your home.

Talking to the agent or the buyer directly could jeopardize your negotiating leverage.  If they ask you questions directly, the best response is to direct them to your Realtor. Your agent is your representative and is working on your behalf to ensure a smooth and successful sale.

Prepare For The Closing Process

Once you’re under contract be prepared for the closing process. It can be a bit arduous at times. 

In my office, we have a full-time closing manager. Her checklist of things that must be done to get successfully from contract to closing is two pages long.  Ask how your agent handles the closing process and who you’ll be working with before listing. Make sure they have a solid system in place so that the closing process is properly managed.  

Make any moving plans you have contingent upon the closing of your home so that if anything gets delayed or falls through, you’re not obligated to the next home you buy or rent.  

Remember, the closing date is subject to change, even with a successful sale.  Keep this in mind when coordinating movers, renting trucks, PODS, etc.

While it can be a lot to coordinate, you can stay sane when selling your home.

Smile, breathe, and trust the agent you choose to do their job.