Tonight is interview #1 with the first of three real estate agents about listing our house. I’m going to have to put on my thick skin, I’m afraid. I can already hear myself explaining why the third bedroom is so crowded you can’t open the door and why the backyard grass looks like it was cut with a pair of dull scissors and that, yes, I know the entire wall of family photos and the display case of cartoon figures will need to come down. But my house is such an extention of me (and S, to a certain degree. He’s more of the “do whatever you want as long as I don’t have to look at another paint chip” kind of guy) and I’m afraid I’ll take any suggestions personally even when I know better. Bleh.
I keep going around and around about having a buyer’s agent as well. Part of me is confident that S and I are intelligent enough to handle the finding and purchase of a home ourselves. The other part of me goes into a complete panic and wants someone to hold my hand. Bleh. I’d love to hear from others out there. Anyone been through the experience both with and without an agent representing them as the buyer?
It’s just so much damn work and with Big Secret Project (no, I haven’t forgotten and yes, I will share with you all very soon) going on, I’m starting to feel a little like I’m being pulled in too many directions. I’m a list maker but lately my lists are not helping. I even tried to get my control-freak self to let go of a few things and have S do them. He forgot or didn’t do them all the way. Yeah, that didn’t help. All that does is confirm that my control-freak self was right in the first place!
We were recommended the realtor who sold our old house from a collegue of my DH. He had just moved halfway across the country for work and this guy helped sell their house near us. He said he was professional and thorough and he was. A complete gem. If you were trying to sell a house in the small state of Delaware, I would highly recommend him.
If you’re not super familiar with buying a home, it might be worth it to have a buyer’s agent just for the peace of mind. We had one (who is also a friend of the family) and she was a GODSEND. She was excellent at judging what we would and would not like so we didn’t waste a lot of time. I remember insisting we go see a house I saw online that looked good…online, anyway…and she kept saying “I’ve seen it, it’s not what you want…” And then she took us and we didn’t even get out of the entryway before leaving. Also there was a lot of give and take with the seller’s allowances and she was there in the closing, so when we questioned something she could explain it in non-legal-mumbo jumbo so we’d understand.
And yeah, when you’re interviewing seller’s agents, you’re going to have to put on your thick skin. Because a GOOD agent will tell you flat out what needs to be removed/painted/hidden/cleaned. A BAD agent will want the listing too much to say anything you might not want to hear. And then you’ll wonder why your house isn’t selling. If they don’t tell you to immediately store away anything that personalizes the house, send ‘em away…it’s gotta look clean, spare, updated…like a model home. Hey, I watch a LOT of home shows!
The very first lesson I learned when we sold our house was that once you list it, it goes from being a home to being a “property”. Seriously, use those words when you talk about it, too, because that helps change your mindset. You can’t have ANY emotion tied to it whatsoever. Don’t let the house be shown when you’re around, either.
(Sorry this is so long!)
Don’t apologize! That’s good stuff.
I’m a little nervous now, after talking to the first agent. It sounds like we’re going to have a difficult time doing more than just covering the various closing costs and what’s left on our mortgage. I knew we wouldn’t make much profit on it, but I sort of hoping to be able to sell it for at least what we paid for it. We’ll see what potential agent #2 says tomorrow night.
I JUST went through this! I couldn’t help but be offended by all the potential agents’ suggestions. “repaint the front door”, “hang the pictures lower”, “pack up all your stuff and put it in the garage”. Not fun. However, we went with the toughest agent, did what she said, and ended up with two offers in the first week.
I’m also a big proponent of using a buyer’s agent. We’re looking at houses right now (the fifth home purchase for us in the last five years), and I figure why put yourself through unnecessary stress… let someone else worry about the details (and spend the gas money)!
Just pack everything personal up right away. Any good agent will tell you to do it and you might as well get the packing started. Think “Pottery Barn Catalog” when you assess what furniture to leave, not “Stuff I Like/Think is Comfortable” Time spent dressing the property can pay off in spades.
Like DD, I am a HGTV addict.
Big Secret Project.
Hmmmmmm….
It’s killing me!!!!!!