Tomaro Real Buying-Selling Advice full

Bloomington Real Estate

Selling a home can be a frustrating experience. There is a lot of uncertainty and there is a HUGE factor that you can’t control – the buyer side of things. You can’t force people to look at your home.

Step 1: Take a Deep Breath

You can’t force people to value your home in the same way you do. You can’t force your neighbors to not sell their home so you don’t have competition. You can’t force banks to make the lending process more logical so more people can get loans and buy homes.
You see where I am going. This uncertainty and inability to control things breeds frustration.

Let’s Dance!

Bloomington Real Estate - Home for Sale

Selling a house is not about making a check list, working your way through the list and then BOOM! House is sold. It’s not that kind of project. You do the best you can and then you wait. And make adjustments. And sometimes wait some more. And sometimes make some more adjustments. It’s a dance, it’s an art. And it is a pain. Sometimes.

So now are you excited to be thinking about selling your own home? Or are you ready to hide under the covers in a dark room and avoid the whole thing? Don’t worry! There are things you can do to ease the process. And it’s all about being REAL.

It’s On the Internet, It’s REAL

Make your decisions based on the reality of your local market. In most cases, your market is not nearly as bad as what the national media makes it out to be! Don’t get freaked out by what you see on HGTV or what you read on CNN.com about real estate. Doesn’t matter what is happening 50 miles up the road or 500 miles up the road. What is REAL is what is local. A Realtor is the best source of REAL information about your local market.

What’s your Destination?

Put some thought into what your REAL goals are, where are you trying to go with the house sale? We all know you want to sell your house. But beyond that…. Frustrated clients are ones who don’t have a clear vision of the goals of this decision to sell. Or are ones whose goals change, but their plan hasn’t changed. Take some time, write it out, talk it out. Have a plan A and a plan B. Sometimes I even recommend a plan C. The sellers who come out the most successful are the ones who have goals, plans and flexibility. (I can help you with that!)

Pick me, Pick me! (Choosing a Realtor)

Ask friends and family for Realtor referrals, but make your own final decision because it’s yours to bear. Picking a Realtor because she is your mom’s friend or he is your dad’s neighbor and you feel obligated, in my opinion, is not reason enough. Pick a Realtor because he or she is the best fit out there for you. Pick a Realtor because you’ve spent time with that person, you believe that person listens to you, respects your needs, understands the market and has your best interests in mind. Not because your cousin has a real estate license and has sold 3 houses in the past 5 years. This is REAL responsibility, REAL money, REAL decisions.

Cheerios
capncrunch

Cheerios or Cap’n Crunch?

One of the hardest things about selling your home is that in order to best market it, your home ceases to be your home (even though you may still be living there). Your home is now a product. And in order to market that product, you must be objective and REAL about the home’s condition. Think of it like a box of cereal on a supermarket’s shelf. As your Realtor, I am going to make sure that your box of cereal is on that prime eye level shelf, so no one has to bend over to see it or stretch to reach it. However, if the box of cereal next to it is more appealing, by its packaging, its price, its flavor, or its free toy inside, getting someone to grab your box of cereal is going to be a challenge. Work together with your Realtor to make sure your box of cereal, I mean, your home, is the most appealing choice on the shelf.

An Invitation…

If you are considering selling your home in the future, I invite you to contact me via phone, text or email and set up a free, no obligation consultation. We can talk about the local market, your family’s goals, the condition of your home, what to do to prepare and what to expect. Let me help you define some REAL direction on how to achieve those goals. And then we can just see where the REAL road takes us…

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