5 Tips for a Stress-Free Home Sale

Selling your home can be an extremely stressful process. Although many articles talk about the things you can do to physically prepare for your home sale, there aren’t many that give pointers on how to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally. In my opinion, those are just as important (or maybe more so) than the steps you will take to physically prepare your house for listing.
If your head and heart aren’t in the right place, your home sale will be stressful even if you get a full price offer on the first day. So, here are five easy tips to help you have a stress-free home sale by mentally and emotionally preparing for your home sale.

Let Go of Emotional Ties to Your House

Letting go of emotional ties to your house is incredibly difficult because homes accumulate sentiment through the years. In fact, the reason this is listed first is because it can be so challenging that

you may need to work on this throughout the entire sale process.
If you have things like your kids’ growth charts on the walls, take pictures and note the exact measurements so that you can replicate this in your new house. Then, once you have all the information you need, paint over it. I know, this sounds heartless, but the sooner you can plan to get rid of that sentimental object, the sooner you can start detaching yourself from your home.
Go around your house and look for other similar situations. When you find yourself feeling sentimental about some aspect of your home, make plans for how you will recreate that in your new home.

Don’t Take It Personally

Your home is probably going to have issues that your realtor will suggest fixing before you list it. Don’t take it personally. Your realtor’s job is to know the market and what people are looking for. Then, they do their best to make suggestions to you so that your home can sell as quickly as possible for the most money.
So, when they suggest you paint your living room a more neutral color, just do it. No one is criticizing your love of red, they’re just trying to make your house appealing to a maximal number of people.
Likewise, if you receive an offer on your house and the offer contains suggestions for improvements, don’t take it personally. This is a business transaction, after all. It’s okay for people to ask for things, just as it’s okay for you to tell them no.

Do Your Math Early

Before you even list your house, take a look at the numbers. Ask yourself these important number-related questions:

• How much do I owe on my house right now?
• Am I going to have to spend any money to get my house ready to go on the market?
• How much does my new house cost, and how much do I have to put down? (If applicable)
• Am I selling my house in order to get money to pay off other bills?

By being aware of how much money you owe or are about to spend to get your house ready to list, you can get a good idea of how much money you need to earn from the sale of your house. Then, keep track of how much additional money you will need. If you want to pay the downpayment for your new house from the sale of this one, keep track of that amount. If any bills need to be paid off, keep track of that amount, too.
Let’s create an example. You owe $50,000 on your house, and you plan on spending $3,000 to get it ready to list. You’ve got a $5,000 outstanding credit card balance to pay off and a $15,000 downpayment on your new home. That’s a total of $73,000.
That amount right there is your bottom dollar. Even if your house appraises for higher, you know that $73,000 is the bottom amount. Once you know the bottom amount, you know that everything above it will work out for you.

Remember Your End Goal of Selling Your House

Selling your house was your idea. You were the one who decided that that was what you wanted to do. As you get offers during this process, keep your end goal in mind. Remind yourself that your main goal is to sell your house.
By adopting this practice, you will take some of the sting out of any low-ball offers. If these offers come in (and they probably will), look back at your numbers then ask yourself these questions:

1. Will this result in a number that is greater than or equal to my bottom amount?
2. Are there any additional reasons that make selling my house right now beneficial?
3. What does my realtor suggest?

Listen to your Realtor

You hired a professional to help you. In fact, you probably took your time and found the person who you think is the best realtor to work with you. Although everything is ultimately your decision, not listening to your realtor is sort of like not listening to your doctor. Both are professionals in their respective fields so to ignore advice from either is a gamble.

If you’re in the St. Joseph or North Kansas City area and are thinking of listing your home, contact Ramseier Realty Group through our website or give us a call at 816.262.8077.
Guest content provided by Sarah Stockett, Custom Pilates and Yoga.