The moment that you announce to family members and friends that you’re thinking of selling your house, you suddenly realize that, for years, you’ve unknowingly been living among dozens of real estate experts. You’ll begin to have conversations with experts in pricing and negotiating and staging. Many of them will tell you that the agent that you interviewed and hired doesn’t know what he or she is doing. They’ll tell you that your house is underpriced. Others will tell you that your house is so wonderful that it will sell immediately. If it doesn’t sell, it’s because your broker doesn’t know what they’re doing. Admittedly, some of this may be true. However, it can become confusing to have so many advisors sharing their opinion. My best advice is to bring any concerns that you’ve heard back to your agent. Have a frank and honest conversation to determine whether there are some truthful nuggets in the avalanche of information that you’ve suddenly been subjected to.
There is a cautionary adjunct to this phenomenon. Agents will often here their clients say:
- “Everyone loves my house.”
- “Everybody tells me that my house is going to sell immediately.”
- “Nobody’s ever told me that it smells like cigarette smoke in here.”
- “Nobody’s ever complained about pet odor.”
- “Everyone loves my wallpaper.”
Well, of course family members and friends are going to say these things. It’s not their job to tell you the unvarnished truth about your house. That’s why you’ve hired an outside expert to level with you in regard to some things that you might not otherwise hear. Take their concerns seriously and remember, what they’re telling you is oftentimes difficult to convey. Unless they have some misanthropic or nefarious intent, which is highly unlikely, there’s probably a good deal of truth to what they’re saying. Afterall, our sole intent is to sell your home quickly and for top dollar!