Remember, It’s not YOUR home! the first rule of selling a luxury home…
From the Luxury Home Marketplace team…
“It’s not my home! Them are mighty strong words partner, are ya sure ya don’t wanna take em back? I gotta lotta my heart in this here spread!”
That might be the first reaction many clients have to some very sound advice from top agents trying sell their luxury home. They’re not “fighting words” they’re simply the best mind set for a luxury home seller to assume if you want to maximize your return on your investment.
We can’t tell you how many times that we have heard these kind of remarks:
“It just looks lived in”
“we like it this way”
“Our dogs and cats are members of our family”
“Nana’s 1970’s recliner is our favorite spot to watch our 70 inch TV in the middle of our Living room. We all fight over it”
“We’ve lived here so long we don’t notice the cat smell, does it really matter? It’s not that bad…”
“Well the buyers will just have to understand we live here and have kids”
“Of course we have our exercise machines in the foyer, they were big. Why take them upstairs, we can work out just before we leave for work. It makes perfect sense.”
“We are so proud of our horse barn. Make sure it is prominently featured in your marketing”
“Oh you know, kids will be kids, we’re sure the satanic paintings on the walls are just a phase he is going through. He’s so funny everybody loves him.”
“The nude portrait of my wife is one of my favorites, isn’t she beautiful”
“Yes it smells like sweat, it’s an exercise room, that’s realism? Pro football players will love it”
”But my kids made those when they were three.”
“Don’t let anyone go in those rooms they are such a mess.”
By the way, these are descriptions of real incidents encountered over just the past 2 years. We could go on but you get the point. None of these seller mind sets and excuses will help a home to appeal to the broadest market. Broader market appeal, more buyer competition, higher price, faster sale! Not real hard to figure out. “Not being your home” is closer to staging than decorating. Unlike decorating, staging your home isn’t about personal style it’s about creating ambiance and appeal for buyers. It’s about letting the spirit of the home shine through in the minds of buyers where they can easily overlay their personal style and see it fit in.
Sellers should assume a partnership with an agent to help prepare their home for market and, here is the news flash “it’s not an equal partnership.” You as a seller have the most to gain or lose and you must contribute reasonable efforts toward the success of this partnership.
It may seem kind of odd to think “It’s not your home!” but that is the best mind set to assume. Think about it in this way, buyers don’t want to live with you any more than you would want to live with them. The sooner “Your home” becomes that virtual reality canvas where buyers can envision it as “Their home!” the faster it will sell and the higher price you will get. You should take the first step toward making it “Their home.”
From the moment a potential buyer drives up the road and sees your property, you want it to be “Their home.” It can no longer be “YOUR Home.” Not even the best agent can sell a property that a buyer does not want, and trust us on this, no buyers want to live with you.
There is a wealth of advice available on how to make your property more appealing to the broadest market. We’ll cover some of that later. For now remember “It’s not your home!” Listen to the advice of respected and successful agents. You succeed when your house becomes their house.”
In the mean time, Live in Luxury!
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