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Fairytale Murals and Magical Memories✨-TBG Update 8/20

Fairytale Murals and Magical Memories✨-TBG Update 8/20

We sold a property this week that was inherited by 5 siblings when their parents passed away.  The owners were emotional about the sale and it was hard for them to part with their childhood home from so many years ago.  At our office meeting this week, our team was reminiscing about the journey.  We spoke to the owners for about a month about the process and the details before we were hired.  And then it was an 11 month journey until the property was sold.  At the end of our full year of working together, everyone enjoyed working with each other and we’ll all miss talking.  I never met the owners in person because they live in another state.  But I feel close because we were connected for such a long time. I’m excited that the property is sold.  And I’ll also miss interacting with these sellers all the time.

Selling real estate for 15 years, the conversations at the close of escrow are always the same.  It’s always some version of everyone facing that we won’t be talking all the time any more because we connected over the sale and now the sale is done.  I find that almost every buyer and every seller gets emotional about their real estate purchase or sale.  I find that most people struggle through emotions that they need to push through in order to get a real estate deal done.  People have their own timelines and some are faster and some are slower to work through their stuff, but most people find the process emotion laden and for most it’s a journey to push through to get to sold. When the sale is done, at our end there’s satisfaction in reaching the finish line and also a sense of wishing to maintain the connection.

Lately I’ve been finding that sellers have very specific hopes and dreams for their sale and very specific expectations for their buyers.  Sellers seem to wish they could write a script and have the story of their sale play out exactly the way they envision it.  One seller wishes only for a buyer who will pay all cash (and they’re in escrow with an all-cash buyer woohoo).  Across the board all sellers wish buyers wouldn’t inspect or find necessary repairs in their home because the sellers find their homes just right and not in need of repairs.   One seller wishes a buyer would fall in love with the fairytale mural on her childhood bedroom wall and have the same warm fuzzy feelings the seller did so many years ago as a little kid.  Another seller wants the buyer to understand and accommodate the sensitive needs of her tenant.  Across the board, sellers wish buyers would understand and work with their attachments, emotions, and overall genuine love for their homes.

Buyers don’t key into the sellers and their emotions.  Buyers look for a home that meets their own needs.  Even if sellers chose to defer maintenance while they owned their home, a buyer will assess what it will likely cost them once those repairs can’t be deferred any longer.  Just because it worked for the seller to live in a home with necessary deferred repairs doesn’t mean a buyer necessarily chooses to do the same, even if the need to repair isn’t absolutely imminent.  A fairytale mural from more than 10 years ago is likely not going to appeal to a buyer, no matter how genuinely magical the memories for the seller.  A buyer’s perspective is new and neutral and their lens is their own needs and not the feelings of the seller.

We opened escrow this week on a home, representing the seller, and the seller was extremely attached and emotional.  Everything about the sale and the deal felt right but the seller was afraid of that final signature to commit.  It’s always hard for everyone to commit to sell their house!  I knew intuitively that the deal was just right but the seller was genuinely afraid.  So I went on the MLS and I looked for every detail of every property that sold that was a comp for the house. I found eleven sold comps in the last year, and I made a chart to organize the eleven properties by address, square footage of the house, square footage of the lot, condition, and other key details.  Looking at all the data, it was overwhelmingly obvious what a good deal it was for the seller. And then the fear went away.  It was so cool to see the transformation in the seller from scared to jubilant and overjoyed.  The feelings are real even if the deal is good and it’s that way every time!

My daughter told me yesterday about a fabulous grilled chicken recipe she made this week for a friend who had a baby.  I didn’t get a chance to make it yet, but I plan to get to it.  I’m sharing so everyone can try too!

Wishing everyone an awesome weekend!

Xoxoxo,
Sheri

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