Home buying is an emotional experience. Those feelings can often run the gamut and can get intense. In an ideal world, those feelings would focus on deep love, and happy anticipation. Unfortunately, in place of those jolly thoughts buyers sometimes hang a hard turn into anxiety and hard cold fear.
In the game of real estate, as a seller, you are stuck with the hand you are dealt. Your home “is what it is”. But it may be possible to take out some of the low cards, to make for a nicer game.
In these parts, some of the scary cards for buyers are: Septic systems, mold and moisture, radon gas, asbestos, termites, high tension power lines, even chimneys. Especially for families with young children, any issue that has health implications is particularly fraught with fear.
So what is a seller to do? As much as it is within your control, you may attempt to ameliorate the power of any of those fear factors. When possible, it is often wise to invest in testing and if at all possible, treatment. If the results of testing and treatment are available to the buyers, that may quell the fear.
If possible, it is wise to assemble reassuring info about the issue at hand. Hard copies of pamphlets, as well as websites should be made available.
As a seller, you might be inclined to think: That sounds like a lot of work! Oh yes, it is work, and expensive work at that. Some of these suggestions are of course predicated upon the availability of the resources of funds and time.
So why not just let the chips fall where they may, and address any issue as it may present itself? There are several reasons to take a pro-active stance on this. First, the documents show that you are as seller are conscientious, and that you have the resources to care for the home. Buyers are quick to pick up on signs that you as the seller are or are not deferring maintenance. Reassurance of good care can only stimulate buyers’ interest in your home.
If you wait until a buyer conducts his own inspection, you run the serious risk of an unpleasant surprise. Then fear may overwhelm the buyer, and they may bolt, never to return. In the context of a significant transaction, taking some of these things off the table is really like buying insurance that may keep your deal moving forward. Fewer landmines to step in mean a greater chance of trotting smoothly to the finish line.
My former broker is a good guy, very successful. His pholosophy was never to be available the day a new customer called. Even if his schedule was free, he made a point of scheduling a first meeting a couple of days out. The message - "My time is valuable, and I am busy, and I will fit you in."
I have a much different take on the situation. I will clear my schedule at a moment's notice for someone that comes with a time-sensitve need. And, by the way, almost all real estate needs are time sensitive. By that I mean: Since all real estate is by definition unique, the opportunity for that one buyer to connect with one particular property cannot be recreated if it is lost. So if we jet out that day to see homes, we might have success that may not be possible the next day. Even in a sluggish market, properties sell. Opportunities knock. Doors open, doors close.
And by the way, that resposiveness give the client and I the opportunity to begin a bonafide relationship. I would like to hope that by dint of positve energy, I have become more than one of a string of anonymous email inquiries or voicemail messages.
So I believe that picking up the phone at 6:30 AM or 11:30 PM is a good thing. New Years Day, no problem, if you want to see some homes. Someone called at 4 AM yesterday for a rental. Now that was a bit much, but I took the call.
In this age when folks are used to instant gratification, I will do my best to hop to the finger snap. Truth be told, these days I am quite grateful for the finger snaps to hop to! So call me if you need me. Anytime!
In real estate, the stakes are so very high. It is, as they say, the biggest investment of your life. And in some ways your new home will redefine your life. You choose a home hoping to make it your own! You plan to do what you want to do to it. You plan to live in it as you want to live.
The listing agent or seller wants to make a sale. So when he blabs on, it is easy to feel reassured. OF COURSE, you can keep a pony, run a daycare, park your work-truck in the driveway, take down that wall, rent out the in-law apartment, build a bedroom in the basement, etc, etc. You do not know if the seller or broker is careful or honest. In the end, the town fathers or the homeowner’s association might have very different ideas.
. All hands should be on deck, scurrying about verifying the needed information. If the answer to a question is central to your buying decision, then even a purchase contract may be written contingent upon the right answer being determined. By writing the issue into the offer, the buying process may be moved forward while the issues are clarified.
Your broker’s obligation, and your obligation – due diligence. The absence of diligence leaves you in a very precarious position. THAT you may safely assume.
How do we define success for our seller clients? A good transaction at a good price at good terms? I always suggest that we also should add a good night's sleep.
That is where full disclosure comes in. There is a lot of comfort in the the conviction that we acted honorably and fairly in the transaction. That busy-body neighbor could easilty spill the beans on some disclosable issue that a seller decides to sweep under the rug.
So word to the wise seller: When in doubt, disclose. Then you have the security of knowing that the deal is done. There is no nagging worry that a certified letter from your buyer could bring the transaction back from the dead. So here is to ethical behavior that results in best outcomes for everyone!
“Do no harm” - the rule for doctors, can also apply to us as brokers. Our clients trust that the words we use to describe their property will advance their cause, and never hinder them.
Consider the phrase: “As is”. It could mean many things, none of which are positive. And then there is the underlying scare factor that using that phrase engenders. (“What are the owners trying to hide??”) That subtext is often assumed by the buyer, even if it is wholly erroneous. The broker might just as well lead off with the ominous phrase “Caveat Emptor”. That is likely the interpretation of the wary, possibly inexperienced buyer to the phrase “As is”.
Consider this scenario: A fine little estate home is owned by far off heirs, who can’t feature hiring a contractor, and they haven’t seen the house in years. There may be nothing the least bit negative about the home. Inadvertantly, the broker may repel buyers with those nerve-wracking little words: “As is”.
There is plenty of opportunity in the process of entertaining a buyer’s interest to explore the context of the sale. There is time for discussions regarding the motivation and potential responses of the seller to condition issues.
Job one is to encourage folks to experience the property, and hopefully fall in love. A climate of fear is not the best context for courting a mate for a home. So here is to words, carefully chosen, to help our clients to their goals.
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