Selling a home is a tale of two very different houses...the memory filled structure (including what they paid) and the physical asset they are selling.
And the prices will never be equal.
To you, your home represents memories. It represents hours of sweat equity. It represents money spent on repairs and updating.
To a complete stranger your house is only a brick and mortar structure on a parcel of land.
To the interested buyer it is a neglected structure in need of a landscape job with new paint. A house is a physical structure. It is located in a physical environment (neighborhood). It has physical attributes. It has no intrinsic emotional value.
Selling your home is a tale of two different houses.
When you decide to sell your home be ready to step away from the house you have been living in and see it as the brick and mortar structure you hope to sell. Your emotional connection to a house has no monetary value whatsoever to a potential buyer.
Being unable to emotionally separate yourself from these two very different homes can add unnecessary obstacles to selling your home.
Remember, memories can be taken with you regardless of what "physical structure" you may call home.
When you call on a real estate agent to market your home they will provide you with a market analysis that shows market value. Expect this value to be less than yours. Expect this value to be more realistic.
As a buyer, keep you emotions in check as well. Unbridled emotions can cause you to pay much more than you should or even overlook "issues." Yes, a tale of two different houses as well!
This post was inspired by Kathy Streib, Home Stager - Palm Beach County.
