"Egads - Everyone is watching me sell my own house!"

by Linda O’Koniewski

Time to move.  Unload the big house.  The kids yo-yoed in and out for years, but appear settled.

It’s hard.  Hard to leave the incredible entertaining space.  Hard to admit we are “right-sizing.”  We are way too young to downsize. We’ve spent years accumulating the right furniture, purchasing special pieces for the garden and our home, and now its time to find a new home for most of it.

Its liberating to edit your life.  Free yourself from stuff.  If you need a good chuckle check out George Carlin’s video on “Stuff.”  It compels you to reflect.  It helps you let go.  The damn decisions.  Items that hold sentimental value, or that you invested in, are worthless to the people you want to have them.  Those prizes are not going to fit in the next place.

And the world is watching.  I’ve made a name in real estate helping clients make the most money when they sell their home and teaching agents how to help clients.  One of my courses is “The Psychology of Listing” born from the premise that sellers don’t make good decisions when they sell their home.

Sellers often resist good advice and inevitably think their home is worth more money than makes sense.  Helping sellers create a product for market and price it to attract the most attention is the name of the game.  It’s been my game for almost 3 decades.

But it’s hard.  Hard to think you have to change things that you like, or are perfectly serviceable.  We’ve only been in this house for 7 years.  We updated the kitchen when we moved in and repainted the house just two years ago.  But I knew if we were going to maximize our equity I was going to have to replace things I chose recently.

I know the impact of being trendy and sexy.  It’s significant.  It’s big bucks.  It means repainting my monochrome hint of yellow paint scheme to a warm white throughout the house. (Ben Moore “Soft Chamois” is the “it” color now.)

Our bisque colored cabinets were so yesterday.  They had to go white. My husband was incredulous when I told him we were replacing black granite countertops and changing out those flashy red pendant lights with white glass fixtures.   He thought I was nuts.

But staging your house isn’t a decorating decision.  It’s a business decision.   i know that.  I teach that.  It meant that the black cabinet hardware had to be replaced with glass and chrome. The stainless dishwasher and trash compacter which boasted an black accent band needed to be donated so that gleaming, all-stainless appliances could grace the kitchen. The “today” look is a white kitchen with Carrera marble countertops.

“You really think I have to spray paint the photo frames that hang in the kitchen?”  asked my husband.  “Yes!” Black is out; white is in.

I ripped down most of the curtains, except for the white ones in our bedroom.  Let the light in.  I ordered fresh white pleated blinds for the bedrooms.   All bedding, linens and towels had to be white.  My home now boasts that hotel look.

I bought so many orchids, white roses, calla lilies and tulips that the woman behind me in Trader Joe’s asked if I were hosting a wedding.  But those flowers really created an ambiance.  It’s the aura created when you walk into a boutique hotel or one of those fancy pants Mandarin digs.

It meant fixing things I’ve lived with for years.  I’ve been walking from my garage into my hideous basement oblivious to really how ugly it is.  My fabulous contractor told me we couldn’t make everything in the house beautiful and ignore this eyesore.  He was right. Why didn’t I spend the money to enjoy it before I moved? I can hear Brian  now.  When he comes home to pack up his stuff this summer he won’t believe I let him hang out in that cave when it could have been so pleasant.

The kicker?  The Oriental rugs.  Rugs I worked hard to purchase and treasure.  They made the house look dated.  This is where Sellers put their foot down.  “That’s crazy,” they say, “the rug isn’t staying after the sale. The house comes empty. Replacing the beautiful expensive rugs is insane. Certainly buyers can see past a rug?”

No.  Buyers don’t have vision.  Studies report that 92 percent of buyers don’t understand how to transform a home to look sexy.  We know they empty their wallets when they see it.  I’ve formulated my whole career on the premise that buyers are shallow and don’t really see anything but what you put before them.  I have countless stories of homes that didn’t sell until the seller was worn down and installed staging and freshened the paint.

Alas, I replaced those gorgeous rugs with neutral rugs.  It transformed the living room, dining room and foyer.  It lightened the rooms up.  It was contemporary and pleasing.

Let me note here.  No amount of staging and paint will help sell an over-priced home.  Pricing correctly is key.  Sellers need to understand that the price is usually significantly lower if you don’t take the time and money to create a competitive product for market.  Fussing is an investment. It’s great ROI.

Ironically, real estate agents, hardwired optimistically, are notorious for over-pricing their own homes.  Strategically pricing your home is the single most important thing in any sale of any product.  I tell everyone that the biggest mistake that sellers make is thinking that if they ask for more money they’ll get more money. I asked myself, “Will I price it right? Can I shed my emotional attachment?  Can I objectively give myself the advice I need?”

I did.  The deed is done.  The crazy, extra work paid handsomely. Four offers later and a fabulous buyer will be the next steward of this home.

If you want to move, the strategies work.  Don’t be attached to your stuff, your decorating, your wallpaper, your furniture and rugs.  Remember, it’s a business decision.  Don’t get in your own way and leave your home’s equity to the buyer.  When you cash out, it’s not your home any more. Let go.