Selling your home is never an easy thing to do
Avram Goldman, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, found this out first hand.
As a veteran Realtor who has worked with hundreds of homeowners over the years, Goldman said he has always understood the emotion, hard work and countless details that go into selling a home.
“But the message was driven home–no pun intend–in a very personal way this month,” Goldman said, “when after 20 years, my wife and I just sold our family home.”
“The experience of selling my own home left me with two observations,” he added. “First, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the demise of the housing market have been greatly exaggerated. Homes priced fairly are still selling and sellers are getting good returns on their investments. And, second, Iíve walked away with a much greater appreciation and empathy for sellers.”
Goldman said a Realtor is like a doctor, attorney or other professional who works with many patients or clients.
“Selling a home as a real estate professional is an everyday, on-going experience,” he explained. “But for a homeowner, it is an event that on average occurs only once every seven years or, in my case, every two decades. It was the home in which we raised our family.Ý It was the place we celebrated holidays and special moments, and watched our children grow. For a seller, a home is more than a building with four walls. Itís a very real part of their life.”
Some of Goldman’s friends were surprised when he brought in two of his agents at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage to sell his home. They wondered why he wouldnít do it himself.
But Iíve always said that consumers shouldnít try to sell their own home,” he said. “I know it sounds like Iím biased, but I know first-hand all that goes into selling a home. Itís one of the most complicated financial transactions any of us will ever do. But even as a Realtor, I would never list my own home any more than attorneys should represent themselves in a legal action. The experience is filled with too much emotion and you need an objective professional to work on your behalf.”
“I was fortunate my home had an offer even before the brokersí tour or the first open house,” he added. “I owe this to my agents letting me know what I needed to do to prepare my home.Ý We had all the inspections done up front. Even the termite work was completed before going on the market.Ý They arranged for all the work to be done with gardeners, painters, floor refinishers, stagers, etc.Ý We spent close to $40,000.Ý It was a lot of money, but worth every penny.Ý The house sparkled like a jewel. At the price range we listed our home, buyers expected the property to be a jewel.”
Of course as a seller Goldman thought his home should be listed higher.Ý The good news is that he took his own advice and listened to his agents, who were much more objective on the subject.
“Pricing is tricky in todayís market,” Goldman said. “Sellers need to be competitive.ÝThey need to create excitement in the minds of buyers. They know the market and they know value. If they donít see the value they just move on to the next home. Thereís a lot more for them to pick from than there was a year or two ago.”
For Goldman, getting an offer was only the beginning.Ý Next was negotiating over price–never an easy task. In Goldman’s case, as in most offers, the buyers wanted to see how low the Goldmans would go.
“The offer was well under our asking price,” he said. “From what we were told, the buyer had consulted with a friend who said you should use this tactic. Well it almost lost them the home.Ý Fortunately, my Realtors let more reasoned minds prevail.Ý They suggested we counter back a little (a very little) under our full asking price. They wanted to see if the buyer was truly serious about purchasing our home.”
“We did and it worked,” he added. “The buyer accepted our counter. If I went with my initial instinct–‘why counter at all?’–we wouldnít have known if they truly wanted to buy our home. The lesson: always counter. It never hurts.”
“Of course, after we agreed to the price and started the escrow process another offer came in $70,000 over the first,” Goldman said. “Where were they two days before?Ý It happened to us when we sold our home 20 years ago. My feeling is still a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Obviously they were trying to give us motivation to bump the first offer. After a few days, though, they werenít willing to wait and moved on to another home. So they werenít as committed as our first buyer.”
Twenty-five days later and on the day the final contingency was to be removed, the Goldmans’ buyer came back with an addendum. They were asking for a credit back.
“To be honest it was in the ball park of what we expected,” he said. “If we accepted, our home is sold.Ý If we counter who knows?Ý I wanted to counter, but my wife didnít. Talk about real estate negotiations. ÝAfter a spirited discussion with my wife, the decision was made.Ý Yes, you know who won, and the sale finally closed.”
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