Say Goodbye to Your Home

Before you call your Realtor, before you hang out the "For Sale" sign and before you start showing your home, there's something you have to do and that is say goodbye. Accepting the loss of your home and disassociating yourself from your property is the best thing you can do in order to sell quickly and for the best price possible.

Emotional attachment to property is normal and should be expected, especially if you're selling a house that has been your home for years. Admit that there are some things that really hate to make you leave. There are memories attached to every room that will make parting with your home wrenching. Perhaps you should go around the house and say goodbye to every room and acknowledge the experiences that you have had there. Then let it go and start looking to the future.

People who do not disassociate themselves with their homes tend to be less careful about staging and price setting. Your buyer doesn't care that little Johnny chipped his tooth on the doorjamb where you can still see the gouge. They see a flaw that drives the price down a few hundred dollars. You can expect your buyers to pay you what the house is currently worth in today's market, but you can't expect them to pay for your emotional investment in the home.

Look at the house as an object. You are going to sell this object. To do that, you have to remove everything that associates it with you and create an atmosphere that enables a buyer to associate it with themselves and their aims.

Start packing extraneous items and putting them into storage. Most homes look a lot better to a buyer with less - less furniture, less knick-knacks, less "stuff" scattered about. Aim for the minimal amount of furniture; just enough to stage the home effectively. This is a great time to declutter and get rid of items that you don't use and/or don't want.

The more sentimental items that you can put away, the better. If the house needs something to make it look co-ordinated, spend a few dollars at a thrift store for some innocuous pictures of landscapes or flowers to replace family photos, certificates and awards. Not only will this help you view your home with a more dispassionate eye, it will help buyers see themselves as owners of your home.

Another good tip is to remove and replace certain fixtures or items that you want to take with you. The brass door knocker that you fell in love with? Take it down and get a cheap one in its place, so that the buyer doesn't fall in love with it and demand that it stay. Go through every room and make sure that you're not overlooking any sentimental items. Don't forget the garden and any plants you may want to take with you. A short time in a pot somewhere other than your property can keep them out of your buyers' eyes.

Disassociating yourself from your home is the best way to be able to sell it with a minimum of fuss. You will have a better time of staging if you view your home as an object to sell rather than a beloved dwelling. This attitude also paves the way for you to enjoy your new home.