FSBOs, Open Houses and Sellers. OH MY!

As someone who loves a bargain, I can totally understand why you would

want to save some money and try to sell your own home. This weekend, I took some of my clients around to five open houses and sometimes, as an agent, I hush up and listen.

Something that I heard from my clients, as we went through one of the homes where a seller was doing the for sale by owner “thing” I picked up on some very interesting tidbits from my clients, which I, as an agent already probably knew, but boy, do I ever wish I could have recorded it, and played it back for the homeowner so they could have as said:

“I don’t think that they are doing themselves a service by being here.” – Maybe the seller was a bit of a talker, but she was talking herself out of some amazing buyers.

“Do you think she should have hired someone to do this for her, so she wasn’t having to be here talking to everyone and turning them off like this?” – She could have done so, but remember, not everyone will get along with you and your personal style, and your emotion of trying to sell your house could rub some people the wrong way!

“It was really a turn off to have her blabbing about all of her emotional baggage about the house while we were trying to look around.” – Hmmm… I hear a pattern here.

“I felt like she was hovering through the house.” – Yeah, if you have an open house, expect people to look around, and don’t treat them like they are about to rummage through the drawers…

“Yes, it was helpful to know where the property line ended, but jeeze, that was overwhelming that she was talking about all of the money she put into this that and the other thing.” – Again, the emotion got the better of her. Poor thing. The house will sell, but sometimes, when emotions are high, it is better as a seller to remove yourself from the situation and let the professionals do their job.

Oh, to be the proverbial fly on the wall, and listen to all of these things. I like to sit back and listen. My grandfather used to say, sometimes it is better to know, and not let the other person know that you know. You know? Well, sometimes, when it is your own home that you’re selling, it is better to let a professional take the reigns so that you don’t over-share or become the person that knows too much.