After embracing the concept of a huge lifestyle change, I knew that I had to make serious adjustments to my lifestyle, the biggest of which were the mortgages on the two properties I own. Going from a two income family of moderate means to a one income family (me) was a huge downward adjustment. So, I went out and hired the best REALTOR I knew….myself!
I first placed my investment property, a multi-family on the market and was hopeful that someone else would see the potential that I saw. About a week later someone (probably a disgruntled tenant) started a fire in the basement and then flooded the house from the third floor. The sale was put on the back burner while the restoration company and insurance took care of the issues.
More than six months and several price reductions later, I put the house under contract. Bank committment dates for the buyer sailed past and requests for extensions were placed….I decided to grant that, but place the house back on the market to accept offers with a kick out clause. So far so good…..phone ringing off the hook with investors for that house, so someone should be buying it soon!
Believe it or not, that was the easy house. My own home was built 8yrs ago by my ex-husband and I as the house we would leave "feet first". We did all the no-no's: overbuilt on a non-traditional lot, created an extreme interior style, you name it. We loved it there and could never imagine having to sell. Well….shows what we knew. Anyways, there were absolutely NO comparables for the house. None. I brought in my broker to help me price it and we decided to use a per square foot approach. After a month of painting, packing, re-decorating, staging and repairing, I left town and put the house on the market.
Nothing, nothing at all happened for a loooooong time. How frustrating to be the seller with the endless questions of why, what else can you do, etc. and to also be the REALTOR who can't solve the dillema. My polished professional approach didn't work on myself…I was at an impasse.
After I gave myself a stern talking to: I began a series of significant price reductions which continued to a value that made me want to curl up in the fetal position. As I write this, there is a cooperating REALTOR at my house with her prospective buyers who were there yesterday for an hour and today for more than that. They asked every question on the books and I am sitting by the phone expectantly waiting for that all important call, "we wrote an offer"!
I have bought and sold my own property several times in my past, but this experience is different by leaps. This time I am selling out of necessity, as so many other people must do in the current economy. I am getting a huge training lesson on empathy and understanding for the consumers who must leave their dream home or liquidate their assets, often at a loss. I hope that at the end of this bumpy road, I will be able to translate what I have learned into an ability to relate to these types of clients at a more meaningful level.
As to the identity crisis, today I am my REALTOR, but who knows what tomorrow will bring!
