Tammy Craig/Owner

Fruit & Wine Real Estate

As an agent, I know what turns buyers away and what gives the green light to buy. Until, of course, I planned the sale of our personal home. I quickly become emotional asbestos (leave me alone and all is well, start moving me and little deadly pieces fly everywhere).

As a Realtor, I prepared a detailed market analysis for my home using high and low for the right comps. My packet for my new seller, my husband, was lovely. He reviewed my material with a raised eyebrow. Then he started adding up the cost of our updates. He jumped from we need to fix everything to let’s just sell “as is”. He used a neighbor’s thoughts on price to quiz me on my findings. Then he bumped market analysis price up by $15000 to allow for “negotiating room” and to help cover coop “realtor fees”. You know what amazes me? I thought the same thing in my secret seller heart; The Real Estate Professional vs Tammy crazy seller lady having it out in my head as he spoke.

After days of tears, cups of coffee, and sad realization that one will never know if you “could get more” if you just hang on, we agreed on list price. Then late night conversations, more coffee, tears, stronger conversation moving to higher and higher decibels until he said every Realtors favorite seller phrase “We don’t have to sell!”

He must love me after 37 years because he got an ear full. We don’t have to sell translates in Professional Realtor language as “We are not ready to sell. We will go through 3 realtors, turn down great offers, and end up taking less than the first offer 2 years down the road. At dinner parties, we will blame the first Realtor for not working hard enough to sell our home.” Being the first Realtor to list our home…..you get the picture.

We get excited then change our mind. We get mad then come to terms. It is a real old fashion stomach drop over rolling hills.

During my 14 years in real estate, I had 3 sellers that actually lived live Better Homes and Garden style. Each of these unusual seller’s were a dream to work with and the homes flew off the market. Back in the real world people’s homes range from gently lived into downright scary. What all have in common, from perfect sellers to scary sellers, is not being able to see what buyers will see. It is a tightrope walk to decide what to focus on to get the home ready to sell.

Here is my Realtor lesson for my practice titled “To Sell, or not to Sell”. Deciding to move is a big decision and the hardest moves contain one, and please God not all, of the dread 3 D’s; death, downsizing, divorce.

We are downsizing but there could be divorce and maybe death due to the stress level. There will be more to come. so much more…………..