How My Real Estate Agent Helped Sell My Home

I had bought a house in a decent neighbourhood with all amenities nearby. When I bought the house I got it for a steal but the prices have since steadily gone in one direction i.e., up. When we decided that we need to sell the home as we need to move to a bigger house, we thought that we would sell the home easily. However, months after putting the house on the market, it was still unsold. Each buyer would find some problem or the other and try to negotiate the price. The price that I was quoting was the prevailing market price and I was unwilling to go below that.

After a few months my friends suggested that I should contact a real estate agent if I wanted to sell my home. I contacted a real estate agent and I told him he could keep 100 percent commission but he should sell my home fast. The real estate agent then suggested a few changes to my home which I did and lo and behold my home was sold in no time. Given below are the changes suggested by my real estate agent that helped in getting the sale.

• After taking a tour of my house the real estate agent asked me to first paint the exterior of the house. Then he asked me to get the tree branches clipped and to get the lawn mown. He also asked me to paint the main door. The garage abuts the main house, after a tour he asked me to get the garage doors repaired and to get it painted. Small changes but I did not know that these would have a profound impact on the prospective buyers. As the saying goes, ‘the first impression is the best impression’ and the changes ensured that the buyers had a very positive impression of the house.
• My living room has a lot of great memories attached to it. I have a wall full of photographs, I have a lot of memorabilia placed strategically everywhere. It may look like clutter to many people but I loved it as it is. The real estate agent politely asked me to pack everything, rent a storage unit and keep everything there till the sale was completed. I was aghast, these were things that held a lot of value for me and I told him so. The real estate agent then told me that though the things had a lot of value for me, it did not have any value for the prospective buyer. I understood the thinking behind the requested changes and I complied forthwith. Additionally he also asked me to keep the windows open to let in air and light. It seems light makes a room look bigger that it is and I liked the idea a lot.
• Small changes to the kitchen and bathroom was also suggested such as changing broken tiles, repairing faucets etc. I immediately complied.
• Another suggestion was to get the whole house painted again and we got it done.

After these changes, you will not believe, the first person who visited the home bought it.