Selling Your Home: The Emotional Aspect
1. Make sure you are 100% decided.
Before initiating the process, you have to be totally committed to selling your home. Don't tell an agent to put your property on the market, only to back out later because you have decided otherwise. While it is perfectly understandable that new circumstances may cause you to re-evaluate decisions that you may have made concerning the sale of your home, don't put your home on the market knowing you are unlikely to sell even if a buyer with a good offer comes along. Consult other family members and friends you trust before making a final decision.
2. Decide where you will live after you sell the home.
It goes without saying that you will need somewhere to live after you sell your home. Even before you begin considering selling your home, you should have at least a rough idea of where you and your family will live after you sell. This should help you alleviate any insecurities about your the future of you and your family concerning the selling of your home.
3. "De-personalize" your house.
Try to make your home as anonymous as possible. Remove or restore any highly specific additions or modifications you may have made. Take down loud, personalized wallpaper, clean off crayon drawings on the walls. Not only will this help you let go of the structure, it will also help you find a buyer; it helps interested parties visualize themselves living in a home. You want to project the structure as potentially their home, and decrease emphasis on it as <em>your</em> home.
4. Hire a professional.
It helps to hire a reputable real estate agent. They have the experience, tools, and network to quickly deal with most of the tasks involved with selling a home. Letting go of a home you have lived in for a long time can be very stressful; there is no need to complicate things by taking on the market yourself. Find a good top real estate agent in your area that can help you get the ball rolling.