My hardest client yet!
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I’ve worked with numerous clients over the last 20 years, but the hardest client I’ve ever worked with is one that I worked with this year. Who was it, you may ask - it was my own family!
For those who haven’t yet heard, we sold our home. Gulp. Yes, the home that we spent years lovingly and painstakingly remodeling into our dream home – that is the one! But you know me, I am always ready for the next project! This home is truly everything, but with interest rates so low, I figured now is the time to sell and start looking for another diamond in the rough. And I already know your next question: no, we haven’t found it yet! Until we find our next Chicago home, we are renting a great place in Bucktown down the block from the girls’ favorite park!
Our home sold fast. So fast we were only listed on the MLS for about 8 hours. Going through the process of selling my own home was eye opening in ways I didn’t even realize, and I want to share some of those insights with you!
In terms of preparing my home for the market, there are a few points worth noting:
Creating a blank slate: My own advice was echoing in my ears the whole time I prepared my home to list. I put away all of our personal photos, most of our knick knacks and any child-related clutter. I wanted to create streamlined fields of vision wherever possible.
Baskets: To accomplish this more minimalistic look, I used a lifetime supply of baskets. Anything that didn’t have a purpose went in a basket and either on a shelf or in a cabinet.
Staging as necessary: This may be surprising, but I actually did stage a few areas! After removing so many personal items, it felt just a little too bare for my taste, so I finished the look with coffee table books and just a few other smaller pieces to bring it all together.
Cabinets + closets: The end goal for cabinets and closets is to make them look clutter-free and spacious. I am definitely a neat person, but listing my home forced me to get very intentional with the organization of these spaces. I basically tackled one closet or a few cabinets per night until I had gone through all of them.
Storage unit: There is no shame in the storage unit game! For non-essential items, renting a storage unit is a great solution. Pack it up and get it out of the way! For things we needed but that I didn’t want around for showings, I dragged to my car until the showings were over.
Maximize lighting: I made sure I had lightbulbs in all of my light fixtures so that every room looked light and bright for showings. On that same note, we also washed all of the windows, which I highly recommend. You don’t realize what a difference it makes until you’re done!
Last minute landscape: Our outdoor spaces are a huge selling point of the home, so I wanted them to truly shine. I had our landscapers come as close to the day of photos as possible and it was the best decision. Everything looked crisp and clean and camera-ready.
Improvements to sell: Even after remodeling for years, there were still some projects we wanted to take care of before selling as we know today’s buyer wants EVERYTHING move-in ready. It seemed counterintuitive to make improvements that we would never enjoy, but I had to keep reminding my husband that it was to help us sell quickly and at the right price. In the end, the updates we made absolutely paid off.
Once the house was ready for photos, there was the whole business of getting the exact perfect shots. Our seller clients will tell you that we take photo day extremely seriously. All during photo day, I kept saying to myself, “I wish I had Busby Group!” It was one of those moments when I really saw the value and service we provide our clients. From physically opening up window treatments to making sure the lighting is perfect, photo day is an “all hands on deck” experience.
When it came time to actually show the property, it was tough! I want to fully acknowledge what a difficult time this is to schedule showings. Between remote learning and working, finding a time to leave your home is difficult! I experienced this first hand, so I totally understand. We do our best to stack showings as much as possible to make things a little easier.
Last but definitely not least, I want to share my pricing strategy because I listened to my own advice, which was hard to do. We marketed our home through some off-market networks, including Top Agent Network (TAN). I had a good idea of market value and priced it slightly higher than this value. We had about five groups circling, but no offers at the end of the week. From there, I took my own advice and listed it on the MLS to create urgency and also adjusted the price to be right at the market value, instead of slightly higher. Once we did that, we received multiple offers and ended up with better terms than we could have imagined.
The biggest takeaway for me is that pricing right out of the gate is everything. Today’s buyer is very price-sensitive, and you are going to turn away buyers if you exceed their expectations when it comes to price. Plus, it’s key to create urgency to motivate buyers to make offers.
We successfully closed a little while ago. I can personally say selling is a stressful, time consuming whirlwind. At Busby Group, we have always kept that in mind, but it rings even more true now and we are fine tuning our concierge services even further to ensure the selling process is as stress-free as possible for our clients.
2020 has brought many challenges, obstacles, twists and turns. This was definitely a twist I didn’t even have on my radar, but I am looking forward to seeing what 2021 holds and am grateful to experience the selling process through a consumer’s lens. I want to thank all of our sellers out there for your confidence in working with us, and pledge to use my experience to make your experience even better!
