Well, that re-dedication to writing
my blog sure didn’t last long.Over this
post, I hopefully will explain why that happened and what I have done to
overcome the slippage and regain the control of my business.Being a new REALTOR® is tough. Sure, some
people come into the business with a bunch of people just waiting for them to
get their license before they list their house or decide to buy a new one.I didn’t have that. In fact, right before I
got my license, I had numerous friends and family buy and sell houses.I did the math and that would have been
around $25,000 in my pocket right out of the gate.Oh, how I would have loved that.Don’t worry. I’m not bitter.They didn’t know that I was going to become a
REALTOR® when they signed their contracts.I had to struggle through the mental ups and downs of finding my
way.I’ll admit, I got lucky when I got
my first listing.I was just sending handwritten
letters to every expired listing in my area and actually got a bite.After that, I had a friend looking to buy his
first place which was also great.It was
then that I was feeling truly good about myself believing that I had finally become
a successful REALTOR®.But then it
happened.
After
those two sales went through, I thought that I had finally found my stride and
the listings and buyers were just going to keep coming. But no, these past
months have been tough.No doubt, I
fought a little bit of depression and kept putting on a front that I was being
successful but truly was feeling down about myself.I had little to no energy and was turning to
vices a little too much.I ‘worked’ from
home, but really, I had TV or movies playing on my monitor and was doing little
things that I could that didn’t need too much attention or effort.I stopped going to the gym, previewing
houses, and effectively putting myself out there in order to gain
business.I went on one listing
presentation, didn’t get it, and that put me further down in the hole.I was still believing that the little things
that I did in the very beginning that got me a single listing were going to
help me make it in this business.I
believe that deep down I knew that I wasn’t doing enough but was in
denial.I know that I have lofty goals
that I want to achieve, and I know that I won’t achieve them if I keep
following the same path.There had to be
a change.
I don’t remember the exact day,
but there was a day where all this really hit me.I knew I needed to make a change.I literally just sat on my couch all day in
thought.I thought about what I was
doing and what I needed to do to change.It was then that I decided to take a long break from drinking alcohol.I had a date in mind where I would allow
myself to drink again, but in moderation.That date was 40+ days away; I am proud to say that I made it that long
and have since drank very little since then.I was so strict with this that I wouldn’t even take a little taste of a
drink that my girlfriend told me was delicious and asked me to try.I’m not saying I was an alcoholic, but I feel
that I might have been on my way.I also
went keto for a week, partially out of curiosity but mainly to stop myself from
eating chips, one of my favorite snacks to eat throughout the day.I also gave up sugar for that week, so I
wouldn’t turn to candy.That was mainly
because I was drinking a lot of sweet tea during the day and I know how
unhealthy that can be.I already didn’t
drink soda, or pop, so that wasn’t a challenge.I surrounded myself with cheese and sausage and un-sweet tea.Doing this little challenge invigorated me
and filled me with more energy and improved my mood.I’ll admit, that I need to give up sugar
again, but all that Halloween candy is out and it’s so tempting and tasty.I have still managed to stay away from sweet
tea because I’ve realized that I don’t need it and regular iced tea is pretty
good how it is, I don’t need all that extra sugar.I did start going back to the gym for a while
and then something happened where I stopped and need to get back into going
again.I’ll go today, I have to; I mean
I want to, and I get to.Doing all of
this improved my mood and my outlook on life.I took these steps to improve my personal life and now that my mood has
improved and stayed improved, it is time to take the next step and improve my
work life.
There
are many things that I know that I need to improve at work to help me achieve
all my lofty goals.I know that I have
the support and resources to allow me to achieve the greatness that I believe
that I can achieve.I found a new
program, to me, that allows me to auto send emails to my SOI (What is this?)
and track the touches of expired listings and FSBO’s that I want to work
towards getting.Since using this
program, I am about to sign a new listing (As of the posting, the listing might
be signed).I have 4 future buyers that
I am actively working with and more down the road.I know that that won’t be enough., I need to
add new business building activities to my daily routine.There is one activity that I know is very helpful,
but I really don’t want to do it, that is making phone calls.I need to get over the fact that I hate it
when people cold call me.I need to
reinforce the fact that if they are an expired listing or a FSBO, they are
wanting to sell their house and it isn’t a true cold call.I have been sending out letters and postcards
to all of them, why not add another form of touch to their file and hopefully
get that prized face-to-face meeting.I
have started holding Open Houses and previewing houses again, which has
improved my spirit, except when the Open House has zero visitors.Luckily for me I was able to watch the St.
Louis Cardinals game on my phone during it.
I hope
this post showed you what the potential struggles are when you are a new
REALTOR®, but it is important to know that all experienced and successful
REALTORS® have gone through these same struggles and have a wealth of
information and strategies for getting out of the funk you might be in and help
find ways to motivate you to get into successful and profitable habits.It feels nice being back on the upswing of
life.I know that I was down for a while
and needed to work my way through it.I
tried to keep it all to myself, but that only made things worse.If it weren’t for the support of my family
and close friends, I doubt I would have been able to get through this as well
as I have.I’m sure I will talk about
other habits I am implementing to help me to achieve my goals.Well, now that I have my REALTOR® mojo back,
let’s go see some houses.
Are you considering selling your house in the future? Well, I’d like to think so, most people will at some point. In the future. Whether you are planning on moving in 6 months to a year or more this checklist is a great way to get you and your house prepared for listing. I know your REALTOR® will be happy if you take care of all these items.
1. Reach out to a REALTOR®. (Pick a great one)
This is a very important step. It is at the point when you have decided that you are ready to move and want to learn the best ways to move forward. It is very important that you find a REALTOR® who will help you the most and will be available to answer any questions you might have about the process. I must put my pitch out there. I am here, as a REALTOR® to answer any questions that you might have and to help steer you in the right direction.
2. Get a home value estimate
This step will be helped by the great REALTOR® that you picked in Step 1. We REALTORS® have many tools that help us develop a fairly accurate price for your house. Many people think that the Zestimate is accurate. I’m sorry to be the one to burst your bubble, but it is not. Zillow is known, in the REALTOR® world, to not be the most reliable. They overvalue everything, trying to drive you to use one of their REALTORS® and don’t pull as many attributes into their valuation as a good REALTOR® would. Again, I am available to help you with this. If you are in another city, I can send you a few great REALTORS® to talk to.
3 Set a timeline for when you want to go on the market
This step seems kind of obvious, but you need to set a time frame for when you want to list your house. Yeah, I know, this post is about a 12 Month plan, but these are really just things that will make the process move more smoothly when you do decide to list your house. In determining your time frame, you also should think about where you want to move to and what you want in your next house. Your great REALTOR® will be able to help you start your search. Another critical thing to do in this step is to start talking with a mortgage lender so you can get pre-approved for a loan. Trust me, you want to do this so you will know for sure what size loan you will be able to get. Don’t just go to some website and get pre-qualified. Typically, that is not as certain as the pre-approval letter you will get from the actual company that will be giving you the loan.
4. Learn the housing market in your area
This is another step that your REALTOR® will help you with. It is important to learn the housing market in the area that you are currently living in. During Step 2, you will learn a little about the market, as part of getting the home value estimate for your current home, but it could change over the time span between Step 1 and actually listing your house. I would suggest that your REALTOR® send you semi-regular market updates for your neighborhood. This will allow you to stay informed and be ready for the final price suggestion when it comes time to list your house.
5. Get Pre-Home Inspection home inspection
Did you know you could do this? To me it makes complete sense, especially if you aren’t planning on listing your house for 6-12 months. You can get a Home Inspection, which won’t count once you are under contract, but it can make you aware of any issues that would come up during the official home inspection for the future buyers. If you get the pre-home inspection, you will be able to fix and issues ahead of time and reduce the negotiating power the buyers might have. You will keep greater control of the situation.
6. Get occupancy inspection
This is very similar to Step 5, but these issues should be much more minor, at least any that weren’t pointed out in the full pre-home inspection. This inspection will address issues such as ensuring that the smoke detectors work and that all stairs have appropriate railings. If you have an obvious hole in your ceiling, that isn’t supposed to be there, they will point that out to you here too, but you should already be aware of that issue.
7. Fix issues called out in inspection reports
This is the culmination of both Step 5 & 6, where you should FIX the issues that were called out during the inspections. It will make the house better and more attractive to potential buyers. You never know, some of the issues that were called out could be dangerous to be currently living with, such as bad wiring. I know I’ve had my fair share of shocks when dealing with outlets in listed houses.
8. Do a faux ‘renovation’ on your house
When you see renovation, I know you think I mean knock down some walls and fully remodel your bathroom. Well, you can do that if you want, but that’s not what I mean here. All I mean here is to update some of the outdated fixtures, faucets, and hinges. We all know people who went through the phases of style where it seemed that brass was ‘in’ and then suddenly it wasn’t. Next came stainless steel, which I think is still ‘in’ but who knows for how long, and what the next style will be. It’s also just nice to change out the hinges and knobs on cabinets because they make them all look newer and fresher. While these changes may cost a bit, they can greatly improve the sellability of your home and increase your final selling price.
9. Finish all small repair projects that you have been putting off (‘Honey-Do’ list)
If you’re like me, or my dad, you have a to-do list that seems to be a mile. Now is your chance to do all the things on that list. You’ll be much happier when you get all of those items crossed off. Trust me, I’ve started doing this myself. I’m not planning on moving anytime soon, I just want to get them done. Getting these things done will make your significant other happier through the whole process, which will make everyone less stressed out.
10. Repaint walls with neutral tones
First off, there is nothing wrong with having a room painted neon yellow when you are living there, but the odds of finding someone else who would see that color on a wall and fall in love with it are very small. Having rooms painted with neutral colors is always a good idea when trying to sell your house. I’ve been through some houses that are for sale, that have some crazy colored walls and they seem to stay on the market longer than others. There is nothing wrong with the house, people just have a hard time looking past the paint. I tell my clients that paint is cheap, and you can always just paint the room yourself, but nobody seems to want to do that. I’m one of the rare people who finds painting walls relaxing.
11. Think about curb appeal
This is commonly an aspect that is overlooked for some reason. Clean up your yard. The saying is that you only get one first impression. Well, the curb appeal is the first impression for your house. It is important to have a clean and well-groomed yard. Make sure that you mow it on a regular basis. Trim up the bushes around your house and pull any weeds that might be in your garden, or gutters. Another great idea is to buy and plant new flowers to bring some color to your landscaping. A critical thing that many people don’t think of is to buy a new and inviting welcome mat to put at your front door. All these fairly simple things can bring in more people to look at your house with the intent of making an offer. They walk in in a better mood.
12. Tighten all loose handles
This task might have been taken care of in Step 9, but in case you forgot, make sure all the handles on your cabinets are tight. It’s one of those small things that can make the potential buyer feel that the house was well taken care of and is complete.
13. Buy Lightbulbs
Buying lightbulbs is not necessarily a major concern, in my mind, but it is important to be ready to replace any lightbulb when, and if, it burns out while your house is listed. During showings and open houses, all the lights will be on to better accentuate the house’s features. This step is more to be prepared for when they burn out just before a showing. It’s also never a bad idea to have spare lightbulbs on hand.
14. Buy fresh flowers and plants
I know, I know, I already told you to buy flowers and plants in Step 11, but these ones are for the inside of your house. It’s nice to walk through a house and see a vase of beautiful flowers on the table. Interior plants also help filter the air making it seem fresher in the house. House plants help make the house feel homier for the potential buyer, again, increasing their mood. Don’t go overboard and create a little forest in your house, but a few nice plants here and there is a great idea.
15. Fix pet issues, such as stains and smells
If you do not have a pet, congrats, you’re onto Step 16. If you have pets, you know what kind of issues I mean. Do you have stains on your carpet? Try to clean it the best you can, otherwise, I’d recommend that you replace the carpet. Did your dog or cat scratch up a door frame or something else? Depending on how bad the damage is, try to fix it, or just replace that too if you can. The main thing you’ll want to do is buy an air freshener, fresh linen is the best choice to have in your house when you are trying to sell it. You’ve probably heard in the past that you should make cookies the morning before so your house will have that smell, but these days, people are preferring the house to just smell clean and fresh.
16. Fix fencing
This step is another that you only need to work on if you have fence issues. Do you have any broken pickets in your fence? Those are cheap and easy to replace. Go ahead and replace them so your yard will, again, look complete and taken care of.
17. Clean Windows
Another simple task to do, just nobody wants to do it. Take the time and actually clean your windows. But make sure you do it safely. As with many of the steps before, clean windows will make your house look like it truly was taken care of. I know you take care of your house, why not show it to those who are thinking about buying it. Growing up, my mom got so mad at me with how often she had to clean one certain window in our house. I always looked out it and for some reason pressed my forehead against the glass leaving a smudge. I knew it happened, but for some reason, I kept doing it. Sorry Mom.
18. Organize your closets
If you are like me, your closet is a mess. A great trick in selling your house quicker, is to clean up and organize your closet. Nobody wants to see your clothes thrown all over the place. A well-organized closet also can give potential buyers hope that they will be able to keep their closet clean and organized in your house, too.
19. Hide your Valuable and Depersonalize your house
This step is more critical when you are showing your house. No need to tempt anyone to take anything. I recommend that when you are truly ready to list your house, depersonalize it. Take down the family pictures from the wall. Literally take down and pack up anything that makes the house seem to fit only you. Another critical thing to think of, BEFORE, you list your house is identifying anything that is attached to the walls or ceilings that you want to take with you when you move. Wall mirrors and light fixtures must go with the house, so if you have a family heirloom mirror or chandelier, you’ll want to take it down and replace it prior to listing your house. If not, it’s a giant headache later when the house goes under contract. Your REALTOR® should be able to help you take care of any of these preparations.
20. Do a Deep Clean on your house
Well, congrats, you are almost ready to list your house. The only thing left to do is to do a final deep clean of your house. Cleanliness is key when you are showing your house. I couldn’t tell you how many houses that I’ve gone through that were just a mess. I didn’t truly look at the house, I just did a quick walk through and didn’t have anything good to say about the house.
Now that you have completed this checklist, now is time to call your REALTOR® and set up a meeting when you can further discuss your plans with your house. They will walk you through the listing contract, among others, which will officially set up your house to be listed for sale. Your REALTOR® should then schedule a professional photographer to take great pictures which will go on the MLS. I know you’ll do great, and I hope to hear from you if you are looking for any help through the process. I hope you have a great day and let’s go see some houses.
