The Stages of Grief

Change is certain, it is what a market does – no straight line. Regardless of the location of your real estate market (East Coast, Mid West, West Coast) there has been a change. I have written on some subjects of these changing markets and this particular entry will address what it means to the Sellers. There are currently two types of changes; #1 corrections as stated in the California market or Miami, Florida ‘Loft’ market with falling prices and/or #2 intrinsic value, value based on an underlying perception, which can just slow down the time it takes to sell real estate (while values don’t change that much).

These two types of changes can put Sellers in a state of mourning. Sellers are either experiencing a monetary loss (comparing their sale to what their neighbor got a year ago) OR the Seller is just worried how long their house will sell (time being money towards insurance, taxes, mortgage payments). Very possible for the owners of the listings out there to be experiencing feelings of fear, loss and regret. Quite literally, they need to go through the five stages of grief. Their Listing Realtor in their ‘’corner’’ should be aware of these stages and, when appropriate, help their client/Seller move through them.

Selling homes is an emotional job and Realtors must stay connected in order to assist with the decisions. Not all decisions are pragmatic ones and without knowing the emotions of the ‘’home sale’’, I believe a Realtor is disconnected. Likewise, a Listing Realtor can’t take on the responsibility of the market but should seek to understand their clients mind set. Review below the stages of grief.

DENIAL; recognize if your friend who is selling their home, or a client is in denial. Get the facts of the market out, explain the market. Go through sales in the area, the city and the price range.

ANGER; Sellers can understandably get angry and upset. If their home was worth more 1.5 years ago and they ‘almost’ moved but decided to allow their kids to finish school, they could be upset. Another example is just the time it takes to close on their home. If the owner/Seller was use to 60 days from start to close, and now it takes 120+ - they will be surprised!

FRUSTRATION; During this stage clients start venting. Hardest part of selling a home is the days it takes to get an offer(s). Sellers work hard at preparing their home to be listed AND continue their preparation through most showings (if they live in the house being sold). It would frustrate ANYBODY to mentally prepare to sell a home, then stage it, move extra furniture out, clean up each time before every showing AND THIS GO ON FOR 7 MONTHS (maybe not as much the investment property being sold – I am mainly talking H-O-M-E where we eat,sleep,’’relax). Another rub for Sellers is the lack of day to day ‘’work’’ when their home is on the market. Sellers do so much before their property is listed, but sits back once the home is being marketed by their Real Estate Broker. Compare that to a Buyer, who can put their nervous energy into a meaningless newspaper list of properties or review listings on the internet, maybe even drive around a neighborhood.

DISAPPOINTEMENT; Point in time when Sellers realize things may be different than what they had hoped for. The Seller begins to come to terms with making the necessary adjustments to get their home sold (and very much needs to have market information ready to review, reviewing quickly and easily numbers+charts+graphs).

SENSE OF ACCEPTANCE; Seller is ready to put together an updated strategy to get their home – their property, sold!