Life Happens: Don't Allow Day-to-Day Activities to Impact your Sale

We all have those days – the dog(s) won’t stop barking, the kids are throwing tantrums and nothing seems to be going your way. Compound that with the fact that you’re preparing for an open house or a showing of your listing to a prospective buyer – and your stress level could be through the roof. Hey – it happens! Whatever may be happening in your day-to-day life though, do your best to not let it interfere with the sale of your home. Try to keep things in order as best as you can, and not only will your real estate agent be thankful -- it will make his or her main goal of selling your property a much easier task.

Take time to meet with your broker early in the sales process to create a schedule that works for your family and your agent. This should cover future meeting dates, best timeframes for open houses – and it should clearly define the needs of all parties. Developing a schedule will allow you to know which days you need to be on point and organized, and when you can relax a little. When making your schedule be sure to leave some time to tidy up before showing dates – put your kids’ toys away, take care of dirty dishes and clean up after pets. Sometimes you’ll have a request for a showing you didn’t anticipate – and at those times, rallying the troops – and yourself – to meet expectations will be necessary.

When a schedule is not implemented or communication breaks down, some unfavorable situations might ensue. Disorganization can lead to embarrassing situations that can generally be avoided. Here are the most common ones:

Up Close and Personal: Agents walking in to a house while their client is still getting ready in the bathroom seems to be something that happens way more often than you might think. Don’t forget to call your agent if you’re running late for work and need an extra hour to get out of the house. You deserve the privacy and the broker and client should be allowed the same courtesy.

Doggy Daycare: Don’t leave your pets and critters in the house during a showing. To guarantee that they’ll be safe and out of the way, set them up at a pet daycare service that can watch them while the house is being shown. Too many times pets will be left in a home and their mess will be, too. Be sure to check the inside of your home as well as your backyard to make sure it’s all cleaned up before you leave for the showing to happen. Your real estate agent shouldn’t have to pick up after your pets!

Locked Out Conundrum: This is something that seems to happen from time to time when clients are in a hurry. Someone forgets to leave the house key for realtor, and then the only way in is to climb through the dog run or through a window. Be sure you’ve set up a lock box or given them the codes for your garage before you leave. The same goes for your alarm system. Try to prevent little hurdles like this so your agent can focus on selling your home.

When you’re in the process of selling your home, you want to avoid trivial situations like the ones identified here. It’s important to make every effort to take a deep breath and get organized ahead of what will be a stressful and busy time in your life. It will ensure a seamless transaction. Scheduling showings ahead of time can help you prepare and keeping the dialogue open with your broker will make a world of difference. A little bit of advance work will go a long way – and will enable you to sell your home to the ideal buyer when the time comes.