Just like buyers who get cold feet before pulling the trigger on buying a home, sellers can also feel remorse and have second thoughts about selling a home.

Seller’s remorse usually happens because the seller wasn’t really motivated to sell in the first place. These are homeowners who think they want to sell, but they don’t really have good reasons to follow through with it. 

Sometimes sellers will want to “test” the market, just to see how much a buyer would offer on their home.

If that’s all you’re really looking for, have your Orlando Real Estate Agent do a CMA for you rather than going through the charade of listing it to see what happens.

Real estate agents spend time and money when they list a home for sale. If the homeowner isn’t serious about selling, the agent loses all the time and money they’ve invested on something that was never going to happen in the first place and it’s just not right to do that to someone. Most of the time homeowners don’t do this on purpose.

Here’s an example using one of our own clients… We had a seller with a beautiful 5 bedroom 4 bathroom lake house in Windermere. They wanted to downsize because their three children had all moved out and it was just her and her husband.

In addition to being “empty nesters”, they were convinced that the Orlando Real Estate market was declining in value. They thought if they waited a few more years, the value would fall so low that they would lose their chance to make a nice profit.

I thought great!… These guys really are motivated to sell and the house is in a very desirable area.

So we launched our marketing campaign as we do for all our listing… videos, postcards, press releases, open house, etc.

Within just 4 days after listing the property, we were excited to present the couple with a full-price offer on the home!

Once we presented the offer, the wife panicked…. Suddenly the reality of it all hit her.

She decided she couldn’t part with the home where she raised her 3 kids at any price. It was all fun and games telling potential buyers all about the house as did the tour of the house, but when the time came to sign on the dotted line the sellers froze. This is a common reaction when a seller isn’t truly motivated.

How do you Prevent Seller’s Remorse?

Owners can prevent seller’s remorse by taking the time to really think through the entire process.

• Have a plan,
• Have a relocation goal
• Have good reasons for selling.

Sit down with your real estate agent and discuss your wants and needs with them. Make a list of the pros and cons to selling, if the pros outweigh the cons, then sell! If it’s the other way around then don’t put it on the market.

If you’re worried about not being able to find another home to meet your needs in time, then you can sell on a contingent contract. This type of contract gives the seller a predetermined amount of time to find another home, and if they can’t find the right one then they aren’t obligated to sell.

If you’re wondering how much your Orlando home will sell for then gives us a call at 407-902-7750 and we’ll prepare a free Comparative Market Analysis for you with no obligation.

Most homeowners will occasionally think of what it would be like to sell their home and how much they could get for it. With the shortage of inventory in the Orlando real estate market, these days some homeowners are seriously considering selling even though they weren’t before. Terms like” bidding wars” and “above asking price” are being heard more frequently and for some people, it’s enough to list their house for sale to see what they can get for it.

With the road to the strong housing recovery still ongoing we are once again experiencing a shortage of Orlando homes for sale.  With a huge backlog of potential buyers, new listings typically get multiple offers within the first week of being listed on the MLS.  These market conditions translate to rising home prices or in other words a “seller’s market”.

But selling can be a life-changing decision and should be treated as such. Even if you stand to make a nice profit there are still many other things to consider like lifestyle, employment, schools, etc. Through my many years of experience as an Orlando Realtor, I’ve come up with some questions that I like to ask homeowners if they’re on the fence about selling.

1-Is the home the right size for you? This is one of the more popular reasons why people want to sell and move to a bigger home. I’m not talking about accommodating the occasional over night guest or the closet with way to much clutter in it.

The closet can be de-cluttered by throwing things out that you don’t need and as far as accommodating  an overnight guest, an air mattress in the Living room sends the perfect message…[ I’m nice enough to let you sleep here tonight but as you can see my house isn’t big enough to accommodate any more people comfortably].

Truly needing more space is about your immediate family’s comfort. Are your kids getting to old to share a room? Do you have an In-law [or out-law] moving in? Do you need to have a home office?  Maybe you want to live in a smaller home with less maintenance. These are all legitimate reasons for wanting to move to a bigger or smaller home.

2-Has home maintenance become a bad word for you? I remember when I first moved into my home and used to happily spend countless hours of my free time working on home improvement projects like painting, landscaping, installing shelves, etc. and the truth is that I still enjoy doing these things.

However, if you’ve lost that loving feeling…when it comes to doing home improvement on your home, then you may be ready for a home that requires no maintenance at all or very minimal at best. You should also be aware that the more you neglect to maintain your home, the more expensive it will be to get it back into tip-top condition. If you choose to sell it as-is, then expect the buyer to want a discount on the price.

3- Are you in a hot market? Overall, the Orlando real estate market is experiencing healthy home sales and increasing values. However, there are homes in certain neighborhoods in Orlando that are selling like hotcakes with multiple offers on the table. If you believe that you live in a neighborhood where the homes are selling for over asking price, then contact your Orlando real estate agent to ask about how much your house is worth. If you’ve been on the fence about selling and have  waiting for the market to bounce back, your time to sell may be now!

4- Where you waiting to have equity again? A lot of Orlando homeowners didn’t think that selling was even an option since the market crash of 2007. Back then, they were told the only way to sell was by doing a short sale on their home because it owed more than it was actually worth.

The truth is that tens of thousands of homeowners are back to having positive equity….and some don’t even know it. Contact your Orlando listing agent and have them prepare a CMA [Comparative Market Analysis] for you. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much you home has increased in value since then.

5- Has your life changed? No one knows what changes tomorrow can bring. Whether it’s a change in your employment, loss of employment, divorce, illness, etc. These type of life-altering changes can take your plan and run it right through the shredder. Don’t try to conform to a house that really isn’t the right fit for you. It’s important to move to a home that will meet your needs according to your life as you know it, you’ll be much happier if you do.