The Emotional Impact of Selling your Home

Buying a home is a huge milestone for many families, and it might be the largest purchase of your life. When you purchase a house, you turn it into a home and make it yours. Many families, although they understand the necessity of selling a house, still have mixed feelings about the process. Also, listing your house with a traditional realtor can add to the emotional toll, after weeks or months of viewings, hearing comments from potential buyers, and waiting for that perfect offer. And at the end of the day, the emotional impact of selling your home could be bigger than you anticipated.

We’ve put together some tips to help you emotionally untangle from the house selling process and look forward to the new phase in your life

Understand That This is a Stressful Process

Listing your house is a big decision, and the stressful process begins with selecting the right realtor. You may not find a representative that you “click” with right away, and unless there’s a good relationship between you and your realtor, things may get complicated. You’ll have to arrange your family’s schedule around viewings, open houses, and remember to always have the place show-worthy, in case a potential buyer wants a last-minute tour.

Then, the waiting begins. Waiting for the offer, waiting for the buyer to secure financing, then waiting for closing. Even when you’ve accepted an offer, there are still a few things that can come up between then and signing the closing paperwork. The buyer may ask for concessions, or their financing may fall through at the last minute. Knowing that you’ll be in for a few months of stress can help you prepare, emotionally.

Are You Truly Ready to Sell Your Home?

You may have found a lovely new house in the ideal neighborhood, or you might decide it’s time to downsize. But take a couple of weeks and truly consider if you’re ready to sell your home. If you’re constantly finding reasons not to take your realtor’s suggestions, or if you’re finding reasons to avoid open houses or showings, then perhaps you aren’t ready to sell your house.

If you must sell your home, whether you’re in pre-foreclosure or if you’ve received a job offer in another location, then be honest with your realtor. They’ll understand that it’s a difficult process for you and can help guide you.

Your House is a Commodity, Not Family

For most people, a house is one of the largest investments that they’ll make in their lifetime. As you make payments on your mortgage, you’re building equity in your home, the equity that you can use for investments or as a downpayment toward another house. The longer you stay in your home, the greater your equity.

When you consider your house as a valuable commodity to sell and improve your financial situation, it may be easier to disconnect from the attachment and manage the emotional impact of selling your home.

Making Home Selling Fun For Kids

If you have children, this may be the only home they’ve ever known. Kids may be understandably upset and feel insecure about the process of selling the house and leaving their room, friends, and neighborhood. If you can involve them in the selling process and help them get excited about decorting their new room, exploring new sidewalks on their bikes, and the adventure of moving and “camping out” in the new house for a few days, then you can help them feel excited and more secure about the move. Plus, finding reasons for your family to be excited about selling the house and moving may help you be more positive, too.

Focus On the Future

If you’ve already selected a new house, start planning how to turn the building into your home. You may select paint as a family, allowing everyone to choose a color for their room. There are computer decorating programs that you can download, and have fun arranging and rearranging your furniture in the new house, virtually.

If you’ve already moved in but still haven’t sold your old house, you can start putting down roots – literally. Plant a garden, or just a few flowers. Buy a picnic table, or a new piece of artwork to hang on the walls. Begin personalizing your new home, and it will make saying goodbye to your old home easier.

Skip The Lengthy Listing Process

If you need to sell your home, you have options. However, if you need to sell your house fast, a traditional realtor might not work best for you. There is another option, especially if you’ve fallen behind on payments and are in pre-foreclosure, if you need to sell quickly due to a death in the family or divorce, or if you’ve inherited a house you don’t wish to live in.

All-cash buyers refer to an investment group that purchases your house as-is, upfront with cash. Unlike other buyers, all-cash buyers don’t rely on banks or a mortgage company to provide financing. This cuts down on the time between offer and closing, and it also assures you, the seller, that financing won’t fall through at the last minute.

Cash buyers will give you a fair offer for your home in its current condition, which means that there’s no need for you to make repairs or replace anything before listing. In some cases, you can go from initial contact to a check-in you hand in as little as two weeks. And you won’t need to worry about the emotional impact of selling your home.