I realize that many of today’s sellers are forced to sell their homes because they have fallen on tough economic times. They need to ‘get out from under’ the financial burden of a mortgage they can do longer afford to pay. They might have very little equity or may even be in a negative equity situation. My heart goes out to those families. Today’s blog post is not speaking to this segment of sellers.
I want to address the 80% of sellers that do have equity in their home and are looking to move. It is important that you don’t forget the reason you decided to move. So often sellers get caught up in the financial aspects of the real estate transaction and often forget the actual reason they were selling. I know that you want every dollar you can get in order to make your move to your new home easier for you and your loved ones. I realize you may have treated the equity in your home as a savings account or a retirement fund. You really don’t want to sacrifice even a dollar.
However, by not taking a little less than what you had hoped for, are you sacrificing something of much greater value? Why did you originally decide to move?
If you are selling because you long to rejoin your family in another part of the country, don’t let money stand in the way. Your family is worth more than money can buy.
If you are selling for health reasons, don’t let money stand in the way. No amount of money is worth getting ill over.
If you are moving because someone you love needs to move (health, employment or family reasons), don’t let money get in the way. Your love for your partner has no price.
You would never allow any other investment vehicle to stop you from getting on with your life. Whether it was stocks, bonds, gold or any other form of investment, you would shake off the loss and move on. The investment in our home seems so much more personal somehow. We defend it with everything we have. Perhaps it is because we never lived in our IRA; our children never played in our safe deposit boxes; we didn’t go on vacation with other stockholders like we did with our neighbors.
Whatever the reason, you must not allow your house to trap you and prevent you from getting on with your life. Today’s market may not allow you to get the price you had hoped for, but don’t allow it to also prevent you from getting the life you had hoped for.
