Selling your house can make you feel a little loco. There are many things that can happen during the course of a day in the life of a real estate listing–last minute showings, lowball offers, home inspection wish lists …

How does a real estate seller survive the time from just listed to sold? Here are five stress busters for real estate sellers:

1. Only take cash buyers–All real estate buyers are not created equal. You need to only entertain offers from buyers who have cash. Have your real estate agent advertise "Cash-only offers accepted" on the newspaper ads, signs, riders and flyers.   
2. Stay in the house during showings–Do not vacate your home during real estate showings. Why should you inconvenience yourself for the "possibility of a potential real estate buyer"? Besides, hanging out during a real estate showing will only help to give your house that "lived-in" look.
3. Let your pets roam free–Whoever met a cute cat, dog or gerbil they didn’t like? A pet can make a house more inviting by lending a homey quality to the surroundings. Just make sure to let prospective buyers know your pets are not part of the Bill of Sale and will not be conveyed to them with the rest of the personal property.
4. Leave your house in "as is" condition–Builder showcase shape is so yesterday. If real estate buyers can’t see past your dirty laundry–or climb over it–then they are the ones with the problem. You are selling the house, not the stuff inside it, so it doesn’t really matter if they can eat off the floor, as long as they can walk on it.
5. Make your bottom line price the list price–You need to price your house at your absolute bottom line. Let your real estate agent know you are not willing to negotiate, make any concessions or do any repairs. Your list price is indicative of the home’s condition, so repairs are not negotiable.

PLEASE NOTE: This post is completely tongue-in-cheek and should not be used as a field guide to relieve stress. Using the right real estate agent from the start is a real estate seller’s best stress buster.

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll want to read:

• How to sell your house and keep your sanity
• The 5 rights of a real estate seller
• Homeowners: Stop being doormats and start speaking up

Subscribe in a reader     OR     Subscribe to Connect2Agent - Home Buyers and Sellers by Email

Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Real Estate Fun. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.