Selling a property should generally be a fun experience - swapping the old for the new, starting a new life somewhere fresh, somewhere wider. Well, at least that's what we hope in the beginning. Here are some painful situations that can happen to you in the process of selling a property.
Situation 1 - going back to mum and dad
Often, people who sell a property do so in order to move to a new place. Except they miss the moment with the purchase of a new home and it turns out that there is time between vacating the old place and moving into the new one, which time they have to spend back in, say, one person's parents' apartment. Only, moving back often turns out to be a bad move due to incompatibility of personalities, less space for luggage, etc. One option to solve this case is by negotiating a longer period of vacating the sold home until a new place to move into is found. There are many savvy buyers who are in no hurry to move in and are willing to let you stay for a period of say 3 extra months.
Situation 2 - you see comfort, they see discomfort
It is quite common for sellers to leave all their belongings, including personal items and clothes "artistically strewn" around the apartment in order to show how much stuff can fit inside and how much storage space there is. However, all this stuff prevents potential buyers from imagining themselves living in the home for sale and how their furniture and belongings will fit together. It's always much better to have all personal belongings carefully stowed and arranged to open up the air in the rooms so potential buyers can get a real idea of how much space they'll have for their stuff.
Situation 3 - why didn't we fix this earlier
A while ago we were selling a flat that had a problem with part of the ceiling in one bedroom. The sellers decided that they weren't going to fix the problem because "they couldn't get their money back for the repair" and "we'd better let the clients know what was in store for them, not gloss over it". We couldn't convince them and started selling the home. Accordingly, every customer we took in asked what was going to happen to that roof and who was going to bear the cost of the repairs. After not being able to sell the property for 6 months and 2 reductions in the sale price we were able to convince the owners to repair the attic. In the end they spent the money on repairs again, but now the flat was worth a lot less than they originally asked. Don't put off repairs like this, make sure the apartment is "saleable" before thinking about how much it will cost to bring it up to this condition. Otherwise it can sit on the market for quite some time.
Situation 4 - nowhere to park
Did you know that there are 400 cars per 1000 people in Bulgaria. Owning a car for Bulgarians is like owning a property - it is in our blood. That is why it is very important to know where you can park around your home. Your customers are your buyers' cars.
Situation 5 - well ..., maybe I want my home back
Selling homes is an emotional process. Often the homes being sold are properties that the owner grew up in, or raised his/her children in, and just like a dear friend, there comes a point where it appears that he/she is unwilling to part with all of that history and in many cases puts an unreasonably high price on the home, or simply walks away from selling it at some point in the transaction. Emotions are the thing that make us human. Not the things associated with them. Even if you sell your home that has been in the family for 40 years, you cannot magically lose all the memories associated with it. And yet you probably chose to sell it to go to a new and nicer place to start your fresh start, as I mentioned above. So, think about the positive emotions you will get from your new home and don't dwell too much on the past. Its right there and there is nothing you can do to change it. You can only move forward.
