Selling Your Home During a Life Change

Selling your home during a life change can be physically as well as emotionally draining at times. Two areas where we see this is when we are involved in a transaction where a loved one has passed and their estate is being dealt with.

The other is a family who is going through a separation or divorce. It is key to work with someone who has your best interests in mind. You are already dealing with a lot as it is. Let us help you through this process.

I have been asked to write a blog from our Marketing & Administrator Sierra Rutherford at the Here to Help Team . Sierra keeps us looking good with our online presence and guides us older folk on the ins and outs of what to do…and what not to do!!!

Our mastermind or team leader Andra Arnold has asked us to write a blog. Come up with something that you the reader can relate to or simply let us pass some knowledge onto you from our experiences while working in our profession. Let me also add that the comment “mastermind” or “team leader” will definitely get me into trouble but it will ultimately end up with her amazing smile at the end. Andra has built this team of amazing people around her to simply do one thing and that one thing to help. Help us grow as agents which in return will help our clients.

I was added to the team just before COVID hit and now that we are somewhat on the other side of it as far as being able to physically show homes again I feel at home with my new family.

Since I have never really written a blog I wasn’t sure about the structure of one. I guess I could have Googled it or downloaded a template but I thought I’d just start typing. If some of you are still reading thanks. If some of you have stopped well you haven’t started the actual topic.

When asked to come up with a topic for this blog my mind automatically thought of death & divorce or separation. There is saying I heard almost at the beginning of getting my license 9 years ago. The saying was “well two things will always keep us busy…death & divorce”. I thought to myself “we aren’t ambulance chasers are we?!?!”. It was kind of morbid.

Separation

As I dove into the business that comment really ran true when sitting across the table from potential clients when being interviewed for a listing. The question is always asked, “why are you selling?”. The answer. We are separating. Your reply will either be awkward and the tension is so high across the table you want to run out the door screaming or your demeanour will be calm and you will reply “I’ve been through this so I can relate to the emotions you are going through”. I have and no matter what anyone says this process is not an easy one. Mine, thankfully, was amicable and we get along to this day.

Our job as sales representatives sometimes is to simply listen and help guide people through a difficult time during the sale of their matrimonial home. There are so many other things one is having to think about especially if children are involved.

Let the agent deal and maneuver their way around this aspect. Let both parties involved breathe a little bit. Have I lost you yet?  Am I making sense here? My goal was to relate to the separation piece since I have been through it and also had to sell our home. It was not easy but we did it and I am stronger when dealing with my clients when they are going through this.

Death

Death. Sad yes but inevitably we will have to deal with this many times throughout our lives. We see it a lot within our business and it is a tough one. Often we see family members having to sell the home where they grew up because one of their parents has passed and the surviving member is now in a home.

There is a lot to do to get a home ready and nine times out of ten the siblings are busy so the purging or delegating of where items will ultimately go falls back onto us. Which is totally okay since this is part of our job. Whether it’s cleaning or donating or organizing the auctioneer & their company to come in to place items online. This is something that many people have not thought of and when it’s time to sell it’s sprung on them.

Having been through this scenario many times I am prepared for it. Seeing people overwhelmed by what has been dropped on them I have also watched time & time again. All I say is “take a deep breath.  We’ve got this”.

Maybe for my next blog, I will download a template.

Written by Aaron Zuccala, Sales Representative

Learn More About Aaron

Mobile: 519-831-9853 | Office:  519-821-3600 | Email: [email protected]