Patience is not just key, it’s critical! I would argue that your financial independence is completely dependent on whether you practice patience as part of the foundation in your life or not. My journey from being plagued with debt to being debt free, and now building wealth has included many events that have tested me mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. At the same time, I have been required to be patient through to the end result (which in most cases weren’t all that bad).
In your case this might be pursuing a career change that leads to better pay, benefits, or a pension. For someone else, this might mean getting out of legal battles that jeapordised your financial freedom. There are many different situations that life can throw at us where we can try to slide our way through, but sometimes trying to rush the process can be painful (and very costly)!
Take trying to sell your home for example. If you’re like me, you’ve bought and sold your own real estate in the past. I know quite a bit about buying and selling property and businesses and have done so in the past, therefore it makes sense for me to try to sell my own home, businesses, etc. While I completely believe in the value of real estate professionals who do these types of transactions for a living, real estate is a passion of mine which I am quite familiar with and comfortable with so I conduct my own transactions.
We’re not talking about a complicated real estate portfolio but we’re talking about a primary residence. Seems simple, but it’s not! There is alot to consider in such a transaction, which is my single most valuable asset. Making a mistake can be extremely costly and I don’t recommend that just anybody do this!
I listed my own home privately this past summer against the advise of most people I know. The market here is completely oversaturated with properties, the economy is down, interest rates are rising, and there are less homes being sold than ever before, plus there are plenty of spec homes sitting empty on the market as well! All things being considered, it’s a buyers market and there’s too much inventory and not enough buyers. Suffice to say we didn’t pick the best time to list our house for sale!!
The first 6 months were not the most comfortable months for my wife, daughter, and I. We hosted many open houses on the weekends, had tons of strangers coming through our home, meaning that I needed to be there, and my wife and baby needed to be out of the home. And let’s not forget that the house needed to be spotless and in show ready condition!
What was the end result of all of these open houses, weekends where we’re stuck at home, hours of cleaning, and so on???? NOTHING!!!! Not a single interested buyer willing to make an offer!!! We had at least a hundred people and not one offer…. (SMACK – Life punching me square in the eyes again)!
Did we have discussions on whether we made the best decision listing our home for sale privately? Absolutely! I’d be lying if I told you that there weren’t a discussion or two (perhaps there was wine involved) where we thought that maybe we had made the wrong decision and should have listed with a popular realtor in town. (FYI: WARNING: Realtors in most markets do not support private listings and therefore won’t show them to prospective buyers. This eliminates a large portion of the potential buyers out there!). We offered a full commission to the buyers realtor, but to no avail.
After another three months had gone by at this time I went back to the drawing board and looked at all the evidence surrounding my listing and confirmed that I was totally comfortable with the listing as is. It’s not likely that a realtor would be able to add any extra value to the online marketing platform or increase exposure. It was also the first time that I’d ever tried selling property in an extreme buyers market. Other properties in our neighborhood were also still for sale or had been taken off the market.
In my opinion, we had the nicest house in that price range in our neighborhood, we were the lowest priced home with that level of finishing in our neighborhood, and the listing itself really showed the essence of the house and it’s quality. Realtors that did show our home to their clients said it was listed for a fair price and showed a 10 out of 10! There was a few other houses for sale in the same neighborhood but we felt confident that we showed nicer than our competitors!
When I spoke to realtors regarding our property, all of them told us that the property was worth much less than what we wanted (and needed) to get for it! Let’s face it, nobody wants to lose money on their home but selling it much further below it’s true value to guarantee a sold property is the easiest form of selling in any industry. Anyone can sell a home for the lowest price possible. But it takes patience and proper positioning in the market to capture the right buyer to get your ideal market value!
I won’t get into too much detail about properly pricing your home for sale, but I would recommend that you certainly do your homework! It’s critical that you list at as close to the actual market value as possible to capture as many people’s interest as possible (without leaving any money on the table). If you’re not sure, you can hire an appraiser, or use your most recent tax assessments and compare to recent sales in your area on comparable homes. It depends on the urgency of your situation. If you have the time to sell independently, then go for it, otherwise hiring a realtor might be best for you and worth the money!
Why is patience everything???
Over time, we all make decisions that have major affects on our savings, investments, and financial independence. Selling your home yourself might be the right avenue for you, but you need to know that it will likely take time! In a sellers market, your chances of selling are much greater! But in a buyers market, or a market that is heavily suppressed by the economy, high inventory, etc. listing with a realtor might make the most sense.
Whatever path you choose, just make sure that it’s right for you! Also make sure to check with your tax advisor if moving costs, including the commissions paid to a realtor are able to be used on your next tax return as credits! This make s a huge difference towards a refund, which is always a nice way to start the year!
RAFI
