How to Deal with D.O.M.

Are you counting the days that your home has been listed for sale?  Welcome to the club.

Our project property has been for sale now for 30 days without an offer.  That’s nothing to sweat about.  We see homes in our neighborhood that have been on the market for well over a year.  We can’t afford to be in that position, so we priced ours very competitively, and staged it to appeal to most people. 

Many sellers are losing sleep worrying about double mortgage payments, falling equity, foreclosure, or whether they will be able to relocate for a better job, or to finally retire.  I hope you are not in this position.  I hope you are selling your home for the best of reasons – to move onto the next happy chapter of your life, whatever that may be.

If the stress of having a home on the market longer than you expected is weighing you down, there are some mental gymnastics you can do to lighten the load.

• Tell yourself that all it takes is one person to buy your home.  That person is out there now. 
• Remind yourself that you have had the pleasure of living in this home for however long you have owned it.  Home ownership doesn’t always mean making money.
• Count your blessings. Watch the national news on television or read a newspaper daily to help keep your life in perspective.  Half the world’s population lives in unsanitary conditions without access to clean water.  One billion people worldwide live in slums. 
• Know that there are some things over which you have no control.  If your home is priced right, is clean, and staged to be attractive, it will sell.