Articles provided by RE-Sterling.com

There are many mistakes a person can make when deciding to sell a home. Listing your home with a REALTOR® just because that Realtor is your friend can present some of the most serious problems when listing your home. Consider the following story that talks about this point.

A home owner listed his home with his best friend, that also had gotten his real estate license a few months ago. Considering the friendship, the Realtor could not bring himself to tell the owner that his home was dirty and that it needed to be cleaned up if it was ever going to sell. The Realtor was also reluctant to break the news to the owner that he had spent thousands of dollars on home improvements that may have added to the owners's enjoyment but did not increase the value of the owner's home.

As a result, the Realtor tried to sell the home for tens of thousands of dollars above the market value and in poor showing condition. Not surprisingly, time passed with little activity and no interest from buyers. The Owner's friendship with the Realtor became more and more strained as each month passed without a buyer. After several unsuccessful months, the owner reduced the price of his home to well below market value, but by then it was too late. The few people who came to see the home had already purchased another house, and the most active buying season was over. The Owner decided to take his home off the market for a while.

Turn the clock ahead several months, the owner contacted a well-known, local real estate team who met with him and told him the truth about what it was actually going to take to get the home sold. This Realtor shared with the owner the history of sales in the neighborhood, gave him a list of all the competition, shared an aggressive computerized marketing plan and suggested a the house value that the marketplace would yeild. The professional helped him stage his home - in other words, he prepared the home to be marketed - a secret of selling of which only a few professionals are aware. Appraisers have often said that the simple act of staging can add hundreds if not thousands of dollars of value to a home. Within weeks, the owner sold his house for more than he had it listed for with his friend.

The sad part of this listing is that the owner now does not talk to his friend for not being honest with him up front and for not getting his home sold the first time around. Although the owner's friend was a good professional, he simply couldn't separate business from friendship and as a result he lost the friendship and the owners business. That is just one of the dangers of listing your home with a friend.

Most Realtors can't draw a distinct line between their friendships and their business, so if you truly value your friendship and you sincerely want to sell your home in Northern Virginia, play it safe and list with someone who can be objective with you and who can sell your house quick. Selling a home is too complicated and too important to entrust to a part time professional, who by not knowing the pitfalls and complications of the business can end up costing you money

Lets separate the professional job of selling your home from your friends. Keep your friends and sell your home. This is a true win-win situation.