If there's a mantra every seller should memorize before listing, it's this: expect the unexpected. While we're going to educate you about the process of selling your home and share our thoughts about how the sale could go based on what's happening in your market right now, no two sales are exactly alike. There are buyers, inspectors, lenders, appraisers, showing schedules, repair requests, and a surprising number of small details that can affect your plans, your budget, or both.
When these issues pop up, they can feel like an emergency. You worry that you won't be able to sell your home, or that you missed something important, or even worry just because we're 100% calm about the situation that's currently sending you into overdrive.
Turns out we're calm for a reason. Some issues are so common that experienced agents expect these little setbacks before they happen. Here's a quick list of just a few of the most common surprises.
You have to completely re-stage your home.
However tactfully communicated, few people enjoy hearing that their current furniture is going to distract potential buyers, that most of their personal treasures need to be put in storage, and that they need to do an epic declutter before they can sell their home. It's a little embarrassing. It can also make the prep feel much bigger than expected. You might think: "They should be looking at the home, not my kids' backpacks, my coffee mug collection, or the chair that has lived in that corner since 2018."
Yet the cliched reactions of reality show home buyers are often how real-life buyers react. They focus on paint color instead of room size, furniture placement instead of layout, crowded counters instead of counter space, and packed closets instead of storage. Plus, the more "stuff" in a room, the smaller it will feel.
Staging is about giving buyers a clear enough canvas to picture themselves in the space, which is genuinely hard to do when the canvas is covered in someone else's stuff. If we're gently suggesting a lot of staging, it's because your home's present state isn't going to allow buyers to do that easily.
The first week was quiet. Or the first offer came in lower than you expected.
You told yourself you weren't going to check the showing notifications obsessively. Then you checked them obsessively. By day five, you'd refreshed your inbox enough times to deserve some kind of medal, and the crickets were getting louder.
Or you got showings, the feedback sounded positive, and then the first offer arrived and you stared at it for a moment wondering if the buyer accidentally dropped a digit somewhere.
A slow first week usually means the listing needs a small adjustment to get in front of the right buyers. A low first offer usually means the buyer is interested and testing how much flexibility exists. The first couple of weeks give us real information to work with: how many showings are coming in, what buyers are saying when they leave, and whether interest is building. Once we have that, we can figure out whether anything needs to change and what the right next move is.
The buyer stops communicating for a few days
You accepted the offer. Everyone signed. The buyer seemed excited. Then a few days pass without much of an update, and suddenly the silence feels suspicious.
Maybe they changed their mind. Maybe their financing is a mess. Maybe the inspection scared them. Maybe their agent is avoiding us because a repair request is coming. Maybe they drove by at night, saw one raccoon near the mailbox, and decided the neighborhood now belongs to wildlife.
Or maybe they're dealing with their lender, scheduling inspections, reviewing documents, waiting on an appraisal, getting quotes, talking with an attorney, or trying to decide what they want to ask for before they say anything official.
We'll still check in. We'll still track the important dates. We'll still make sure the buyer is doing what the contract requires. A few slow days may simply mean everyone is waiting on the next piece.
The buyer's inspector basically wrote a book called "Everything Is Wrong With Your Home."
This surprise really can send you into panic mode, because a heavy inspection report seems like the precursor to a doomed sale. We may have already talked to you about disclosures, recommended repairs, helped you prepare the home before listing, and yet there's somehow still a bunch of problems.
The issue often comes down to the inspector. The buyer's inspector might just be more stringent than others, or may like to be exceedingly thorough when listing wear-and-tear issues. You should still expect to hear that there are problems with your home, though. Every home has a few. While a potential buyer can, and often will, use the inspection report to negotiate, we'll offer guidance on what requests are reasonable and what aren't.
You had a buyer... and now you don't.
The sale couldn't have gone smoother. You had an offer, found a buyer, had a contract signed, and you were done...or so you thought.
Welcome to the period between contract and closing, where anything can happen. Maybe the buyer's financing fell through. Perhaps the buyer had a major life change. Maybe the appraisal created a problem. Maybe the inspection made them nervous. Maybe someone discovered the beginnings of a thriving termite neighborhood under your deck.
Whatever the reason was, the contract fell through and you're back on the market.
While you can't predict everything that can happen before closing, you can reduce some risk beforehand. Consider offers from buyers with strong financing, be realistic about inspection concerns, and make sure your home is as prepared as possible before it hits the market. If something falls apart anyway, we'll help you figure out whether anything needs to change before the next buyer comes through.
While we tried to outline a few common "emergencies" that can send a seller's heart racing, we know that every seller has different concerns and priorities. If you're unsure of how much you should be preparing your home for an upcoming sale, we're here to listen to your concerns and help walk you through the process.
