The MOST important skill you can learn when selling your home is to, think like a buyer.

Lets start with a positive thought, imagine you are the buyer of your own home and ready to close!

You have payed and signed all the closing docs. All you can think is getting keys and moving in.

Now you are filled with thoughts of the first nights in your new home, where to place your furniture, celebrating with friends, on and on….

Then BAM it hits you, the seller does not have keys for you.

Your world turns inside out. You have moving van in route and no way to access your new home.

You have to set all your stuff in the back yard and camp out. Hopefully it doesn’t rain!

Where are your keys?

This scenario has happened to me when representing several of my buyers and believe me I made it right for my buyer but it was not a comfortable experience for the seller.

Nobody wants to reimburse a buyer for soggy belongings. The first thing you need to do before even listing your home is find all your keys & remotes for the property.

Organize your keys in a plastic food container

• Locks to home,
• Irrigation control box,
• HOA / Community Center / Pool
• Mailbox keys
• Gate keys,
• Gate Clickers,
• Garage door remotes,
• Remote garage door keypad codes,
• Etc.

Step 1: Test keys, locks, & Remotes

As you test each key and remote label it. You can label remotes with masking tape and sharpie marker. Then, use key tags for keys. You can purchase these at any hardware store or off Amazon via this affiliate link for Avery Key Tags.

If you have to jiggle or wiggle keys to unlock you risk keys sticking or breaking off. This means an EXPENSIVE trip from the locksmith, NOT FUN! Hit your locks with graphite based lock grease available at any hardware store or on this Affiliate link for Lock Grease from Amazon.

Step 2: Provide 3 Keys to Your Agent

You may want to change out ONE lock on your home and provide ONLY that key to your agent. The best one is the front door lock. This provides an inexpensive solution should you fall out of friendship with someone checking up on your home. Simply change out the one lock and update your agent with new key. If you do this keep the old lock for the new owner.

1. A key to place in the Agent Key-safe
2. A key to place in a contractor box
3. A backup key for your agent’s file

This covers all bases while your home is on the market. If you need to let a contractor or neighbor into your home you can give them the contractor box code INSTEAD of giving out copies of your keys. Sometimes keys get lost or destroyed just a fact of life, things go wrong. The contractor box and agent backup is extra insurance.

Step 3: Store the remaining keys in a owner file

We recommend you pick a drawer in your kitchen and or purchase a rubber maid file tote. This is a place where you will make a new owner file. There you can place all your remotes, keys, and appliance manuals, and house records for the lucky buyer of your home.

Extra Credit: replace all batteries

While you are at it label all your ceiling fan remotes with applicable room. The replace all your batteries in remotes & smoke detectors. This can saves you from having to replace remotes for the new buyer. Home inspectors have been known to flag remotes as simply not working when they cannot figure which room they go to or they have dead batteries.

Right click save as to download a pre-market checklist before you list your home

Ask yourself, “what would the buyer do?”

Buyers gravitate to sellers who best understand them so STOP thinking like a seller and START thinking like a buyer.

Get out a pad and paper. Number each line on the paper from 1 to 10.

Pretend you are buying your own home. Ask yourself the following questions while walking through your home.

1. Is it unsafe?
2. Is it ugly?
3. Does it require work?

Write down ten things you spot on your paper…

it only takes ONE of these for a buyer to (A) write a low ball offer costing you thousands of dollars in lost equity or (B) worse yet walk out the door and loose the opportunity to sell all together.

Right click save as to download a exercise on thinking like a buyer

What you need to do right now

It is vital to get in that buyer mindset. Work with your end goal in mind, “Selling your home”.

STEP 1: Click here to print your pre-market checklist and get your keys organized.

STEP 2: Click here to print the “think like a buyer” role playing game.

BONUS: before listing your home go on a buyer tour with your agent to preview your immediate competition. Compare the homes you preview to what has sold and the condition of your home.