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The Power of Partnership – Step 4 of Selling Your Longtime Home
32 Plays3 months ago
Welcome to Part 4 of our four-part series, How to Sell Your Longtime Home for Top Dollar with Ease. In this heartfelt episode, Lauren Watts focuses on a critical—but often overlooked—element of the home-selling journey: partnership.
Selling your home isn’t just about real estate. It’s about transition, emotion, and letting go of a chapter filled with decades of memories. Lauren explains why this journey shouldn't—and truly can't—be done alone.
You’ll learn:
- Why trying to go it alone often leads to overwhelm and costly mistakes
- The trusted professionals you should bring into your circle, from financial advisors to estate planning attorneys to transition specialists
- How to avoid common pitfalls like selling before knowing where you're going
- The importance of legal and financial readiness before listing
- Why your real estate experience should reflect your values, not just market data
✨ Feeling overwhelmed? We've got you.
Watch our complimentary e-webinar for deeper support:
👉 www.dovetailcompanies.com/webinar
📞 Connect with Us
Whether you're just getting started or already in the thick of planning, we're here to help.
🌐 Visit www.dovetailcompanies.com
📧 Email info@dovetailcompanies.com
📱 Call 617-227-1600
At Dovetail, we believe real estate is personal. Let’s do this with heart.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Engaging Aging' Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Engaging Aging. I'm Erin DeCarlo. And I'm Lauren Watts. We believe life gets richer with age, and we're here to prove it. We bring you real conversations about aging well, living fully, and navigating this journey with confidence.
00:00:15
Speaker
So let's dive in, because aging isn't something to endure, it's something to embrace.
Episode Focus: Selling Your Longtime Home
00:00:23
Speaker
Hi there, and welcome back to our podcast series, Selling Your Long Time Home for Top Dollar with Ease. This is episode four. I'm Lauren Watts, and today's episode is such an important one because we are going to be talking about your journey and why this shouldn't be a solo one.
00:00:44
Speaker
We're going to dive into the partnerships and how those can really impact you. So whether you've lived in your home for 10 years or 50, deciding to sell it is so much more than just about signing papers and putting up a for sale sign.
00:01:02
Speaker
It's personal, it's emotional, and let's be honest, it is so overwhelming.
Emotional Challenges of Selling a Home
00:01:08
Speaker
But here's what I want to say to you from the very beginning.
00:01:12
Speaker
You don't have to do this alone, and in fact, you shouldn't. So I'm here to talk about why. One, i think that the emotional load is real. I can't tell you how many times I've sat in a client's living room and watched them look around and not knowing what they're going to do first.
00:01:35
Speaker
Not because they don't have the physical ability to do it, but because the memories are so thick in the air that surrounds them. This is where their kids grew up. It's where...
00:01:48
Speaker
They spent their holidays. It's where life happened for them. Maybe it's where they lost their spouse. There are so many areas or reasons as to why their home and has made it their home for so many years.
00:02:04
Speaker
And I think that that emotional weight is so valid. And oftentimes it can feel really heavy And so if you try and do this all all alone, you're not just packing boxes, you're sorting memories, you're processing grief, you're carrying the mental and the emotional labor of an entire chapter.
00:02:26
Speaker
That's a lot.
Building a Professional Support Team
00:02:28
Speaker
So that's why having a trusted team is really crucial to you throughout this transition and throughout the process of selling your long time home.
00:02:41
Speaker
In a lot of our episodes, we have referred to professionals like senior and specialty move managers, real estate advisors, transition planners, financial advisors, legal and estate planning attorneys, all of the people that are part of your process and should be part of your process to help you carry the weight.
00:03:05
Speaker
Again, not just physically, but emotionally too. These are the professionals that are in their different silos that regardless of what's happening, there are going to be different parts of the timeline where you're going to need to bring them in.
00:03:21
Speaker
And let's be honest, when we're overwhelmed and we don't know what to do and we are doing this on our own, it can actually derail our progress.
Managing Overwhelm in Home Selling
00:03:34
Speaker
I think what happens is oftentimes when we are overwhelmed, we can actually derail our progress. Let me give you a perfect example. Have you ever walked into a room to clean it and you walk in, you look around and you actually turn around and you leave without touching anything?
00:03:57
Speaker
That is because it feels too much. We oftentimes in our conversations talk about that means boiling the ocean. We look at something, we try and go in and we try and conquer it all on our own without having a plan and tacking tackling it in manageable bites.
00:04:16
Speaker
We're boiling the ocean. We're taking on too much. And we hear it all of the time. i just don't know where to start.
00:04:27
Speaker
It could be the closets. It could be the boxes in the basement. It could be the photos and the paper. The overwhelm becomes a reason for us to not take action.
00:04:38
Speaker
and so the longer it sits, the heavier it gets. So that's why we as an organization believe in breaking it down and taking it in manageable bites.
Financial Planning in Home Selling
00:04:53
Speaker
And that goes along with working with the right professionals to help you through this process as well. We cannot go at this alone and do this by ourselves.
00:05:05
Speaker
And so just sometimes starting with one aspect or one component and feeling really good about that, maintaining our autonomy and making those decisions can actually help us build that momentum and drive us forward. And then the process starts to build.
00:05:23
Speaker
I also think that there is so much when you start to think about selling your longtime home, there's a lot at stake, right? Financially and otherwise.
00:05:35
Speaker
Selling your long-time home is probably one of the largest financial decisions of your life. And so it really deserves some serious planning, some expert guidance, and thoughtful edge execution.
00:05:53
Speaker
So when we try and go at it alone, especially without current market insights and expertise or pricing strategy or tax implications of selling our home and not fully understanding all of that,
00:06:09
Speaker
It can really cost us dearly at the end of the day. Unfortunately, as part of what we do, we have seen a lot of people leave tens of thousands of dollars on the table simply because they didn't know what they didn't know.
00:06:27
Speaker
And that's why we are here and find it so important to provide you with this education so that you can truly avoid any financial
Tax and Legal Preparations
00:06:36
Speaker
pitfalls. Something what a lot of people don't realize until it's too late is that selling your long-time home can have tax implications, capital gains, exemptions, timing strategies.
00:06:50
Speaker
Talking to our trusted financial advisor in our CPAs before we list can actually help us avoid missing opportunities to protect our assets or even worse, to trigger any unnecessary tax consequences issues.
00:07:07
Speaker
things that may come up as part of the process. We often say sometimes the real estate process of how things are done are a little bit backwards. And oftentimes we're not finding out about these complications until the end.
00:07:22
Speaker
However, if we have the right professionals in place, as soon as we figure that out, they're ready to go and we're not losing any time on moving that process forward with clarity and with ease.
00:07:36
Speaker
So my main focus of all of this is that you need a plan to understand what comes next so that we can really make sure that you feel good about this transaction and your transition that's that the right professionals are setting you up for success.
Planning Next Living Situation
00:07:57
Speaker
A lot of times we don't know what we don't know. We don't know what questions we need to ask. And so really kind of putting out there what our financial and legal and estate planning situation is and what our goals are, these professionals are going to be able to help us accomplish this goal sooner rather than later.
00:08:20
Speaker
to Mistakes that we see is people selling their home before they know where they're going. Not only does this create panic, but it creates unnecessary pressure and it creates unnecessary stress.
00:08:39
Speaker
And so that's why we guide people to not put their house on the market immediately and do this backwards, but to really stop and take a moment to pause and take a breath and to understand Where are you going next?
00:08:59
Speaker
What does your next home look like for you? We can't effectively put a plan together to sell your home until we actually know that.
00:09:11
Speaker
And so it's really important to ask yourself, am right-sizing to a smaller home or a condo? Am I thinking about moving in with family?
00:09:23
Speaker
Am I thinking about renting? on a monthly basis? Or am I thinking about moving to a senior living community, a lifestyle option, something that's going to give me what I feel as though I'm missing?
00:09:39
Speaker
Are you downsizing to make your life more manageable? So the importance is let's gain clarity on that first. Then We can create a timeline that works backward from your move-in date to make sure that everything is set up for success and you have the right professionals in place for you.
00:10:04
Speaker
At Dovetail, we often help our clients move first and then prepare. and list their home for sale.
Legal Support and Professional Guidance
00:10:11
Speaker
We call this our move for a sell later approach, and we've referenced it in a lot of our other podcast and training opportunities, and there's a reason behind that. And that's because this is such a more peaceful approach that allows you to make decisions with a clear head rather than from a place of urgency and overwhelm.
00:10:33
Speaker
So if I can give you some advice today, it's really don't overlook starting the process and meeting with your legal and financial planning guides.
00:10:48
Speaker
The people in your life, whether you have them today or you need someone, to give you that expert insight and guidance. This is where you need to start.
00:10:59
Speaker
Most times when we meet with our clients, we will halt the home selling process if they don't have legal and financial plans in place. The other things to consider as part of this is asking yourself, is your home held in a trust?
00:11:15
Speaker
Or do I have an estate plan? Do I have joint ownership with someone in this home? Do I have my power of attorney documents in place?
00:11:26
Speaker
All of these are essential components to think about when you're working with an estate planning or real estate attorney. Because there are so many times that we have seen real estate closings delayed or even fall apart entirely because the necessary documents weren't in order.
00:11:45
Speaker
So working with a legal professional before listing and ensures that your property can legally and smoothly transfer ownership when that time comes.
00:11:56
Speaker
It also is going to protect your interest, your wishes, and ultimately your legacy. And lastly, you really just deserve that expert help.
00:12:08
Speaker
For most of our clients, they have not purchased or sold a home in 30, 40, 50 plus years. The real estate component and transaction and process has changed so much over time, not to mention the way that we plan and support this transition as well.
00:12:28
Speaker
And so you deserve that expert help and guidance along the way.
Emotional Support in Home Selling
00:12:33
Speaker
And there's a human side to this, right? Selling your long time home is not just a business transaction.
00:12:41
Speaker
If it is you're probably working with the wrong person. This is a life transition. And so you deserve the professionals who don't just do the job well, but they do the job with heart.
00:12:55
Speaker
At Dovetail, we don't want to just sell your home. We want you to feel seen, to feel heard, and to feel supported along the way. And so we feel as though the professionals that you're connecting with should be doing that for you as well.
00:13:11
Speaker
And this really means sitting beside you, not standing above you. It means listening before acting. It means creating a process that reflects your values and your vision.
00:13:25
Speaker
It means you being a part of the process as much as you want to be part of this process and making sure that this is executed with ease for you.
00:13:37
Speaker
Bringing the right professionals into your sphere to support you throughout all of this is meant to just elevate that experience for you. It's not meant to take anything away. If you're that type of person that is just a yes, I hired you. I'm going to let you control that. That's okay too.
00:13:53
Speaker
You are in the driver's seat of this process. And that is the beautiful thing. So if you are here trying to tackle this on your own, I really hope that today's episode has offered you a breath of relief.
00:14:10
Speaker
And for you to walk away from this knowing that you don't have to carry this alone. And quite honestly, you shouldn't.
Support and Next Episode Preview
00:14:17
Speaker
There is support out there that's both professional and personal and engaging and can really help you take this in manageable bites so that you don't feel as though you're overwhelming and boiling the ocean at the end of the day.
00:14:36
Speaker
In our next episode, we're going to be talking about how to prepare your home to sell for top dollar with a focus on what to do and what not to do when it comes to updates and staging. So you don't want to miss this. Until then, I'm Lauren Watts, and this has been the four-part series of Selling Your Longtime Home Reconciliation. for top dollar with ease when looking at your partnership component.
00:15:02
Speaker
So thank you so much for listening. And remember, you are not alone. Until next time. Thank you for joining us today. we love having these conversations and we hope they sparked something for you too. If you enjoyed this episode, please like comment and share it with your community because together we can change the way the world sees aging.
00:15:22
Speaker
You can find us at dovetailcompanies.com or on any of our social media channels at dovetail companies. And just a quick note, the opinions shared in this podcast are those of our guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of Engaging Aging dovetail companies or our team.
00:15:40
Speaker
So until we see you next time, keep engaging with aging.