We’ve heard it all before… especially comments such as this one:

“I could hire a monkey to sell my house in this market!”

Luckily there are plenty of monkeys out there who’d be eager to take your listing…

But this is a common myth that can be very misleading, and which all too often leads to a very disappointing experience for over-confident sellers, and their monkey brokers alike!

The greatest misconception is that people fail to understand the difference between generating an offer (relatively easy) and actually ending up with a firm and final sale (much more difficult). To then actually arrive at the finish line without going through an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions and stresses is something even the most experienced brokers continue to strive for.

This is why Team Broady has spent the past 2 decades attempting to perfect the process, in a way that’s easily applicable and customizable to each individual property that we sell. 
We refer to this process as our strategic “Game Plan”. 

This week, I reached out to one of our clients who recently sold their home in Beaconsfield with us, to ask them first-hand what they thought of the experience and how the Game Plan might have contributed to their results. I’d like to personally acknowledge and thank Lori Ozbalt for agreeing to do this candid interview with me. I hope you’ll enjoy our discussion below…

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Mark: What was your biggest fear or concern (if any) when you thought about selling your home?

Lori: One genuine concern we had was that we might not get the price we wanted for the home. Despite the favourable market conditions, we really had a number in mind in order for it all to make sense for us, and there was a legitimate fear that we might not attain that goal.

Another fear we had was the thought of saying goodbye to our family home after having lived here for 20+ years. Even in a seller’s market like this, no matter how much money you end up selling the property for… it’s still your home. It was a tough decision to make, and certainly came with its fair share of anxiety. 

Mark: How did you go about choosing a realtor to represent you?

Lori: When we bought the home in 2000, Libby was the listing agent representing the seller, and we came to visit the home without our own broker - so we ended up purchasing the property through Libby who handled both sides of the transaction. Even though she was clearly looking after the seller, we always felt that she was extremely honest and fair with us, and that she ultimately had our best interests at heart. Now add to this the fact that every year since we’ve lived in this home, Libby has always kept in touch with us, kept us informed about the market, and has never failed to deliver one of her calendars during the Holidays. Even though Boris and I know other real estate brokers in the area, we never even considered calling anyone else but Libby and the rest of your team.

Mark: I know you also worked closely with Catherine on the sale of your home this time around. What was your first impression after meeting with Catherine?

Lori: She’s tough! We knew right away that we would be dealing with someone who was confident, precise, and highly professional. We also got the impression that Catherine was someone who would not only look out for our best interests… but she’d fight for them! She was aggressive and assertive and we felt like she was exactly the person we needed to help us achieve our goals - including that ambitious price we were after.

The strategic plan she presented to us was very concise and deliberate, and we understood that there were certain steps that absolutely needed to be taken in order to ensure that the plan unfolded as intended. Catherine made it clear to us that it was a team effort and that we’d have to roll up our sleeves and contribute to the process as well.

Mark: You mentioned the strategic plan. Was this something that was explained to you and Boris early on, and did you feel like you were guided through the process effectively? Or was there ever a feeling of confusion as if you didn’t know what next to expect?

Lori: Yes, the plan was laid out clearly to us from the get-go, and we felt entirely in control and not under any pressure throughout the process. 

Mark: Were there any aspects of the plan that made you apprehensive or that you had any doubts about? 

Lori: The only time we felt unsure or apprehensive was when we discussed pricing strategies for the first time. We initially had trouble wrapping our heads around the tactics for “under-pricing” as a way to increase demand and generate multiple offers. But in the end we trusted Catherine and Libby’s advice and sure enough - the plan worked!

Mark: Which steps did you find most helpful and effective?

Lori: Having the home inspected before listing made so much sense to us. We followed that piece of advice immediately and it just made us feel so much more confident about selling the house. We knew we could be totally transparent about any issues we found, and we had no worries about what surprises the buyers might find because we’d already found them!

Mark: What was the most challenging part of the process?

Lori: Honestly, it was dealing with the high volume of traffic and the sheer number of visits to our home. Catherine had warned us that it would be like this, but it was hard to accept at first, and we were a little nervous about it. But once again, we took her advice and found a way to get out of the house while the bulk of the visits took place during those first few days on the market. In the end, we could see how it played out and it made perfect sense. It made managing the visits during those first few days so much easier. It was a brilliant plan!

Mark: Is there anything you might have done differently if you could do it all over again?

Lori: Perhaps we would have invested a little more time and effort into some of the home-staging suggestions that Catherine had given us. She had a lot of great ideas, but we simply didn’t have the time to get them all done. We can’t help but wonder if we might have gotten a little more value out of the property if we had followed all of her advice, but in the end, we are still very happy with the results. 

Mark: Lori, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me and for sharing your perspective with us. I’m very pleased to hear that you had a positive experience selling your home, and I wish you the best of luck with your move and all your future adventures!