Things Out of Your Control When Selling

Every seller reaches a moment where something happens that they didn't see coming and couldn't have prevented. That's not a failure of preparation — it's just how this works. Knowing what those moments look like in advance makes them considerably easier to sit through.

I've been doing this for eleven years. Here are the four things that reliably catch sellers off guard — and what to do about each one.

Buyers

Buyers are unpredictable by nature. They show up at inconvenient times, write offers with unusual conditions, and make repair requests that can feel personal. I once had a deal fall through because a Feng Shui master didn't like the color of the kitchen. There was nothing wrong with the kitchen.

You cannot control who walks through your door or what they think about your home. What you can control is how your home is presented, how quickly you respond to offers, and — with good representation — how those offers are handled. Most buyer behavior that seems irrational has a logic behind it once you understand what they're actually worried about. Reading that is part of my job.

The market

Interest rates, inventory levels, and buyer sentiment are entirely outside your control. The market determines how many buyers are out there, what they're willing to pay, and how long things take. What you can do is go in informed — understanding what comparable homes have actually sold for, not just listed at, and pricing accordingly from the start. A house priced to the market sells. A house priced above it waits, and waiting has its own costs.

Inspectors

You've cared for your home. That doesn't mean an inspector won't find things — they almost always do. A thorough inspector on a forty-year-old house will produce a long report. That report goes to the buyer, who will decide what to ask for. Some of it will be reasonable. Some of it won't.

One way to take the surprise out of this is a pre-listing inspection — you find the issues on your own terms before the buyer does, and you decide in advance which ones to address and how to handle the rest. A listing home warranty can also provide a buffer, covering unexpected repair costs that come up during the sale process. Both are worth discussing before you list.

Appraisers

When a buyer is financing, the lender sends an appraiser to confirm the home is worth what the buyer agreed to pay. Appraisers are professionals — but they're also human, and on occasion an appraisal comes in below the contract price. That's not the end of the transaction. There are established ways to challenge an appraisal, and your agent should know how to navigate one. I've done it. The key is not to panic and not to assume the deal is dead before you've exhausted your options.

The thing that actually is in your control

Who you hire. A good agent doesn't prevent every problem — nobody can. But they anticipate the common ones, handle the unexpected ones without drama, and keep a transaction moving when something goes sideways. That's what eleven years of doing this looks like in practice.