9 Seller Questions, Answered by a 40-Year Agent

By Ron and Tammy

The Wexler Group is a Chicago-area real estate leader with over 3,100 closed home sales and a reputation for delivering a consistent 5-Star experience by staying ahead of market trends so clients always come out ahead.

After 40 years of selling homes, we hear the same questions from sellers over and over. So we put the nine most common ones to a rapid-fire test, quick yes-or-no answers with the honest reasoning behind each.

1. Should I sell my home as-is? Most likely, yes. A little fix-up can help us get you top dollar, but don’t go overboard, because you rarely make back every penny you sink into a big project right before selling. A few small touches, and we’re good to go.

2. Should I update my kitchen or bathrooms? Probably not. The cost of a renovation almost never comes back to you at the closing table. If you want to remodel and actually enjoy it for the next five or ten years, wonderful, do it for yourself. But if you’re only doing it to sell, it’s usually not worth it.

3. Should I consider a cash offer? Probably not. We even buy houses ourselves, so we’re happy to make you one, but cash offers are wholesale. Unless you’re settling an estate or truly need money in the bank within a week, we can almost always get you more by putting your home in front of a retail buyer instead of one looking to turn a profit.

4. Can I trust my Zestimate or online valuation? Absolutely not. Those sites run an algorithm across tax records and past sales and take their best guess, and that guess is almost always too high or too low. Nobody should price a home based on an online estimate. We look at your specific home and its features to find the number that reflects the real maximum a buyer will pay.

5. Should I accept the first offer I receive? Probably yes. When your home hits the market fresh, there’s often a buyer who’s been waiting, maybe someone who just lost out on another house. After 40 years, we have a saying: the first buyer is often the best buyer. It feels too soon, and you wonder what you’re missing, but a stronger offer later is rarer than you’d think. And if your home is truly hot, we’ll have several early offers to work up to the best number.

6. Should I price high to leave room to negotiate? No. An emphasis on that one. Price it high, and you draw the wrong buyers, the ones expecting more house for the money, and more often than not, you cut the price anyway, which makes buyers wonder what’s wrong with it. In a market where well-priced homes still move quickly, you’re better off pricing right on the money, or even a touch below, and letting multiple buyers compete their way up. That’s often how you land above what you expected.

7. Is staging worth the money? Yes, depending on your price bracket and what we mean by staging. At a minimum, clear the counters and clean out the closets. Full staging, bringing in furniture and more, is a bigger investment we’ll talk through together. Either way, some level of staging always pays off.

8. Can bad photos really cost me? Absolutely. Great photos matter enormously, and honestly, we’d rather have none than bad ones. These days, the first showing isn’t when a buyer walks through the door; it’s when they find your home online. Poor photos make a poor first impression before anyone ever visits.

9. Should I buy my next home before selling my current one? For 35 years, our answer was a flat no. Today, it’s often yes. There are financing programs now that let you buy your next home and even cover fixing up your current one, with the costs reconciled at closing into your new mortgage. Depending on your situation, that once-impossible move is now on the table.

If any of these sparked a question about your own home, that’s exactly what we’re here for. After four decades, our goal is the same: to take the stress off you and put as much money in your pocket as possible.

If you’re outside Chicagoland, we’ll even help you find a great agent who works the way we do. Call or text us at 708-629-5151, or email us at ron@thewexlergroup.com, or visit thewexlergroup.com.