The Happy Home Seller
Preface and Table of Contents

TABLE of CONTENTS
The Happy Home Seller

 Preface – Convergence and Emergence

SECTION I – CLUES and VIEWS

Chapter 1 – The Way We Were

Evolution or Devolution?; Belly to Belly

Chapter 2 – People or Pecuniary?

Moving Motivation; Real Real Estate Agents; Consistency and Persistency

Chapter 3 – One Agent: Loyalty 

Human Doing or Human Being?; Purely Prognosticating; Trust and Commitment

SECTION II – NUTS and BOLTS

Chapter 4 – Fizzbo 

Luck and Happenstance; Alternative Considerations; Perceived Value; Viewing Availability; The Show; The Hard Questions; Legal Protection; Safety and Security; The Negotiation; Capitulation

Chapter 5 – Home Evaluation

Educated Guessing; The Comparative Market Analysis; Arrange a Range; The Consultation; Wishful Thinking; Fair Market Value

Chapter 6 – The Gist of List

First Rate Bait; The Perfect Storm; List or Sell?; Realty Reality

Chapter 7 – Preparing for Market 

Bees and Butterflies; Renovate and Elevate; Care to Prepare; Setting the Stage; Cloak of Invisibility; The Condominium; The Status Certificate; The Country Home; Highest and Best Use

Chapter 8 – Callers, Clients and Prospects – Oh My!

Ad and Switch; Write It Right; First Contact; Fishing and Wishing; Trading Information; The Impersonal Internet

Chapter 9 – Espousing Open Housing 

To Have and To Hold; Opportunity Knocks; Hear Ye, Hear Ye; Limited Entry; Registration; Feelings Rule; Close and Propose

Chapter 10 – A Manner of Closing

Desire to Act; Trial with a Smile; Groom to Assume; Take Away; Puppy Dog; Focus-Pocus

Chapter 11 – Contract Cruxes

Predilection for Protection; Deposit; Chattels and Fixtures; Representation and Warranty; Rental Contracts; Final Inspection; The Home Inspection; Swimming Pools

Chapter 12 – Proffer an Offer: Techniques and Methodology

Negotiation Innovation; The Dance; Absentee Agents; Wrong and Right Way; The Reading; Silence Alliance; Question Period; Hot Iron; CAR; Fleet of Foot; Mission Accomplished; Fairness in Balance; Ping Pong

Chapter 13 – Big Decision: Buy or Sell First? 

Buy First; Sell First; The Great Swap

Chapter 14 – Bidding Wars: Love ‘em or Hate ‘em?

Feeding Frenzy Afoot; Ministration, Deliberation and Orchestration; Big Bad Bully

Chapter 15 – The Tough Sale

Blame Game; Annoyed or Anointed?; Stimulate – Not Satisfy; ADOM; Stale to Sale; Gauge and Restage; Re-list Trickery; The Big Buffer

Chapter 16 – Fees, Commissions and Discounting 

The Third Shoe; Meddling Media; Discounting Discounting; Risky Business; Commission Impossible; Industrial Evolution; Dearth of Worth; Dual Duel; Commission Conundrum; Mediate or Advocate

 Chapter 17– The Art of Conversation 

Kinesics; Between the Lines; Ear to Hear; Wandering, Catching and Engaging

Chapter 18 – The Lingo 

SECTION III – REALTY REALITY: MANIFESTING SUCCESS

Chapter 19 – Who Are You? Who, Who?

A Short Long Story; Face in the Jar; Heart Afore Head; The Mirror Reflex; Intro or Extro?; Unification of Opposites; Analysis Paralysis; PIP

Chapter 20 – Happy Faces

Crappy to Happy; End of Ego; Dancer and the Dance; The Great Pretender; Resolution Road

Chapter 21 – Believing is Seeing 

Possibilities; Limiting Beliefs; A Child Learns; Self-Actualization; Involution to Evolution; Teaching by Trial

Chapter 22 – Thoughts are Things 

Speedy Thoughts; You Think; They Think; So Within – So Without; Thought Power; Attention to Intention; Matter Doesn’t Matter; Mediocrity to Magnificence

Chapter 23 – Evolutionary Changes

Convergence of Faiths; The Illusion of Separateness; The Universe is Us; The Law of Attraction; Down the Rabbit Hole; Choice Points; Brake Failure; Sabotage Camouflage

Chapter 24 – Awareness

Reflections; Consciousness; Fish in Water

Chapter 25 – Relief in Belief 

A Paradigm Shift; Wander in Wonder; WOW in NOW; Coincidence or Serendipity?; The Greatest Lie Ever Told; Plain Living and High Thinking

Quotation References

Further Reading 

“Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know:

That we are here for the sake of others, for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day, I realize how much my outer and inner life is built upon the labors of people, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”

Albert Einstein

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The Happy Home Seller Preface

Convergence and Emergence

Conceived to be a convergence of two streams of thought – material and spiritual – the advice, information and personal anecdotes herein are the compilation of a lifetime of experience, study, observation and critical independent thought. The subtle merging of these streams has richly contributed to my life in ways I never fully anticipated when more than two score years ago, I obtained my government real estate salesman registration. And from this merging has emerged a lovely pool of accomplishments in both areas of my life.

The first and largest stream, elaborated in the first two sections of the book, includes a practical approach to selling your home – the nuts and bolts, so to speak. Thankfully, my peers taught me – advertently and inadvertently – various techniques, skills and philosophies that resonated with me, which I adopted into my professional tool kit. I’ve learned what I felt were the best practices, and the worst. I also grew to understand why, aside from a lack of exposure, an exceedingly small percentage of private sale attempts achieve a successful sale. (Actually, a lot of homes listed with brokerages fail to sell too.) And why a huge majority of agents fail within the first five years of their career. And why more than half of the industry’s members generate zero or only one transaction annually.

To improve the odds of achieving a successful private sale, you’ll discover a collection of ethical sales techniques, step-by-step methodologies and principled smart tools. All are immediately implementable into your sales and marketing efforts. Along with valuable and commonly misunderstood industry information, you’ll also find practical advice on how to confidently communicate with your prospective buyers, or if you choose to hire a brokerage, with your listing agent. And there’s info to help you with your decisions – at the appropriate moment during the home selling process.

The second smaller, but no less significant stream described in the third section, introduces a more esoteric approach to life. The ideas touched upon – supported by popular, credible forward-thinking leaders in their respective fields – may shake your world a little and nudge you down a new path of self-discovery.

By offering this information, I hope to help you harmonize the two chief components of your life – personal and professional – and to understand the source of true happiness. Think of it as a “build it and they will come” sort of thing; find personal happiness and watch your material dreams, including your realty goals, materialize.

Since it’s not an exhaustive treatise on any theoretical aspects of life, I’m not promising the ultimate answers to all your life dreams. It’s designed simply as an overture, a whetting of your appetite, if you will, to delve further into the examination of self and to appreciate the wonderful mysteries of life.

“Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.”

John Kenneth Galbraith

If your goals continue to elude you, and if your mind’s door is ajar, get ready for at least a sliver of light to penetrate that crack. To change your life, you must think, feel and behave differently. You possess the power of choice to go beyond the self-imposed and perpetually rationalized limiting boundaries of your personal no-grow comfort zone. I invite you to empower yourself to attract more positive people into your life, and through your front door.

Unbolt your mind and open your heart. For if you glean just one new idea from this book, your choice to invest both a pittance of your money and time will have been a judicious one. If you’re not a seeker of knowledge while in the stream of life, you’re just treading water. And we all know what eventually happens with no or slow progress – exhaustion and unhappiness. What’s the solution? Learn how to swim in your life stream and float happily down Victory River, and with an Agreement of Purchase and Sale in your pocket.

“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.” John Ruskin

We work to live – not live to work. (we live to love, but I’ll get to that later.) By being the best you can be, the most skilful in your endeavour and by loving yourself and your life, you’ll begin every new day with a spring in your step. It’s my hope that you achieve a successful home sale, but more important, realize your life dreams. I hope you undergo a life paradigm shift in the process, a delicate and gradual metamorphosis where your attitude about life rallies to the point at which you become a “people magnet”. I pray you join the ranks of an exponentially growing body of happy people who share the belief in a more kind, loving and compassionate world.

Do you believe in serendipity? Was finding this book coincidental? They say the appropriate teacher arrives when the student is ready. Are you ready for change? It’s my sincere wish that our quality time together brings something good and loving into your life and the lives of those around you. May you live long and prosper.

“In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.” Lao Tzu

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