Once upon a time (about two weeks ago), there was a lady in Pacific Grove who was preparing to put her beautiful home on the market. She had but one problem: turquoise walls.

As you’re reading this, maybe you’re thinking turquoise is your favorite color. Or perhaps you’re thinking about how the most humiliating moment of your childhood happened in a room with turquoise walls. Either way, you’re thinking something (even if it’s just how much money it would cost to paint over it).

And that’s what made it a problem for our Pacific Grove seller.

Love them or hate them, turquoise walls represented a polarizing distraction. As fiduciaries, we knew they weren’t going to support our client’s ultimate goal, which was to sell her home for the highest amount of money and in the least amount of time. So, we spoke up. We advised her to spend the $2,500 it would take to re-paint using a neutral, non-divisive color.

And that’s when the true enemy of every successful home prep strategy reared its head: emotion.

Here’s the thing about emotion. It rarely weighs equally on both sides of a negotiation. Usually, one party is more emotional, while the other naturally becomes more logical as a counterbalance. And it’s easy enough to understand which side holds the leverage and walks away with more.

The emotional party always loses.

And while that’s simple to say, it’s extremely difficult for human beings to silence emotion, especially in high-stakes situations that also feel deeply personal (like pretty much every real estate transaction). The result: turquoise walls.

So, although those turquoise walls were the only tangible problem in this situation, the seller’s emotion over her paint preference made an easily solvable issue a painfully difficult obstacle to overcome. She resisted our logical, data-backed recommendation to paint. Because she loved the color.

We get it. In our business, as in any business, empathy is a critical skill. If we truly want to help people, we have to be able to meet them where they are. In our case, this lady’s home was her beloved baby. She needed reassurance that we weren’t judging her taste, because we absolutely were not. Anyone could see her property was gorgeous. And as real estate professionals, we (perhaps more than anyone else in the room) possessed a deep awareness of its immense value on the market.

That’s why we had to get it right. Not for us. For her.

When someone owns an asset that’s so rare and so intrinsic to their overall financial wellbeing, it would be wildly irresponsible for us not to do everything we know will put them in the best possible position with the first potential buyer who walks through the door and forms an impression within 90 seconds.

We want you (as our seller) to remove your emotion, because that means the emotional party will have to be the one sitting on the other side of the negotiation table: the buyer. And an emotional buyer means you will get more money. And getting you more money (for your life, your goals, your loved ones, and your future) IS the highest demonstration of care for you we can possibly offer as agents (even if it means risking offending you about paint color).

Regardless of the nature of your profession or the people you serve, the kindest, most loving thing you can do for someone when you want their success is to help them remove their emotion — or, at the very least, help them take action based on logic alone. Just temporarily, and for reasons that, paradoxically, have everything to do with ultimate long-term emotional satisfaction.

Because when the right buyer walks through that door in Pacific Grove, sees those freshly painted white walls, and feels, within 90 seconds, that she has found her home, the feeling will feel so right that there will be nothing she won’t do, or pay, or agree to, to keep feeling it. And our seller will have empowered that buyer’s emotions simply by removing her own from the equation.

Your Homework: This week, identify one situation in your professional or personal life where your emotion might be working against your own (or your client’s) best interest. You don't have to act on it yet. Sometimes just admitting it is the hardest part, and the most important first step.

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THE RUIZ GROUP
of Keller Williams Realty

Led by Pete Ruiz, REALTOR®​
DRE: 01974535