How much you paid for your house
It has absolutely no impact on the Buyers at all. How much you are making or losing on your house is your problem. Just as a Buyer can't limit your profit, neither is he/she responsible for covering your losses.
How much money you need to move into your next home
Again, see above. YOUR finances are never the problem of the Buyer. A lot of Sellers will say, "What's another $5,000 over 30 years?" It's $5,000 more than the Buyer wants to spend on your house. That $5,000 is just as important to the Buyer as it is to you.
The special tile imported from France in your powder room
Unless you are rehabbing for resale, there are things that you have done to your house that are specialized. Things that you are absolutely in love with and for which you waaaay overspent (C'mon, admit it. We've all done it.) The Buyers? The probably aren't going to love it as much as you do, so they aren't willing to buck up for how fabulous it is.
The sentimentality attached to certain things in the house
I'm a sentimental gal. I have trees planted in my yard in honor of my first Mother's Day with each of my babies. I found an engraved Christmas tree ornament from the previous owners that I hang on the tree each year in their honor for building this great house. If I ever sell? I know that new Buyers will take down my first born's tree (it's, quite frankly, ugly). I doubt they'll care about the ornament. Buyers don't care that you spent 3 weeks restoring a mantle - they'll paint over it if they want. Your sentimentality is your own, don't expect the Buyers to share in it.
The "Possibilities" in the Home
You have to price your home as it is, not how it could be. Yeah, maybe you can finish your basement, but you can't expect a Buyer to pay you for a finished basement just because it could be one day. Same goes for unfinished construction projects, scarred wooden floors, closets with rough-in for plumbing, etc.
What DO Buyers give a *&%$ about? Stay tuned for my next post...
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You said it, sister! Bravo! To add to this...if a buyer wants to improve the house in any way...they will deduct the cost of their future improvements from their offer. So that expensive imported tile from France may get yanked because the buyers see it as outdated or ugly. To them, it represents needed updating!
Couldn't have said it better myself. If sellers would truly understand this concept, life would be wonderful! Or pretty close to it.