From My Home to Yours: A Personal Perspective on Selling

Exactly one year ago, I wrote about my personal experience being on the buying end of an investment property. Today, coming full circle, I am in the process of selling my home. It’s always good—in any profession—to experience firsthand what you do. The 1991 movie "The Doctor", starring William Hurt, captures this perfectly. In it, a surgeon becomes a patient and gains a completely new understanding of what his patients go through. While not quite as consequential, my own experience is reminding me just how humbling and eye-opening it is to be on the other side of the transaction.

Three weeks ago, Jeff and I made the big decision: it was time to downsize and sell our home of 20 years. Like any seller, we were met with a flood of decisions and emotions. When’s the best time to list? How much prep should we do? What list price is right? Should we buy first or sell first? These are questions I help clients navigate all the time—confidently and objectively—but this time, I found it surprisingly more difficult.

Our biggest question was timing. With schools letting out in late May and early June, the spring market was already winding down. But with schools starting earlier in August, what used to be a quiet summer month has become the lead-in to the fall selling season. So, do we wait, or go now?

As we examined the local market, one thing became clear: there was almost no inventory in Piedmont. For buyers hoping to get settled before the school year, waiting until fall would be too late. So, we jumped. Within two weeks, our home was staged, photographed, and officially on the MLS—with the first broker tour that day.

To get our house on the market by the last weekend in June, we had a lot to do—and quickly. Thankfully, I called on many of the same trusted vendors I regularly recommend to clients. The Design Shop staging team helped reimagine our spaces and earmarked which furniture to keep and which to remove. (Many of the “rejected” pieces found new homes via Facebook Marketplace.) Sarah’s Painting crew worked their usual magic—there’s truly no faster refresh than a coat of well-chosen paint. Jeff focused on the gardens and landscaping, his passion project, and then there was the packing. Even as self-proclaimed minimalists, we were shocked by how much we had accumulated over two decades. Packing was no small task.

Staging day finally arrived, and we thought we had a chance to catch our breath. Yet, that’s when the curveballs came in. First, a large couch being picked up by Lugg for its new owner ended up scratching our hardwood floors in very visible locations. Thankfully, my go-to floor expert, Danny Lu, came by the very next evening to buff and restore the damaged areas. Then, one of the movers accidentally broke the glass cover on one of our exterior garage lights—the garage is the only part of the home visible from the street. With photography just two days away, it felt like a crisis. Fortunately, Walnut Creek Lighting found us replacement glass in stock. It wasn’t identical, but close enough to keep things moving. Every listing comes with last-minute surprises, but this time, they felt different—because it was our house. I was both the Realtor and the owner. And that made it all more stressful, and strangely more meaningful.

I’ve always said the hardest part of moving is not knowing where you’re going next. Once clients have a clear picture of their next chapter—whether it’s a larger home for a growing family, a townhome in Rossmoor or a relocation out of state—it becomes easier to let go. But when you’re in between, with no clear destination, it’s much harder. That’s where Jeff and I are now. We’ve decided to rent locally while we figure out what’s next. (If you hear of any great rentals, please let me know!) And I can now say from personal experience—it’s tough not knowing. The uncertainty can be unsettling.

But by far the hardest part has been saying goodbye to the memories. Our kitchen was a gathering space for family dinners and holiday meals. Our dog loved chasing balls in the front patio every day before his dinner. Teenagers filled the downstairs with sleepovers and music. For years, we hosted client parties, baby showers, birthdays and 4th of July viewing from the deck. This house has held it all.

This experience has reinforced everything I’ve always believed: buying or selling a home is never just a transaction. It’s emotional. It’s exhausting. It’s filled with uncertainty. And it’s one of the biggest financial decisions most people make. Having walked this road myself again, I’m more committed than ever to being a Realtor who leads with empathy—someone who listens, who supports, and who helps clients navigate the process as smoothly as possible.