Cognitive Dissonance in Real Estate Transactions

Human minds are susceptible to cognitive dissonance and the anxiety it provokes.  In an ordinary arms-length sales transaction you have two brains attempting to negotiate a satisfactory outcome.  These brains belong to the buyer and seller.  Invinci advisors assist our clients to anticipate dissonance and use it as a technique to gain a negotiating advantage.  When introduced strategically, dissonance can ultimately achieve a better outcome accompanied by less distress.

 Cognitive dissonance may be described as having mixed feelings or emotions.  It also may be an intuition or “gut feeling” that something is wrong.  You have conflicting information.  When a buyer and seller are engaged in a real estate transaction, there is often a lot of rationalizing and theorizing taking place to understand the opposite party’s behavior and motivation behind it.  Objectivity becomes difficult because you begin to interpret all actions within the construct of your presumptions.  Studies have shown that we humans are resistant to changing our minds when presented with an opposing opinion.  Rather than accept that our view may not be perfect and filter in an understanding of another perspective, we instead make justifications to preserve our established opinion. This mental processing works to reduce dissonance.  We return to our comfortable state of consonance and the mind is at ease.  This primitive brain response does not, however, guarantee a successful sales transaction.

If your real estate advisor offers a recommendation to tone down flamboyant décor or you receive unfavorable feedback from buyers that have toured your home, you may experience a disbelief that change is necessary and reject all advice to change as meaningless and unconstructive.  You may define your décor as Victorian chic but others perceive it as vintage hillbilly.  How do you reconcile the two perceptions?  Similarly, consider the home buyer that has an attitude that sellers are greedy.  Once this attitude is shaped, it is extremely difficult for the buyer to be comfortable with ceding any of her demands.  Invinci advisors offer professional recommendations in a proactive and empathic manner.  Consider this comparable to planting a seed for a new opinion and new attitude.  Thought patterns and behavior gradually can shift as learning fires up new neural circuits in the brain.

Licensed advisors at Invinci are sales experts with training to develop a plan to best achieve your real estate goal.  Will there be cognitive dissonance?  Well, yes, but it will be positively integrated into a customized sales plan for you and your property.  Here’s our first tip for you:  Know that you will experience conflicting emotions during your negotiations with a buyer/seller; knowing that up front already gives you an advantage.

Prepare to list your home with these useful tips for minimizing cognitive dissonance among home buyers:

·        Reduce or avoid multiple color schemes inside your home, steer away from trendy themes, strive for sensory neutrality with uniform cleanliness, style, and scent throughout

·        Evaluate inconsistencies between a home’s architecture and how it is furnished & decorated, for example, a traditional architecture will clash with straight lines of contemporary furnishings

·        Weed out hand-me-down furniture and outdated fixtures – new light fixtures, electrical enhancements, security and digital equipment evoke a high tech, secure space

·        Correct any neglected room in your otherwise updated home – every room should have a purpose and focal point

·        Do basement and garage appear as clean as the living spaces – clear out cobwebs, paint if necessary

·        Assess how to resolve imbalances between high-end improvements versus bargain updates

·        Analyze how to overcome a quirky or obsolete floor plan (e.g., one bathroom in a four bedroom home)

How do we at Invinci Real Estate Advisors sell our fresh ideas when old ideas are comfortable?  We offer superior communication, exemplary client-centric services, and we strive to over deliver on value.  We believe in our fresh ideas; we know they work – and we will guide you as an advisor through all your real estate endeavors.