Want me to tell you what I recently learned from selling a car? Actually it was two vehicles, In the past two weeks. One was an SUV and the other a pick up truck. It was an interesting experience. Our normal modus operandi is to purchase a car and then maintain it until it basically turns into dust, so selling cars is pretty new to both my husband and myself. So why did we do it and what did I learn in the process?
Be Prepared to Seize an Opportunity
There is something called an opportunity cost that can work either for your benefit or against it. If you hesitate when an opportunity presents itself or don’t have the means to take advantage of it, you may lose out. When two opportunities collided, we were fortunate that we had the resources to take advantage of them. This allowed us to achieve our goals without impacting us financially.
In our case, we had been debating getting rid of the SUV when a buyer reached out to us out of the blue. We also had the opportunity to purchase a larger truck, which was something that we determined was needed for our household.
Know What You Want
Being clear on your goals can work to your advantage. Along the way, you may be presented with alternative opportunities. There is nothing wrong with considering your options, but make too many compromises, and you won’t be happy. Understanding exactly what you want and what you don’t want will save you a lot of grief.
For example, having a firm but fair price on the pick up truck helped it to sell quickly, with no formal advertising. When the first offer in was a low-ball one, we didn’t waste time negotiating, because it was too far off from what we knew we wanted.
Be Patient
Generally, I am the last person who can be patient, but that is not true in one area, our financial health. We could have run out and purchased a new truck right away, as soon as we determined we wanted one, but that would have required a large loan and losses from the trade ins. Instead, we bided our time until things worked out to our advantage. Thankfully, it did, and I estimate we saved close to $20,000.