Dr. Phil: Why I’ve Partnered With Sundae

This content was created in collaboration with Dr. Phil, a spokesperson for Sundae.

Selling a house can be a very stressful event in anyone’s life. The tension and uncertainty of working through the process and figuring out how to sell and how to get a fair price can create tremendous worry and anxiety especially when you are under time and financial pressure and your house isn’t in the best condition. But no matter what your circumstances, the process of selling your house and emotions involved in moving can be stressful and emotionally draining. But I have some really good news: it doesn’t have to be!

Many of my viewers, young and well “more mature,” tell me, especially in these disrupted times where long-time jobs and even family businesses have just evaporated. They wake up some mornings and sometimes even in the middle of the night worrying about family, security and in some cases even survival. Of course, there never seems to be enough money and now inflation is just making it worse.

Psychosocial researchers have reported for generations that moving, selling your house, is one of the top 10 stressors you will ever face. It is right up there with loss of a loved one, contracting a serious illness or losing your financial security. Combine the stresses of selling and moving with one or more of these other difficult life events and it can really create serious stress and self-doubt, giving rise to some hard questions:

• “Have I lost my ability to cope with life?”
• “Can I pay my mortgage this month?”
• “How do I do that and meet my other financial obligations?”
• “I have by necessity let home repairs and upkeep slide so I’m not in a position to sell. Am I just stuck?”
• “Is it all coming unraveled?”

I read some of these letters and just when I think things couldn’t be more desperate the hardest working, sincerest couple gets rocked. In addition to everything else, that dreaded medical emergency pops up and takes one of the two out of the workforce, maybe for a long time.

Sometimes the handwriting is just clearly on the wall: all of a sudden, you are “house poor” and it is time to face reality. Selling is your best solution, not because you are defeated but so you can regroup and be at peace. And yes, I know, we are talking about what has been your “safe space,” your soft place to fall, your comfort zone. It’s where your kids grew up and where you built a life.

But despite the great memories it’s also the place we agreed has been neglected. You don’t have the money to fix it and let’s face it you aren’t thrilled at the prospect of having people walking through your home and judging how you have lived.

Maybe the roof is leaking, the kitchen needs a serious upgrade, the bathroom, well let’s not even go there! If you did have the money, you don’t have the time. Stress and anxiety begin to build to a point that it feels like there’s no way out.

Unfortunately, I hear stories like this all too often. Sometimes that event that pushes you over the line is divorce, sometimes it’s the death of a loved one. For some it is just time with approaching retirement to consider a different lifestyle or simply relocating to create a lower cost of living and a more manageable place.

Every day, people face circumstances like these that make selling a home challenging and stressful. The added anxiety around selling your home during uncommonly difficult times, whatever the reason just amplifies the emotions and puts people into crisis mode.

It breaks my heart to hear these stories.

Throughout my career I’ve helped countless people by providing coping strategies for dealing with stress and anxiety. While these methods can help, they don’t change the reality of what homeowner’s need in addition to coping skills: a way to sell their house, as-is, that is truly, transparent and worry free. No pressure, no anxiety, no mystery, no guilt.

Instead you need a caring guide that will show you a path to a profound sense of self determination, an experience of being in control without having the added worry or strain or having to spend time or money you don’t have and gambling it will pay off before the bottom falls out. You need honest help from professionals that “get it” and realize the way to succeed in this world, as old fashioned as it sounds, is to look people in the eye and treat them like you would hope someone would treat you or your own mother in a similar situation.

The good news is those precise professionals exist! The better news is I found them! The best news is I’m bringing them to you and I stand with them side by side! Their name is Sundae.

I’ve decided to partner with Sundae. Let me tell you why.

First and foremost, Sundae was created to fill a serious void. Necessity really is the mother of invention! They were created to provide people like you, perhaps at the most vulnerable times in your life, a solid option for selling your house at a fair price and having to do so right now, as is. And make sure that option is part of a zero pressure, transparent process, simple and stress-free without doing expensive repairs or wasting valuable time.

When I heard about Sundae, my initial reaction was, “Yeah right, too good to be true.” It would be a hugely successful company if they really did genuinely “care” about you, their customer, about your situation, and meet you where you were.

Being an optimist, I thought maybe somebody actually got smart and realized you are an intelligent, hardworking individual or think about it you wouldn’t be in a position to own a house to begin with! Maybe you are just like them but just hit a “rough patch” and realize the smart thing to do, at least right now is cut emotional ties and sell the house especially when the market is on fire.

I was hopeful enough that I did a “deep dive.” I started researching this company long before I ever agreed to talk to them. To say I liked what I found would be an understatement. It was time to meet.

It occurred to me that maybe, just maybe I really had found a company that truly understood what people were facing at this threshold moment in their lives.

Almost 25 years ago I wrote my first of nine #1 New York Times Bestsellers, Life Strategies. I wrote about “The 10 Laws of Life.” Life Law #1 was: “You Either Get it or You Don’t!”

Could it be that I had found an all too rare company that actually “Gets it?”

When I talked to CEO Josh Stech and his team at Sundae about why people seem to choose them so often over other options when it comes time to sell their home, it became very clear, I was right, they “get it.”

I heard and read countless stories of sellers who had first gone elsewhere and got “bait and switched” or pressured into accepting a low-ball offer because they needed to sell as-is and were told it was their only option. The experience was emotionally draining, financially exploitive and straight out predatory. That is where Sundae seized the opportunity to succeed simply by doing it right. It does my heart good to see that good people, doing the right thing, at the right time can still be at the heart of a great success story!

How it works

Sundae’s model is unique. It protects you, the seller, from predators and pressure. It empowers you and puts you in control when those are traits that might seem unattainable. It is a transparent process that can restore your sense of dignity and self-respect at a point that is often one of the darkest times in your life. This is a time they want you to feel like a ‘victor’ not a ‘victim.’

Rather than exploiting your situation and bringing you one offer to buy your house, Sundae will market your property to thousands of investors who are looking to buy it as-is. Sundae is an advocate, your advocate, that helps drive a competitive process to ensure you get the highest price for your home. Typically, within three days you receive 10 offers or more! You don’t like the offers, you don’t take the offers. You are no worse off.

The Sundae customers say they feel taken care of from the start of the process to the end. I personally read the letters. They often cite the human element as a major reason: Sundae staff provide them with information and guidance to make an informed decision rather than pressuring them to make a sale.

Sundae fills that void for those looking to sell as-is with a human touch with someone helping that “gets it.” By facilitating sales between homeowners and investors in their marketplace, they ensure that you get the best offer for your house. With full transparency, multiple offers, and the choice to say yes or no, you are in control and never have to wonder if you were being taken advantage of. No mystery, no “smoke and mirrors,” just options.

Partners with purpose

Everyone has a currency. For some it’s monetary, for some it’s social, emotional, spiritual, familial or spiritual. For me, I measure my success largely by the number of lives I can help change for the better. After getting to know Sundae’s CEO Josh Stech it became clear that we’re both in the business of helping people, “Birds of a Feather” as the old saying goes. The life-changing stories I heard about Sundae’s customers truly resonated with me because many of my viewers and patients during the years I practiced faced the very challenges I’ve been describing and Josh has taken on through Sundae.

Over the course of my career, I’ve endeavored to create the most dynamic forum on mental health issues in the history of television. My programs cover everything from family conflict, relationship issues, emotional trauma, life transitions, and scams targeting the vulnerable, and providing resources to help people navigate these issues. Many of these issues can come into play when it’s time to sell a house.

That’s why Sundae’s mission and mine, to help people are a natural fit. Sundae is focused on removing the guesswork from what can be the most stressful part of selling: getting the best outcome. This line from Sundae’s founding story really resonated with me:

“Too often, these homeowners without the time or resources to get a house market-ready have been taken advantage of at a time when they needed an advocate on their side.”

People need support during any pivotal life transition including when it’s time to sell a home. I’m proud to work with Sundae to help people navigate what has typically been a complicated, difficult and sometimes predatory transaction.

Not just an endorsement; creating resources for homeowners in difficult situations

My partnership with Sundae goes far beyond the typical endorsement of a company or brand, which is something I’ve shied away from in my career. I’m joining forces with Sundae in a true partnership focused on their mission to help sellers in need. Together, we’re developing resources for homeowners around some of the biggest challenges homeowners and families face today.

I’ve done extensive research on the vulnerabilities and emotions people often feel when they go through the house-selling process. Personal vulnerabilities are exacerbated by being in tough situations, making it hard to manage life, let alone selling a house. I was stunned to learn how difficult it is to find trustworthy help when you’re in a tough situation and need to sell. And by the time people find out they made a bad choice, it’s often too late to start the process over.

Why?

Because like I described earlier, there is often time pressure. Many times, these unscrupulous types will tell you a fairytale until they know it is too late for you too switch and then they say, “So sorry but that buyer backed out but since we know your out of time we can do you a favor and at least get you half of that amount ‘right now’ but you have to decide immediately!”

Unfortunately, there just aren’t a lot of quality resources available to help you the homeowner understand your options and just as importantly support you in dealing with the emotional struggles of this major life stress which is very likely brought on by yet another negative major life development, loss of job, major illness and death of a spouse. Any one of these is enough to send you reeling but add on the need to move and do it in a hurry and it is so easy to lose equilibrium.

Sundae wants to help with that too. They are not just about the transaction. They are about you navigating the transaction with strength and grace and energy for your next chapter.

That’s where I come in! One of the first things we discussed was creating support for you and your children, for your whole family, through a “Sundae Tool Kit” for managing the stress of the situation and getting in the best mindset for your next chapter. That means how to cope not just with the stress of selling your house but also helping you with tools to manage the demands of why you had to sell. You may not need that “Tool Kit” but if you do, it is there.

Considering selling? What’s next?

In stressful situations like selling a house during hardship or otherwise, people naturally act based on emotions. Sadly, there are people out there who target people when they are most vulnerable. I recommend trying to slow everything down just a bit and explore all possible options.

My research on this topic led me to discover the people-oriented team at Sundae who give you the homeowner in need choices. Sundae offers a way to make the most out of a difficult situation. Learn more about how they can help you take the stress out of selling. All I’m saying is “check it out.” I did and I sure liked what I saw.

Dr. Phillip C. McGraw is a paid spokesperson for Sundae and made this content in partnership with the company. The views and opinions expressed by Dr. McGraw are solely his own and do not reflect those of CBS Media Ventures.