It is important to set out in
writing the reasons that are motivating you to sell your current
home. You might ask yourself, "Why am I selling my home and
what do I expect to accomplish?" If you have a growing
family and you need more space you may be under less pressure to
get your house ready to sell than if you were, let's say, moving
to a new city due to career opportunity.
Explore your short and long term
goals and decide how selling your house fits into those goals.
Your agent will identify all of the variables within your
individual goals and how best to achieve them in your local real
estate market. Your real estate agent will apply his or her
expert knowledge to your particular needs and set a realistic
time frame for the process to proceed. This will help you to
establish a time management path for selling your home.
Your next objective is to consult
with your real estate agent to determine the best possible
selling price of your home. You will need to take into account
the state of the local market, the condition of your home, and
sales of comparable homes in your neighborhood. He or she will
create a comparative market analysis by taking into
consideration the type of market you are in and recent sales of
comparable properties. Your agent will then guide you to the
best fair market price that will help sell your home within your
desired time frame. Usually, real estate agents have a clearer
and more objective sense of market value than anyone else-
including appraisers!
Often, it can be hard for you, as
a seller, to also maintain objectivity, so remember to be
reasonable about the price you set. You will always be better
off setting a fair market value price than setting your price
high expecting that someone will come along and be willing to
pay it. If your home stays on the market too long because it is
overpriced, potential buyers may think that something is wrong
with it and you may end up selling it for less than what you
could have gotten if you had started out with a realistic asking
price. (see my page 10 Biggest
myths about selling your home for more information)
It's time to get your home in
"showing and selling" condition. Most of us don't
keep our homes in the condition it would need to be in to
sell. Over the years those boxes in the corner of the garage
just seem to multiply on their own. Things have broken that we
just never get around to fixing and some things have just worn
out. We just accept the fact that they will always be this
way. It is this frame of mind that you have to break out of in
order to get your house ready to show. How your home looks
will have an immense impact on how quickly it sells and
whether or not you get full market value for it.
First impressions are very
important and you only get to make one. Your real estate
agent, who is interacting in the marketplace every day, can
assist you in approaching your home from the buyer's
standpoint. What needs to be changed to make a good first
impression? This may mean that all you do is prune the trees
and shrubs. On the other hand, it may mean that you completely
repaint the house, inside and out. Do a "curb to
door" check. Give the potential buyers a clear path to
enter the home. The fewer obstacles between the buyer and the
true appeal of your home the better. Keep in mind that over
time we become accustomed to our surroundings. What's normal
for you may be detrimental to the buyer.
Make your home look as spacious
as possible. Organize your closets and kitchen cabinets, and
if you have things stored in the attic or basement, make sure
they are presentable. If you are showing during the day, pull
back your curtains and drapes to show how bright and cheery
your home is. If you are showing at night, turn on all of the
lights to create a warm and welcoming environment for the
prospective buyers. A home that is marked with your
personality and style may be harder to sell. You might even
consider such things as removing obvious clues to your
political affiliation and tucking away any biased literature
that may be visible. This will reduce distractions and help
the buyers to visualize the home as their own. (My page "10 Selling tips" contains
some additional steps you can take to get your home ready for
sale).
Now
that your home is ready, it's time to put it up for
sale and market it.
Establishing
a marketing strategy with your real estate agent is a
must. Your agent will expose your home to the most
potential buyers possible using a marketing plan that
will have the highest possibility of bringing not only
the most buyers, but also the most qualified buyers,
to your doorstep.
There are
many different ways to get the word out there that
your home is for sale. A yard sign, flyers, and direct
marketing are just a few of the many options
available. If you are in a buyer's market you will
have to be extra careful when choosing a plan. You
don't want your home to sit with no one showing
interest. You and your agent should structure your
marketing strategy so that the first 3-6 weeks that
your house is on the market will be the busiest.
When a buyer decides to buy
your home, an offer will be presented. Your real estate agent
will advise you as to whether or not the prospective buyer is
qualified to purchase your home. After all, there is no reason
to review an offer if the person(s) making it will not be able
to actually buy your home.
You and your real estate agent
will then review the written document, taking care to note
what is required of both parties to execute the transaction.
The contract should protect the best interests of all parties
involved and should be comprehensive in nature.
Once you accept
the contract, it may be too late to make any changes. The
contract, though not limited to this list, should include the
following:
- A legal
description of the property
� The
offering price
� The
down payment
�
Financing arrangements
� A list
of fees and who will pay them
� Amount
of the deposit
�
Inspection rights and possible repair allowances
� The
method of conveying the title and who will handle the
closing
� A list
of appliances and furnishings which will stay with the
home
� The
settlement date
� Any
relevant contingencies
Remember that the legalities of
this phase are very important. If you have any questions or
concerns, be certain to address them with your real estate
agent right away.
Most offers to purchase your home
will require some level of negotiation to come to a win-win
agreement. Your real estate agent is well versed on the
legalities of the real estate contract used in your area and
will handle the responsibility of protecting your best interest
throughout these negotiations. In addition, your agent has a
thorough understanding of the contract itself, including what
each contract clause means to you and your buyer, what you will
net from the sale of your home, and what areas in the contract
lend themselves easiest to negotiation. Your agent will review
the written offer with you to make sure that you thoroughly
understand what the buyers are offering and what they are asking
in return.
Some of the items
that you may have to negotiate are:
The price
Financing
Closing costs
Repairs that
need to be done
Appliances and
fixtures
Landscaping
Painting
Occupancy time
frame
To really gain some insight into
why potential buyers are pursuing the purchase of your home and
how they might proceed in the negotiations, it is also important
to know as much about the buyer as possible, especially their
motivation for buying. Once both parties have reached a point
where the deal is acceptable, your agent will be certain that
you have a legally executable contract.
Once you have accepted an offer
to sell your home, your real estate agent will inform you of all
the procedures involved in order to proceed successfully to
closing, as well as the parties responsible for completing those
procedures and estimates of completion. For instance, the
property may need to be formally appraised, surveyed, inspected
or repaired. Depending on the specifics reached during the
negotiations, you may pay for all, some, or none of these items.
Your agent will then coordinate
with all the parties and keep you informed as to the results of
the various procedures. If each procedure returns acceptable
results as defined by the contract, then the sale may continue.
If there are problems with the property the terms set forth in
the contract will dictate your next step. Depending on the
contract, you or the buyer may decide to walk away, open a new
round of negotiations, or close. Your agent will advise you
throughout this process and will help you coordinate any actions
you must take to keep the sale moving forward.
There are some sales that go
smoothly and some that require a lot of work to get to the
closing table. Until you get into it, you won't know which one
you have on your hands. Either way, your agent will be there
with you every step of the way.
A few days before the closing,
your real estate agent will contact the entity closing the
transaction to make sure that all of the necessary forms and
documents have been prepared and are going to be available for
you to sign on the appropriate date. Your agent will also
contact each party to the transaction to be certain that they
have taken each action necessary for closing, so that the
entire closing can proceed on the date and time planned.
Your agent will also prepare
you in advance for the process of the closing, advising you of
any documents you must bring to the closing, how much time to
block off for the closing, and any other information that is
pertinent to the closing meeting itself.
"Closing" refers to
the meeting where ownership of the property is legally
transferred to the buyer. Your real estate agent will be
present during the closing to help explain the process and
forms to you and make sure everything goes as planned. By
being present during the closing, he or she can mediate any
last minute issues that may arise.
As the seller, you will need to
be prepared to give over any necessary documentation regarding
the property and, depending on the arrangements made during
negotiations, you may be required to have done something
specific in order to close. Be sure to read all the documents
and ask any questions you may have. It is important that you
understand every document you are signing.
Congratulations on the
successful sale of your home!
Hopefully, everything
went smoothly and you will be vacating your house in the time
frame that you had anticipated. Your real estate agent will
help you create a checklist of all the things you will need to
do to turn the property over to the new owners. You will need
to make sure that all of the local services (i.e. electricity,
gas, lawn care, cable, etc.) have been canceled or, if the new
owner is going to retain some of the
services, the name for the account should be changed. The
property and anything assigned to the buyer according to the
contract should be prepared appropriately for the new owners.
This will make the transition as smooth and effortless as
possible.
