What Home Sellers Need To Know

DECIDE TO SELL

So, you have decided to sell your property. Before anything else, it is a good idea to sit down to clarify your motivation and draw up a basic time frame for the selling process.

WHY SELL

Why do you want to sell your property? Do you intend to simply find a larger property, or do you plan on moving to another neighborhood, school district, city or state? You might think your reasons are obvious, but it would do well to consider the implications of each option for your lifestyle, opportunities, and finances. Being clear about your intentions for selling will make it easier for us to determine the most appropriate option to achieve your goals.

WHEN SHOULD I SELL

You should immediately establish your time frame for selling. If you need to sell quickly, I can speed up the process by preparing a complete market analysis and action plan to obtain all of your goals. If there is no pressing need to sell immediately, we can sit down to
thoroughly review the current market conditions, and determine the most favorable time to sell.

UNDERSTANDING THE REAL ESTATE MARKET

When you work with me you can be sure that you will have my knowledge, expertise and negotiating skills at work for you to determine the best market price and terms for selling your home. I will keep you up-to-date on what is happening in the marketplace in terms of pricing, financing, terms and conditions of competing properties. I have an undergraduate degree in accounting, and an MBA in finance. Prior to becoming a real estate agent, I was a Corporate Controller and Director of Corporate Planning and budgets. I have very strong analytical skills, and I enjoy analyzing trend data, which is very important in understanding the market which will help us to make the right decisions in marketing your home.

SELECT AN AGENT AND PRICE YOUR HOME

You could opt to sell your home without a real estate agent. However, a good agent with a comprehensive marketing plan will ensure that your home sells for the best possible price. Please review the marketing tab on this website to see exactly how I would market your home. All real estate agents are not the same, and even agents with the same company will market your home differently. Additionally, without a professional agent most independent sellers will not price the sale of their home correctly. In any market in order to maximize the selling price the home it must be listed on the multiple listing service for your area, the various real estate websites at a price consistent with the current market.

HOW DO I OPTIMIZE MY FINANCES

Deciding to sell your home demands serious consideration of your current financial situation and future possibilities. With my help, you will be able to effectively assess the cumulative impact of these changes, and estimate the potential proceeds of selling you
property.

PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR SALE

A lot can be done to increase the appeal of your home and to create a lasting impact on potential buyers without making a significant capital investment. The following are some factors to keep in mind when preparing your home for sale.

Curb Appeal – keeping your landscape pristine, and adding creative touches to your yard such as creative annuals, will create an immediate impact on passers-by and potential buyers. Investing in landscaping will give you the highest rate of return on any improvements you make to the home. This is the first impression one will have when viewing your home on site.
Property repairs – simple upgrades such as window repairs, polishing doorknobs, painting etc. will instantly brighten up your home.
Cleanliness and Staging - Keep your property uncluttered, sweet-smelling, and well-lit from top-to-bottom. Pay attention to details: put away the kitty litter, place a vase of fresh flowers near the entryway, pop a batch of cinnamon rolls in the oven, and have your carpets cleaned. Eliminate most of your personal pictures. I will tour the home before it is listed for sale to see how we can improve the staging of your property, and if necessary will bring in a professional stager at my expense.
Disclosures and Inspections - I am very familiar with the legal procedures involved in disclosures, and am ready to help you develop a thorough disclosure statement beneficial to both you and the buyer. I will suggest home improvement measures before placing your property on the market (such as termite and pest inspections).

LISTING YOUR HOME

Presenting your home to potential buyers is your agent’s responsibility. All listings should have professional real estate photography including floors plans. Professional photographers are trained to showcase your home best qualities for optimal viewing by prospective buyers. In today’s market prospective buyer’s first viewing of your home will normally be via the internet. Therefore, the photography quality is critical for generating interest. Now that you have prepared your home, and the photography has been completed it is time to list your home on the multiple listing service (MLS) for your area. At the same time, the MLS will download your home to the various real estate website sites (Zillow, realtor.com etc.) and in-person showings will begin. Additionally, your agent may also schedule open houses making it easy for real estate agents and potential buyers to see your home.

For showings, it is best if the owners are not home. Buyers feel more comfortable viewing and discussing the home with their agent in private.

NEGOTIATING

I take the ethical responsibility of fairly negotiating contractual terms very seriously. As your agent I have a fiduciary responsibility to represent you, and your interest to the best of my ability. It is my job to find a win-win agreements that are beneficial to all parties involved to keep the deal going forward. We may even have to deal with multiple offers before ratifying the one you judge to be the most suitable for you. The initial offer is usually not final, and there are a number of terms and conditions that may influence the final outcome of a price. You can trust me to help you thoroughly understand every proposal, and I will guarantee a thorough and objective assessment of each offer to help you make the right choice

All offers should clearly provide all terms of the agreement. This includes who is buying the home, the purchase price, funds being contributed by both buyer and, if needed, any third-party lender (mortgage), contingencies, contract and closing dates. Buyers should also provide dates when the contingencies will be resolved, and proof of funds.

An effective agreement is a legal arrangement between a potential purchaser and the property’s seller. Laws vary from state to state, but in order to be a legally binding the agreement has to be in writing, verbal contracts do not apply in real estate, and requires consideration (a returnable cash deposit). This consideration (initial and additional deposits) will be held in your attorney’s escrow account pending the fulfillment of conditions or contingencies in the effective agreement.

I keep written records of everything, and will provide you a copy of all documents. For the sake of clarity, it is useful to transcribe all verbal agreements including counter-offers and addendums in writing for our records.

Now that you have chosen your offer, you and the buyer will be given a timeline to mark every stage in the process of closing the real estate contract. Meeting the requirements on time ensures a smoother flow of negotiations and also ensures that each party involved is not in breach of their agreements. During the process, I will keep you constantly updated so you will always be prepared for the next step.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE OFFER IS ACCEPTED

When the buyer makes an offer, it could be conditional based on various contingencies. The most common contingencies are the home/property inspections and mortgage/appraisal contingency. If these contingencies are not waived during the closing process the buyer has the option of rescinding their offer without penalty.

Inspections

The first step is that most buyers will have the property inspected by a licensed property inspector within the time frame that was agreed upon in the agreement to purchase. You may want different inspectors if you wish to obtain professional opinions from specialists in a specific area (i.e. septic, pools, etc.). If the inspectors find issues can ask that the seller resolves the problems, or give a concession at closing.

Appraisal

If the agreement is conditional upon financing, then the property will be appraised by a licensed appraiser to determine the value for the lending institution via a third party. This is done so that the lending institution can confirm their investment in your property is accurate. If the home appraisal is less that the agreed upon selling price of the home the buyer may request the price to be adjusted to be consistent with the appraisal. Cash buyers can also do an appraisal to ensure that they do not over pay for the home.

Attorney

As soon as an offer is accepted, if you have not already done so, you should retain an attorney specializing in real estate. Your agent will then send the attorney all the details of the purchase. In both Connecticut and New York both seller and buyer must be represented by a licensed Attorney. The seller’s attorney normally prepares the first draft of the contract, and will send it to the buyer’s attorney. The buyer’s attorney will review it with his clients, make any necessary changes, and have the buyers sign the contract, and make any additionally payments as require. Once the contract is signed it is return it to the seller’s attorney to be reviewed and signed. Typically, the contract will be fully executed when all the contingencies, except the mortgage contingency, have been resolved. This will normally take around 2 weeks from when the offer was accepted. Clearing the mortgage contingency can take 4 to 8 weeks, and when this is done the buyer will receive a “clear to close” from the mortgage company.

Walk Thru

The walk thru is normally done on the day of the closing by the buyer. The owner has moved out. The buyer will inspect the property to ensure nothing has changed since the inspection. Additionally, the buyer will confirm any changes that the owners agreed to do have been done. This is normally the final step before the closing.

SUMMARY

This outline briefly summarizes steps in the selling process and gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect in selling your home. The actual process certainly will be different and normally there are issues that need to be resolved. What is really important I will be your only real estate contact during the entire process. I will do whatever is necessary to make sure that we close and will be available anytime to discuss and deal with any issues that may come up during the process.