For Sellers
What I will do for you
Recent Home Sales
Getting the highest price
Closing Costs
- Complete a comparative market analysis that will compare your home's value to that of your neighbors.
- Compile a comprehensive plan detailing all the efforts I will employ to sell your home, including Internet and local media.
- Present your home to as many qualified buyers as possible getting your home maximum exposure.
- Help you stage your home and generate curb appeal to ensure you get the highest price.
- Assist with obtaining offers and help you in negotiating the best deal as smoothly as possible.
- Help you find your next home and answer all of your questions about the local market area, including schools, neighborhoods, the local economy, and more.
What are homes selling for on your street? Use HomeRadar.com to find out what neighborhood homes are selling for, free of charge, or choose a more detailed analysis of the value of your home.
Getting the Highest Price for Your Home
Curb appeal is key and could make a difference whether people stop and take a flyer, or drive right by. Here are a few tips to increase the curb appeal of your home. Staging your home is important. Many buyers will stay in your home longer if it's staged appropriately. I have compiled some ideas to present your home in the most effective manner.
- Title insurance fees depend on the sales price of the home.
- Broker's commission is a full-service fee and will cost anywhere between 5% to 7%.
- Local property transfer tax, country transfer tax, state transfer tax, and state capital gains tax are the charges that you'll pay for the privilege of selling your home. Credit to the buyer of unpaid real estate taxes for the prior or current year are variable and depend on when you close and when your taxes are due.
- FHA fees and costs are all fees are now negotiable between an FHA buyer and seller.
- Home inspections fees are in some circumstances paid for by the seller and include pest, radon and other inspections.
- Miscellaneous fees can accrue from correcting problems noticed during the home inspection.
10 Steps to Selling a
Home:
- Define Needs for Selling Your Home
- Choosing a Pricing Strategy to Sell
- How to Prepare Your Property
- Establish a Marketing Strategy
- When You Receive an Offer
- Correct Negotiating to Sell Your Home
- Find the Vendor You Need
- Pre-close Preparation
- Closing
- Post-Closing
Step 1: Define Needs for Selling Your Home
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. I will identify all of the variables within your individual goals and how best to achieve them in your local real estate market. I will apply my 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.
Step 2: Choosing a Pricing Strategy to Sell
Your next objective is to consult with me 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. I will create a comparative market analysis by taking into consideration the type of market you are in and recent sales of comparable properties. I 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.
Step 3: How to Prepare Your Property
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. I'm interacting in the
marketplace every day, and 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.
Step 4: Establish a Marketing Strategy
Now that your home is ready, it's time to put it up for sale and market
it. Establishing a marketing strategy with me is a must. I 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 I should structure your marketing
strategy so that the first 3-6 weeks that your house is on the market
will be the busiest.
Step 5: When You Receive an Offer
When a buyer decides to buy your home, an offer will be presented. I
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 I 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 me
right away.
Step 6: Correct Negotiating to Sell Your Home
Most offers to purchase your home will require some level of negotiation
to come to a win-win agreement. I am 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, I have 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. I 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, I will be certain that you have a
legally executable contract.
Step 7: Find the Vendor You Need
Once you have accepted an offer to sell your home, I 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. I 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. I 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, I will
be there with you every step of the way.
Step 8: Pre-close Preparation
A few days before the closing, I 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. I 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. I 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.
Step 9: Closing
"Closing" refers to the meeting where ownership of the
property is legally transferred to the buyer. I 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, I 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.
Step 10: Post-Closing
Congratulations on the successful sale of your new home!
Hopefully, everything went smoothly and you will be vacating your house
in the time frame that you had anticipated. I 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
cancelled 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.
