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Consumer's
Guide to Selling a Home
So you are thinking about
selling your home, congratulations! Selling a home can
be an exciting experience. For most people, buying and
selling a home is the single largest investment decision
they will make during their lifetime. With such an
important decisions facing you, how do you move forward?
Where do you go? What is the process? What do you do
next? How do you get started?
Virtual Real Estate Store
strongly believes that knowledge is power. Our goal is
to provide you with information, so you have the power
to make the right and best consumer decisions when
selling your home. We will provide you with in-depth
information we hope you find interesting and helpful.
Consumers Guide to Selling
a Home covers the following topics:
-
The "5 Keys" to
Selling Your Home Quickly and For Top Dollar
-
What You Need To
Do Before You List Your Home For Sale
-
What Happens
After Your Home is Listed For Sale
-
Selling Your Home
vs. Marketing Your Home. There Is A Difference
-
What Happens When
You Get A Sales Offer
-
What Happens
After You Have A Signed Sales Contract. What Are
Contingencies and How They Affect the Sale of Your
Home
-
What Happens at
the Closing
-
Selling Your Home
Yourself. (FSBO = For Sale By Owner)
The
"5 Keys" to Selling Your Home
Quickly and For Top Dollar
Selling your home is one
thing. Selling your home for TOP DOLLAR is something
entirely different. If you are considering selling your
home using a professional real estate agent or on your
own, you will want to know the 5 most important factors
to selling your home for top dollar before you make any
decisions. You can order this free no obligation report
<<CLICK HERE>>
What
You Need To Do Before You List Your Home For Sale
Before
you put your home on the market you need to ensure that
it is in top showing condition. The "key" to
successfully selling your home for top dollar is to sell
it as early as possible in the listing cycle... before
your home becomes considered old and stale inventory. In
order to achieve an early sale, your home needs to be
priced right when it goes on the market, and it needs to
be in top showing condition. Resist the urge to put your
home on the market before it is ready to be sold. Take
your cue from new home subdivisions. Take a look at
their show homes. See how they market and present their
homes. They are open, spacious, clean, uncluttered, and
neutral in color. Do retailers or car dealers put their
inventory for sale when it is not in top presentation
condition? If they do, they are not likely still in
business. The same approach goes for your home. You are
marketing it as a product to consumers. If you use a
real estate agent, the agent should provide you with
guidance and support to help ensure your home is priced
right and ensure it is in top showing condition, before
you put it on the market. One final thing you need to
ensure is in place before you put your home on the
market: You will need to have an answering machine or
service. If you do not have an answering machine,
consider utilizing the telephone company's voice
mail/answering service until your home sells and closes.
We will explain why in the next section.
What
Happens After Your Home is Listed For Sale
Deciding who you list your
home with, or how to plan to sell your home affects what
happens after your home is listed for sale. Many real
estate agents simply want to get your home listed and
move onto the next listing. They rely on putting your
home in the multiple listing service and then waiting
for an offer to be presented from another agent. In this
scenario you have very little to do except wait and keep
your home in good showing condition. Other real estate
agents take a more active role in the marketing process
and work with you in a selling partnership. Examples are
having you notify your listing agent of a showing. The
listing agent will immediately following up on buyer
showings to get feedback from the buyer or buyer agent
about your home. This will allow you and your agent to
make adjustments in how your home is marketed. Follow up
with buyers or buyer agents must occur within 24 hours
of a showing in order to get meaningful feedback. Other
agent responsibilities may include providing the seller
with a regular written marketing report, outlining all
the marketing activities and feedback that have taken
place on your home. Sending information about your home
to the area's high volume buyer real estate agents.
Providing buyer and agent support information about your
home so that when a showing occurs the buyer and buyer
agent have a resource to learn more about your home, and
why it is different from other homes in your community.
Remember in addition to homes listed for sale in your
neighborhood, your home is also competing with other
homes in your community. If you have an agent or are
talking to a listing agent, have they told you the
amount of inventory of similar homes in your community,
and the average selling time? If not, then how could
they price your home to sell within your specific time
frames? Maybe they simply guessed at a price? We are not
talking about the number of homes in your subdivision
and the average selling times of those homes. People
generally do not buy in subdivisions, they buy in
geographical locations which will include your
subdivision.
What can you expect when a
buyer's real estate agent wants to show your home to
their client? There are many different types of real
estate agents. Generally they can be categorized into
three types:
With an "organized and
plan in advance" buyer's real estate agent you can
expect a call a few days in advance to let you know they
would like to show your home. If you are not available
to take the call they will leave the information on your
answering machine. They will give you a time and date
when they expect to show your home and will generally be
on time within a reasonable variance. If for some reason
their plans change, they will generally call you and let
you know about the change in plans. They will also
generally call the listing agent to make sure the
property is still available to be shown. With these
agents you will have lots of time to get your home in
top showing condition. They will also leave a business
card to let you know they showed your home.
With an "organized and
plan" buyer's real estate agent you can expect a call
the evening or day before they would like to show your
home. If you are not available to take the call, they
will leave the information on your answering machine.
They will give you time when they expect to show your
home the next day and they will be there roughly when
they indicated they would. If they have a change in plan
they may try to notify you of the change. These agent
will generally call the listing agent to ensure the
property is still available to be shown. With these
agents you will have some time to get your home in
showing condition. They will usually leave a business
card to let you know they showed your home.
With an "unorganized and
does not plan" buyer's agent you may get a call the
morning or day they would like to show your home. If you
are not available to take the call they will leave the
information on your answering machine. They often wildly
under or overestimate what time they will be at your
home to show it. If they have a change in plans you may
or may not be notified. These agents frequently do not
call the listing agent to determine if the home is still
available to be shown. You will have little or no time
to get your home into showing condition. Just do your
best. They might leave a business card to let you know
they showed your home.
A fourth situation that
occurs is that a buyer's agent is out driving in your
neighborhood with a buyer and they see your home for
sale sign. The "organized and plan in advance" buyer's
agents will likely already know about your home and has
taken it off their showing list based on the buyer's
stated home requirements. The other two types of agents
likely do not know sufficient information about your
home so they decide to stop and show it. You will likely
get a call from the agent's cell phone as they sit in
your driveway, or a knock on the door. They would like
to know if it would be alright to show your home now!!!
First get their business card and try to make sure they
are a licensed real estate agent. You can also ask to
see their state real estate license. Most agents will
carry their State Real Estate License pocket card with
them, which can be used to help verify their status as
an active licensed real estate agent. If you are
satisfied that they are a licensed real estate agent,
you should try to accommodate them, even if your home is
not in top showing condition. It is better to let your
home be shown in less than ideal condition than to not
have it shown at all. If you do not accommodate the
agents request to show the property, it is not likely
they will come back later to show it. In fact, showing
your home under these circumstances can often be very
beneficial. First, the agent and the buyer know they
have shown up at your door unexpectedly, so they are a
little embarrassed. Since they know they are imposing on
you, often they will overlook items that may have been a
stumbling block to buying your home, in an effort to get
out of your way as soon as possible. Many sales have
results from this type of showing.
A word of caution. If
someone comes to your door without a real estate agent
and wants to see your home, we strongly recommend for
security reasons, that you politely decline to show them
your home. Instead give them your agents business card
and ask them to call your agent to schedule a showing
appointment. If they are prepared to give you their name
and telephone number, write it down and give the
information to your agent to follow up.
What should you do during
a showing? If at all possible, vacate your home so the
buyer's agent and buyer can talk freely about your home,
without them feeling like you are listening or that they
might hurt your feelings with something they say. It is
the buyer's agent job to uncover how their buyer feels
about the home they are showing. If the buyer's agent
cannot do their job and uncover what the buyer truly
feels about your home, then the buyer agent will have no
opportunity to sell your home to their buyer. If you are
home when an agent and buyer arrive, greet them at the
door and if possible go for a walk or drive. Let the
agent know they are welcome to stay as long as necessary
and do not return until after they have left. If you
have pets, take them with you. Most people like animals
but they are not conducive to letting a buyer and their
agent see your home. If you cannot vacate your home,
then let the agent know and try to confine yourself to a
particular area of the home. If you are asked a
question, answer it truthfully but do not volunteer
information or try to engage the buyer or buyer agent in
conversation. DO NOT ESCORT THE BUYER AND AGENT THROUGH
YOUR HOME!!! Many sales are lost by sellers who sell
themselves out of a potential sale by talking too much.
One other thing you should
do when you are selling your home. Remove valuable
objects from your home and store them in a safe
location. Most people are honest, and real estate agents
undergo stringent licensing and education requirements,
but it is not always possible for an agent to monitor
their buyers every move while they tour your home. Be
safe and take precautions rather than be sorry!
Selling Your Home vs.
Marketing Your Home. There Is A Difference
Many sellers believe it is
the listing agent's job to personally sell their home.
The reality is that your agent is doing you a disservice
if they focus most of their efforts trying to personally
sell your home. A real estate agent, no matter how
successful they are, have only a limited number of
buyers they are working and come into contact with. In
order to get top dollar for your home, it needs to be
exposed to as many buyers as possible. This is one of
the primary reason you list your home with a real estate
agent, rather than selling it yourself. Maximizing
exposure of your home to as many buyers as possible can
only be accomplished through effective marketing. While
there are certain steps that your agent can take to
personally sell your home, their primary focus must be
to market your home. Judge your listing agents effort or
success not in the number of times your agent personally
shows your home, but in the number of showings in your
home. In fact, do not be shocked if your listing agent
does not ever show your home. It does not indicate that
they are doing a bad job for you. In most metro areas
over 90% of all sales are made by real estate agents
other than the agent who listed the home for sale.
What Happens When You Get
A Sales Offer
If you are working with a
real estate agent, your agent should take some
preliminary investigation steps and then contact you as
soon as possible to present the offer to you. What
should your agent be doing for you? First, your agent
should not accept or present any offer that they have
not received in writing from a buyer or buyer's agent.
The offer should also be signed by the buyer and their
agent. In most states, a verbal offer to purchase real
estate is a legal contract , but it is not an
enforceable contract. In order to have a legal and
enforceable real estate contract, the offer, and all
counter offers must be in writing and signed and dated
by all parties to the contract. Any changes must also be
initialed and dated.
Prior to or shortly after
your agent has presented you with the written purchase
offer, they should try to determine certain information
about the buyer. For example, is the buyer pre-qualified
for a mortgage? Is the pre-qualification amount
sufficient to finance the purchase of your home? Is the
buyer pre-qualified or pre-approved? There is a big
difference, and your listing agent needs to know and
understand the differences, so they can counsel you
accordingly. Buyer's unable to arrange financing is the
number one reason a residential real estate sale fails
to close. The problem for you as the seller is that once
you have accepted a contract, your home is effectively
taken off the market. If the buyer's financing falls
through, then you have lost valuable marketing time for
your home. You will likely lose weeks and possibly even
months if a buyer is unable to get the required
financing. To add insult to injury, it is highly
unlikely that you will be able to retain any portion of
the buyer's earnest deposit. Remember, in order to get
top dollar for your home, you need to sell it as early
as possible in the listing cycle. If your agent has not
done everything possible to understand the buyer's
financing arrangement or capability before presenting
you with an offer, and/or shortly after presenting you
with an offer, then they may cost you lots of money down
the road. This is not to say that your agent can or
should try to guarantee that the buyer qualifies and
that they will be able to get a mortgage to buy your
home, because they can not. However, they need to take
every step possible to minimize the chance that
financing is the reason a sale fails to close.
The listing agent should
also carefully review the contract in an attempt to
fully understand the offer and determine if there may be
a negotiating opportunity for you. Remember, a real
estate agent cannot give you a legal opinion about a
contract, they are not an attorney. They can, however,
attempt to understand the contract and look for
opportunities for you. A good listing agent can
interpret a sales offer and in many cases can provide
you with advice on how to best counter an offer. We have
successfully sold homes for more than 100% of the asking
price by simply understanding the buyers situation, and
then by accommodating the buyer's ability to purchase
our clients home while protecting the sellers asking
price. Successfully negotiating can be a win/win
opportunity. The seller can get their asking price for
their home, and the buyer is accommodated by helping
them be able to buy the house. Win/win negotiating can
be done by a good listing agent who knows how to
negotiate, and knows how to recognize and accommodate
the buyer's circumstances when the opportunity is
available.
When considering a listing
agent, or if you already have a listing agent, ask the
agent to define their negotiating strategy. If they do
not have an answer for you, or if they say it depends on
the offer they get, then you may be in trouble. A good
listing agent has a negotiating strategy, and begins to
incorporate it into the very beginning of their listing
relationship with you. Pricing a home should be
partially determined by your agent's negotiating
strategy. The agent's negotiating strategy should be
communicated to you before you finalize any listing
price for your home. If your listing agent is not going
into the relationship with a strategy up-front, how will
they be able to represent your best interests when it
comes down to negotiating with a buyer or buyer's agent.
Sports teams, the military, businesses and all
successful people have a game plan that they can
effectively communicate and implement. When it comes
time for action, everybody knows what to do and and how
to get it done. Wouldn't you prefer to have a listing
agent who has a strategy working for you?
The process of negotiating
the sale of the home can be very quick, or it can takes
days, or maybe even weeks. Generally the contract
negotiation process moves along quite rapidly. The
process often involves an initial offer from the buyer
which is frequently countered by the seller. Remember,
try not to take an offer personally or get offended by a
low offer. It is almost "tradition" that buyer's initial
offers are well below the asking price. If you and your
listing agent have a negotiating strategy you will be
able to anticipate an initial low offer and have a plan
to counter act the low offer in a positive manner. This
process of offer and counter offer can go back and forth
several times. One thing to keep in mind when you are
considering countering an offer from a buyer.... if you
accept the buyers last offer before they withdraw it, it
will be a legal and binding offer providing all the
appropriate documentation has been completed. As soon as
you present a counter offer, the buyer's last offer is
no longer binding upon them. Keep this in mind as you
are getting close to reaching a final sales agreement
with a buyer. One last counter offer may chase a buyer
away to look at another house.
What Happens After You
Have A Signed Sales Contract? What Are Contingencies
and How Do They Affect the Sale of Your Home?
Once a fully executed
purchase agreement is in place, and has been accepted by
all parties, the sale still may not be final. There are
often conditions or contingencies in the contract that
must be satisfied before the sale can be closed. Two
frequent contingencies or conditions are the buyer's
ability to obtain financing to purchase your home,
unless it is an all cash offer, and a home inspection.
We have already talked about financing, now it is time
to talk about the second largest hurdle or contingency
to overcome when selling a home. The vast majority of
home buyers make their offer contingent or subject to a
satisfactory home inspection. This usually occurs within
a week or two weeks after acceptance of the sales
contract by all parties. The buyer will hire a home
inspector (at the buyer's expense), who will conduct an
inspection of your home on the buyer's behalf. A word of
warning. The requirements in many states for someone to
be a home inspector are minimal. Make sure the sales
contract reflects that the home inspector must be
qualified or certified, and competent to act in the
capacity of a buyer's home inspector. Your listing agent
should be able to give you details and ensure the
appropriate wording is in the contract. Once the buyer's
home inspector has completed the inspection of your
home, the buyer's agent will usually present your
listing agent with a copy of the home inspection, and
any repair requests. As the seller, you have the option
to agree to make the repairs, counter a repair offer to
the buyer, or refuse to make any repairs. There is
usually a negotiating period in the sales contract
during which time the buyer and seller must come to an
agreement, or the contact can be terminated. Depending
on the wording of the contract, the sale could fall
apart at this point. Be sure you fully understand how
this process works and how it is laid out in the sales
contract, before you accept the original purchase offer.
Your listing agents role in this is very important
throughout this process.
There may be other areas
within the sales agreement that must be fulfilled by
either the buyer or seller in order for the sale to
close. This will depend upon each individual sales
agreement. These conditions or contingencies should be
carefully monitored by your listing agent in order to
protect your best interests. If you are not working with
a real estate agent, we highly recommend that you seek
advise from a professional who is well versed in real
estate law and the real sales processes.
After the contingencies
have been removed, and it appears the sale of your home
is going to close, you usually need to provide the
buyer's lender with a termite letter warranting that
there is no active infestation of termites in your home.
The termite inspection must be conducted by a licensed
termite inspector. If you have a termite warranty on
your home you may want to check with that company to see
what they charge to provide you with a termite clearance
letter. The charges for conducting the inspection and
providing the letter range significantly, so get several
quotes. You should have the inspection performed about
two weeks prior to the scheduled closing date. You will
be required to bring the termite clearance letter to the
closing.
What Happens at the
Closing
This is the closing
process for the State of Georgia. The closing process
varies from state to state. After all the purchase
agreement contingencies have been removed, the closing
should occur. The closing usually takes place at a real
estate attorney's office or a title companies office. If
a real estate attorney is involved, they generally
represent the buyer's lender, and therefore indirectly
represents the buyer when the buyer's interest match the
lender's interests. The attorney DOES NOT REPRESENT
BUYER OR THE SELLER. Most sellers do not come to a
closing with their own attorney. The closing attorney
will explain the process, but remember, your agent
cannot give you a legal opinion, because they are not an
attorney.
You will be notified of
the closing date, time and location by your agent or by
the closing attorney's office. The closing attorney
frequently contacts the seller prior to the closing to
get or verify the following information:
-
Mortgage information (account number, lender, payoff
info)
-
Homeowner association information (if applicable)
-
Social security number of all owners on title.
-
A
forwarding address
-
Your termite company
At
closing you should bring:
-
Picture identification
-
Your social security card
-
The "original" Georgia Wood Infestation Report
(termite clearance letter). It "MUST" be dated
within 30 days of closing
-
A homeowners warranty or invoice if part of the
purchase agreement
-
All receipts and/or evidence of completed repairs
At closing you will get a
full accounting of the sales proceeds on a government
form called a HUD Statement. You have the right to
request from the closing attorney a draft HUD statement
24 hours prior to closing. Generally, closings go
smoothly, but do not be surprised or alarmed if yours
does not. Lenders often insert last minute buyer
conditions, require information verification, or do not
get the documentation to the closing attorney in a
timely manner. Hope for the best, but prepare for the
worst. A closing will normally take an hour to complete.
If it is an end of the month closing, which is when
everybody wants, expect delays due to the simple volume
of closings the attorneys and lenders are trying to
handle at the end of the month. If possible, schedule
the closing date on the sales contract away from the end
of the month, and away from Fridays.
Before going to the closing, ALWAYS call the closing
attorney to verify that the closing is still on
schedule.
Selling Your Home Yourself.
(FSBO = For Sale By Owner)
You want to sell your home
yourself. If you have not read Consumers Guide to
Selling a Home, we highly recommend that you do so.
Selling a home is a lot more than putting a sign in the
yard and advertising your home for sale in the
newspaper. If you follow our advice and suggestions, you
will be well on your way to knowing how to sell your
home yourself. Be sure to order our free "5 Keys" to
selling a home. These are the most important factors to
successfully selling a home for top dollar!
Before you decide to sell
your home yourself you should ask yourself a question.
Why do I want to sell my home myself? The answer to that
question is usually "to save real estate commissions".
It is true you can save real estate commissions if you
successfully sell your home yourself.
A problem you can expect
to face when selling your home is marketing. In order to
maximize your home sale chances, your home needs to be
exposed to as many home buyers as possible. As a seller
of your own home, you have limited access and limited
marketing dollars available to sell your own home. What
if it does not sell? Do you want to risk money for
advertising, when nationally, less than 1 out of 10
homes are successfully sold by an owner. Statistically
you have a less than 10% chance of selling your home.
Those are not very good odds.
Another problem you will
face when selling your home on your own is the home
buyers you attract. It is human nature to want to save
money. You want to save real estate commissions. The
same applies to for sale by owner home buyers. What
attracts home buyers to for sale by owner homes is the
presumption of a deal. The buyer's mentality is "the
seller is saving the real estate commission, so I want
them to pass that savings on to me". FSBO sales attract
bargain hunters and lookers. You may get a lot of people
through your house, but will it result in a sale? Are
those people qualified buyers? To sell your home you
will likely be faced with selling your home at a
discount, and then still be responsible for all the
work, time, and landmines that come with selling a home,
without the benefit of professionals who sell homes for
a living. Does that make sense? Is selling your own home
truly in your best interests? Only you can answer that
question.
Once you have made the
commitment to move forward and sell your home yourself,
we recommend you place ads in the newspaper and hold
open houses on weekends. You should use directional
signs to point home buyers towards your home, if allowed
by your city or area. Check with your local government
for sign regulations.
We also recommend that you
put a large for sale sign and brochure box in the front
yard. Be careful about listing your home on the
Internet. The Internet is absolutely a way to help sell
your home. The problem is that most Internet web sites
cannot market their web site effectively enough to truly
generate enough serious Internet home buyers. Your home
may be listed on the Internet, but how are buyers really
going to find you. Most home sale Internet web sites
make their money from getting you to place your home on
their Internet site, not by selling your home.
A word of caution, be
prepared for all the real estate agents who call you and
want to list your home. Many will call with the pretense
of having a buyer or simply wanting to preview your home
for a potential buyer. Some of the agents may have an
interested buyer, but many do not and are simply looking
for a way to have an appointment with you to talk about
listing your home.
A word about open houses.
Statistics show that open houses serve primarily as an
opportunity for agents to get new buyers and listing
prospects. The vast majority of the time the people who
go to an open house do not buy the house they went
through. The process is just too hit and miss, however,
occasionally they do result in the sale of a home where
the open house was held. If you choose to host open
houses, they should be on Saturday and/or Sunday from
about noon to 4:00. That is the time most prospective
home buyers are out driving around looking for homes.
Selling your home by owner is a tough proposition. If
you persist, have marketing talent, and want to sell
your home yourself, give yourself a limited timeline and
budget to sell your home. Good luck, and call us if you
would like any assistance. Do not forget to order our
free 5 keys to selling your home
<<CLICK HERE>>
Thank you for taking the
time to review "Consumers Guide To Selling A Home". We
hope you found the information interesting and helpful.
If you have any comments, suggestions or would like our
assistance, you can e-mail us or call us at (770)
886-3808. If you know of anyone who may also find this
information interesting and helpful we hope you will
give them our name and web site address. |
