4. MARKETING STRATEGY
Once your home is ready, it's time to put your house up for sale and market it. You must establish a marketing strategy with your real estate agent. Your agent will expose your home to the most potential Buyers as possible, using a marketing plan that will have the highest possibility of bringing not only the most Buyers, but also qualified Buyers.
There are many different ways to get the word out that your home is for sale. The traditional methods like a yard sign, flyers, direct marketing, as just a few of the many options available. In a Buyer's market more caution with the plan should be taken into consideration. Your property shouldn't go unnoticed. The marketing strategy should be structured so that the first 3-6 weeks that your house is on the market will be the busiest.
5. RECEIVING AN OFFER
When a Buyer decides to buy your home, an offer will be presented. Your real estate agent will advise you as to whether the Buyer is qualified or not to purchase your home.
You and your agent will then review the written document, taking note what is required of both parties to execute the transaction. The contract should protect the interests of all parties.
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 furnishing 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.
6. NEGOTIATING TO SELL
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 interests 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 most easily to negotiation. Your agent will review the written offer with you to make sure that you throroughly 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
- Lanscaping
- 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.
7. SELLING SERVICE PROVIDERS
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 example, 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 cordinate 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 wil be there with you every step of the way.
8. BEFORE CLOSING
Your real estate agent is in constant contact with the Title company or attorneys that are handling the transaction and are working towards the closing. They make sure the necessary documentation is going to be ready to sign on the closing date.
You may need to vacate the property depending on the arrangements that were stipulated in the contract.
You will need to make a list of all of the things that must be done in order to turn the property over to the new owner. The local services (i.e. electricity, phone, lawn care, etc.) will need to be notified of cancellation/name change on the accounts.
