6 Steps To Selling Your Home

Selling your home can be a daunting task. There are many laws that must be adhered to in the process. Many For Sale By Owner may not be aware but they are held in the same regard as real estate agents. In other words FSBO's must follow many of the same laws and rules that apply when selling property as real estate agents and are subject to punishment just the same. In addition, FSBO's usually do not have the resources that real estates have. A large number of real estate sales occur between agents. An important fact to keep in mind is that when a seller is a FSBO, he or she excludes the entire real estate agent community. Of the thousands of agents wheeling buyers around the city, for what reason will an agent show your property if there is no commission to be made?

To help you feel more confident in selling your home, please consider the follow 6 step:.

Prepare Your Home For Selling
You will need to get together any pertinent information on your property such as the deed, survey, tax bill, mortgage statement, utility bills, information on upgrades and improvements etc.

Attend to minor repairs; loose doorknobs, leaky faucets etc. Ensure that the doorbell and all electrical fixtures work and replace any burned out light bulbs.

Cardinal Rule. Have the house cleaned. Kitchens and bathrooms should sparkle and clean windows are impressive. Carpets should be cleaned and kept vacuumed. Watch for and remove cobwebs on the ceilings. Maintain a neutral odor.

Your house should appear spacious. Closets should not be overcrowded. If necessary, rent a storage locker temporarily, give away items you no longer use or consider having a garage sale.

The Listing Agreement
The listing agreement is a contract between the you (the seller) and the listing broker. The listing describes the property to be sold and the terms under which it is to be sold. It will also list items to be included in the sale and excluded from the sale and items that are negotiable.

This document also sets up our agency relationship and sets in motion all the duties and obligations that come with the law and Agency.

The listing agreement is on a standard form provided by our local real estate board.

You are appointing me and my company to market your property for a specified length of time and agree to pay us a commission (usually a percentage of the sale price) for bringing about an acceptable offer and successful completion of the transaction.

On the MLS listing the listing broker agrees to share the commission with the co-operating broker (i.e.: the agent who brings the offer from the buyer).

There are two disclosures required by Illinois Law; the Residential Real Property Disclosure and the Lead Based Disclosure.

The Residential Real Property Disclosure discloses material defects known by the seller. A material defect is defined as a condition that would have a substantial adverse effect on the value of the residential real property or that would significantly impair the health or safety of future occupants of the residential real property, unless the seller believes the condition has been corrected. This give buyers the benefilt of the seller's knowledge about the condition of the property they are buying. This disclosure consists of 22 questions the owner(s) must answer honestly.

The Lead Based Paint Disclosure is a formed filled out by the seller disclosing Lead Based Paint present in the home known by the seller for properties built before 1978. The seller is not required to test for lead based paint hazard. He or she is only required to disclose knowledge of its presence. It is the responsibilty of the listing agent to that those selling property built before 1978 disclose the presense of lead based paint.

We will also discuss your appoximate net proceeds from the sale which are based largely on sales price, mortgage balance(s) and closing costs. Typical seller closing costs are the brokerage fee (commission), title expense, attorneys fees, tranfer stamps, survey, home warranty and other potential miscellaneous fees.

Pricing Your Home
Location, Location, Location: Yes, but at what price? Location is extemely important in real estate. However, pricing your home right is the key to selling it quickly and for the best price.

Obviously, you, the seller, sets the asking price for your home but ultimately the buyer determines the value. Homes sell quickly and usually for the most money when they are priced properly from the beginning. I will provide you with all the information about similar properties which sold recently and properties currently for sale in your neighbourhood.

A good strategy is to list slightly more than the price of properties recently sold and slightly less than the current competition on the market. An educated buyer will compare your home with other similar properties on the market and then decide which one meets their needs "best" and the one that is also a "fair" price to pay.

The dangers of overpricing are: reduces the number of showings, reduces advertising response, loses potential buyers, eliminates offers, helps sell the competition, can cause appraisal problems, extends market time. Things that don't affect value are your original cost, the cost to rebuild it today, your investment in improvements, personal attachment (also referred to as emotional equity), what you need, certain types of improvements.

When a home is newly listed, real estate agents will arrange for the buyers to see it. Once this "actively looking" group has seen the property, showing activity decreases to only those buyers that are new to the market. For this reason it is important that sellers have their home in the best condition and at the best price at first exposure to the market.

To help you at this early stage I can provide you with a quick 'No Obligation Over the Internet' Evaluation of your home.

Marketing Plan
Your Realtor should be knowleageable about the area inwhich your home is located. Get answers to any questions or concerns. Find out how they would market your property. Are there additional marketing fees.
Discuss commissions and how much they offer to the selling agent.
Ask what they expect of you.
I have a 15 point marketing plan designed to get you the maximum amount of exposure. Ask me about my Radar Selling Platform.

Showing Your Home
It is extemely important that your property be in its best showing condition. Real estate agents refer to this as showining well and it is paramount in addition to the listing price. Often times agents and their buyers can't see the value of a home when it doesn't show well. It is your responsibility to have the house looking good for showings. It should be clean, tidy and odor-free, and pets and children should be out of the way.

You should try to be out of the house or at least as inconspicuous as possible. Allow the agent to show the property without interfering. Do not get involved in a long and drawn out conversation with the purchaser as it may end up being used against us during the negotiations.

Showings are by appointment only and buyers will always be accompanied by an agent. We will keep a record of all the appointments.

In addition to keeping the property in the cleanest possible condition, it is important to have it easily accessible by prospective buyers. There is nothing more frustrating to an agent than to have a willing and able buyer and not be able to show the property relatively easily. With the owner's permission the agent may provide a lockbox which makes a key accessible for agents to show your property when you are not home.

Sometimes we may want to hold open house for the public on weekends. This is a marketing strategy which is advisable in some situations but not always necessary.

We may want to hold an open house for agents (referred to as a brokers open) on the appropriate day or the day the listing appears to allow all agents at once to preview your home with the least inconvenience to you.

Dealing with Offers
When an agent prepares an offer on your home they advise me of this fact. I will then tell you we have an offer and make an appointment to present it to you at a convenient time and place. Often we fax offers back and forth to save time. We would read through the offer, I would explain the terms and conditions to you. You can ask for clarification of any questions of concern to you. I will thoroughly explain any clauses and conditions and advise you what is normal wording and what is unusual or items that may be of concern.

Offers typically are on standard forms provided by our local real estate board with many standard clauses to satisfy attorneys.

Besides identifying the parties and properties, the offer lists all the items the purchaser wants included in the sale and any fixtures to be excluded.

There is an irrevocable date and if you don't accept the offer by that time the purchaser may revoke it.

You may either accept the offer as is, reject it, or make changes and sign it back to the purchaser to see if they are willing to accept your changes. If you make changes to it, this means you have rejected the original offer and they are no longer bound by their original offer. It is the buyer's option to either accept your counter-offer with the changes, reject it or come back with another counter-offer. This process continues until either you can reach agreement or the negotiations terminate.

The purchaser submits a deposit (also called a earnest money) with the offer which is turned over to the listing broker once the offer is accepted. The deposit is held in our trust account to be applied to the purchase price on the closing date. The total commission is usually deducted from this deposit on the closing date and if there is a deficiency your lawyer is instructed to pay the balance of the commission owing from the proceeds of the sale.
Once agreement is reached and any conditions are waived, the documents are handed over to your lawyer who prepares the transfer papers, deals with any adjustments, and meets with the purchaser's lawyer on the closing date to exchange the keys for the payment.

Your attorney will take the reigns at this point. It is at this time that we sit tight and wait for any contingencies to clear. Many times, the purchase of your home will be contigent upon inspection, the attorney's review period, fincance contigency and/or home sell contingency. And there maybe others. Some of the tasks on the sellers side enroute to closing include but is not limited to fixing deficiencies found at inspection, ordering a survey, having a termite inspection and ordering title.