3. Preparing Your Property

The majority of us do not keep our homes in 'showing' condition and there is a difference. Our 'stuff' multiplies, it breaks, becomes dull, and wears out. You will have to make the time to clean out the clutter, fix the things that have broken, polish up and maybe even replace some items in order to get it ready for the public. Remember that how your home looks will have a huge influence on:

• how quickly it sells
• if it will sell for full market value.

You usually get one chance to make a first impression and that first impression is the one that counts. Let your Realtor help you with placing fewer barriers betweeen the buyer and the true attraction of your home.

 

4. Institute a Marketing Strategy

Once your home is ready you will want to institute a marketing strategy and you should discuss this with your Realtor. There are numerous ways to get the word out that your home is for sale and a few of these are: a yard sign, flyers and direct marketing. But there is a lot more to marketing a home that just these items especially if your are in a buyer's market.

One thing to keep in mind is that the first 3 to 8 weeks your home is on the market is the most crucial and your marketing strategy should be in line with this time frame.

 

5. Negotiating An Offer

Key point here is win-win. Most offers do require some negotiations and your Realtor is well versed on all of the legalities of the contract and will have the responsiblity of protecting your best interest throughout the negotiation process. Your Realtor should have a thorough understanding of the contract, be able to tell you what you would net from the sale and which areas will be easiest to negotiate.

Your Realtor will try to find out as much about the buyer as possible and this is important to know because it can define their motivation for buying.

Here are some items you may have to negotiate:

• price
• closing costs
• repairs
• appliances
• occupancy

5. Finding the Vendors You Need

Your Realtor will inform you of all the procedures that will be involved in order to successfully proceed forward and reach a closing.

Your Realtor will coordinate things and keep you informed of the results. If all the procedures return satisfactory results you will continue forward. If a problem arises, that will determine your next step, depending on the terms set forth in the contract.

Some of the vendors that will be used will be:

• an appraiser
• a surveyor
• a home inspector
• a pest inspector
• a title company or attorney

If all is proceeding according to plan, your Realtor will be reminding you of the final walk-thru that the buyers will be making a day or so before closing, to ensure that repairs and such have in fact been done and the cancelling of the local services such as electricity, cable, phone, etc.

 

7. The Pre-Close, The Close, The Post-Close

Your Realtor will be in close contact with whomever is closing the transaction and a couple days before the closing, will verify with them that all the documents are in order. This helps to ensure that the closing will take place on the date and time planned.

The most important thing to remember for the closing is to be there and be on time. The entity handling the closing will tell you when you should come and often times it may be later than the buyers need to be there because they usually have loan documents to sign which can take some time.

The post-close . . . Shake hands, turn over the keys and say: CONGRATULATIONS!