Last week, I described the necessary steps that one should take
when buying a home. Now, I will do the same for those who wish
to sell their homes. First, you should make sure that you work with
a real estate professional that will guide you through the process of
selling your home. In conjunction with your agent, you should
determine the asking price by reviewing comparative market
analysis. This shows how much homes similar to yours in the same
area have sold or are selling for. Another item to keep in mind when
deciding upon your price is the amount of time you are willing to
wait for a buyer to make an offer. The process of working with an
agent will include signing a listing agreement, which is an agreement
between you, the seller, and your real estate agent. It enables your
real estate agent to represent you as your exclusive Seller??s Agent.
The contract usually includes such items as the length of the listing
period, desired sale price, and the amount of commission for the
broker. An important factor in determining the right agent is to you
know the marketing plan before obligating yourself to a contract.
The obvious goal is to sell your home for the highest possible price
in the shortest amount of time. When you prepare your home for the
sale, you want to make sure that it has good ??curbside?? appeal,
because buyers often look closely at the outside appearance before
they even consider the inside. Make the outward appearance of
your home as inviting as possible, but also ensure that the inside
shows as being in good condition. Interested buyers for your home
will present offers to your agent, who will then present these to you.
A seller can accept, reject, or counter-offer . Once you accept one
of these offers, a formal contract of sale will be negotiated and
signed. Part of the contract usually allots the buyer a certain amount
of time to have the home inspected by a Property Inspector. After
this inspection is complete, the Buyer??s Agent will tell you that your
home is in a secure contract, and the selling process will continue.
The contract of sale says that the sale is subject to a clean and
marketable title, which is the seller??s responsibility. Other ??must
dos?? that need to be taken care of before the closing are the
appraisal, survey of the property, and final loan approval. After all
of the above steps have taken place, there will be a final walk
through of the home to make sure everything is in order. And,
finally, the closing will take place.
