SELLING A HOME
Selling your home for the most amount of money in
the least amount of time, with a minimum amount of
hassle is our goal at Foster & Foster Realty. This
page will explain many aspects of the home selling
process to you. You may wish to look at some of our
other pages for additional information!
Selling a home is generally broken down into
the following 8 steps:
Selecting your Realtor®: Perhaps this is the
most important step to getting the most money for
your home quickly. There are over 100 active agents
in Warren County and the surrounding areas. The agent
you list with can make you or break you. When choosing
an agent, always remember to look at the agent's
credentials - not the agent’s company’s. There are
good and bad agents in most companies. There is a
small handful of excellent agents in our area, several
agents that are OK and some that are ...????. Hiring
the best agent you can find should result in you
walking away from closing with more money than hiring
a cut-rate agent or even if you sold your house yourself!
I strongly recommend that you get an experienced agent. Perhaps one that
has helped more than 50 families a year buy or sell houses. This experience
level means that the agent is a top producing agent and probably has the
ability to solve problems. Your agent should also be able to explain marketing,
financing and mortgage options to you in detail.
Naturally, I hope that you would consider me as your Realtor®. I have a
team of people ready to make your home buying experience rewarding, fun and
hassle free. I offer you strong innovative marketing, tremendous experience
and a personal attention to your needs.
Pricing Your Home: This should be the first thing your agent discusses
with you during the initial client consultation. The agent should discuss
what similar properties have sold for in your area. The agent should make
adjustments according to appraisal standards to help you derive the predicted
selling price and list price of your home. SOLD properties are generally
the only accurate predictor of value. Contrary to popular belief, the following
things have no effect on what your home is worth in the current market: How
much the neighbor has his house listed for; How much you’ve got into it;
What you paid for it; How much you have to get out of it. Again, the only
true indication of value is what buyers have recently paid for similar properties
in the same or comparable location.
Bare in mind, that many of the repairs and improvements you may have made
add little to the value of the house in relationship to the cost of the items.
If you have done repairs, put in new carpet, put on a new roof, or repainted,
you have restored the property back to good condition. It was worth less
when you started - you just brought it back up to market value.
If you have added a pool, a room, perhaps installed a sprinkler or expensive
carpet, you should realize that on average you will normally realize about
a 25% return on your money on these items. For example a $20,000 pool often
returns only $5,000 on an appraisal. Most of the money you spent in improvements
of this nature went towards your enjoyment of the improvement, not towards
the value of the home.
Important: Be aware that many real estate agents do not know how to
properly value a home. If anyone says that homes sell for xxx dollars per square
foot in your area, and attempt to use that as the main determinate of value,
they probably don’t know what they are doing. There are many other factors
that help determine the value of a home. In fact, differences in square footage
are typically adjusted at 40%-60% of the price per foot of the comparable property. Beware.. Some
agents will quote a high price to knock their competition out so that they
get the listing. This is unethical.
Condition: The next important part contributing to the sale of your
home is condition. The better the condition, generally the better the home
sells. The property should have no obvious defects, the heat, air conditioning,
plumbing and electrical systems should all be in working order. In McMinnville,
as well as most other states, you must disclose any items not in working
order, and any material defects that you are aware of, to a potential purchaser
prior to accepting an offer on your property.
Cosmetically, your home should be in good shape too. Paint that isn’t peeling,
soiled or strangely colored is a good start. Touch up any bad paint as well
as scratched up wood work. The carpet and other floor coverings should be
clean, not dated and be a neutral color without much wear. The yard should
be kept cut and edged. The bushes should be trimmed. There should be no trash
laying around in or outside the house. Window shades should be opened for
property showings and all the lights should be turned on as well. Remove
as much clutter from the house and counter tops as possible. Remember, cleanliness
sells houses. Please call me at 615-473-9567 so I can visit your home and
make specific suggestions.
Marketing: The main purpose you hire your broker for is marketing.
Many agents practice the 3 P’s - and nothing more. By the way the 3 P’s are
Placing it in MLS, Putting up a sign and Praying that it sells! You may have
to do all those things, but the successful agent will to do much more.
Most agents hate to advertise! Normally, you need advertisement and a direct
marketing effort to get your home sold quickly. Look for an agent that advertises
a lot and guarantees that your property will be continuously advertised until
sold. Other marketing tools to look for are direct mail and Internet advertising.
I would be happy to consult with you about what type of marketing should
be conducted for your particular property. I aggressively market our clients’ properties.
If you would like a free consultation, please call me at 931-473-6010, or
E-mail me at Anderson1@Blomand.net .
People from outside our market area will be referred to an outstanding professional
that specializes in properties like yours in your market area!
Negotiations: You’ve done everything right! You selected an aggressive
agent and you have followed his or her recommendations. Now, as a reward
you have an offer on the table!
First and foremost, don’t get hung up on little details! Look at the big
picture, namely the bottom line! Can you live with it? If you sign now, you
are on your way. If you change the littlest thing, you have rejected the
buyer’s offer and the buyer can walk away!
Let’s say the offer is just absolutely out of your comfort range. Your
agent should ask the buyers or their agent why they offered what they did.
If your house wasn’t priced to high and it was in good condition, there probably
isn’t a good reason for the low offer (if they are serious, they’ll probably
come up). If you understand your buyer’s motivation, you can understand how
to structure a counter-offer so that it meets your needs and the buyer’s.
Perhaps the buyer is low on cash and comes in $5000 low and asks you to
pay $3000 in closing costs. That is $8000 off list price and $4000 below
your comfort level. Don’t get wound up about taking away the closing costs!
Simply raise the price $4000 or maybe even $5000. This meets your needs and
the buyer’s primary need to put up as little cash as possible.
Understanding the buyer’s position is critical in negotiations and if your
agent doesn’t know the buyer’s position, have him find out before you do
anything!
Once you reach an agreement with your buyer, you are hopefully on your
way to a successful closing.
Appraisals and Inspections: Most contracts buyers enter into have
provisions for property inspections and financing. Financing will require
an appraisal to determine if the property is worth the selling price and
to be sure it conforms with the minimum property guidelines for the loan
the buyer is getting.
The buyer’s inspections typically make sure everything in the property
is in "normal working order". Most purchase agreements have provisions for
the following inspections: Termites, heating, air conditioning, plumbing,
roof, structure, windows, electrical systems, drainage and built in appliances.
The purchase agreement will contain the condition these items must be in
and a maximum amount that you will be liable for repairs. If the total of
repairs exceeds the maximum in the purchase agreement, you will have to renegotiate
with the buyer.
Title Work: When you initially list your home, or after it goes
under contract your agent will order the title work through an escrow agent.
The escrow agent will make sure all liens are clear at closing and that you
convey "marketable title".
Closing: After the buyer’s loan is approved and everything else
is in place you should be ready to close on your home! Most closings occur
within 30 - 60 days of the time you reach agreement with the buyer. Possession
of your new home is negoiated at the time of the offer and can be the date
of closing or soon thereafter. The closing is the final step.
I specialize in helping people buy and sell residential real estate in
McMinnville, Warren County and surrounding areas. At Foster & Foster Realty,
the goal of our team is for our clients to have an enjoyable "stress free" real
estate transaction experience. We would like to do business with you. For
more information or a free home selling packet, please call 931-473-6010,
or E-mail me at Anderson1@Blomand.net.
Be Sure to check the pages on Buying a Home
and Financing.
If you are in the military or a veteran visit the Veteran’s Page.
You can also view our Relocation Page , 1st
time Buyer Page and Jennifer Anderson - Broker,
GRI
Thank you for visiting our web page we are happy to be able to serve
you.
If you are buying or selling elsewhere, send us E-mail and I will refer
you to a competent and caring agent to help you get the most from your
real estate transaction.
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