Selling Your Home:

Three Easy Steps to Successfully Selling Your Home

1. Staging Your Home for Sale:

Everyone selling a house wants to get the best price possible. That being said, one of the most important things you can do prior to putting your house on the market is to take a critical look at your property. Here are some tips to get the process started:

a) Remove emotional ties to your home. In order to prepare your home for sale, it is important to take a critical look at your home...its strengths and its weaknesses.

b) De-personalize and de-clutter. While that moose-head trophy over the fireplace and camouflage netting hanging from the ceiling fits your idea of an awesome living room, potential buyers make not see it the same way. Buyers want to be able to visualize themselves in the space. Any personal items, even photographs and family heirlooms can be a distraction to buyers. Also, get rid of the clutter. Buyers can view the space more clearly if the rooms are organized with just essential items. If you don’t need it, remove it from the space. Pack up all those knickknacks, clean off counter tops, and remove old magazines and excess books.

c) Rearrange closets and cabinets. Nothing will turn a buyer off more than opening a closet or cabinet and having things fall out on them. Line up your shoes, hang shirts and dresses in the same direction, get rid of excess hangers, etc. If your Tupperware cabinet is an avalanche waiting to happen when the next person opens the door, edit down the number of pieces you need and pack the rest away.

d) Rent a storage unit. Less is more when it comes to furniture in homes for sale. You want the potential buyer to appreciate the size of each room. The more cluttered it is with excess furniture, it will make the room appear smaller. Remove extra pieces to the storage unit, leaving just enough furniture to showcase to its best advantage.

e) Make minor repairs. Finish projects that remain uncompleted. Fix the leaky faucets you’ve been avoiding for the last year, patch holes in walls, and touch up paint where needed. Re-caulk the tub and sink areas and replace any light bulbs that are burned out. If your sofa looks worn, consider slipcovers. The same goes for your bedspread. If it’s tired looking, replace it with something clean and fresh.

f) Repaint. Brightly colored rooms can be a turnoff for many buyers. If you’ve customized your rooms with bright or strong colors, you may want to consider repainting them using a more neutral pallet.

g) Clean, clean, and clean again. Wash windows inside and out. Clean cobwebs out of corners and under beds. Polish chrome faucets and mirrors. Clean out the refrigerator. Vacuum daily. Wash and wax floors. Clean and air out any musty smelling area, including the dog bed. Pressure-wash the sidewalks.

h) Role play as the buyer. Now that you’ve readied your home for sale, go outside and open your front door. What do you see? Is it welcoming? Do you want to venture inside to take a better look? Take a look at what you can see from just inside the door. Examine the placement of furniture, draperies, and décor items. What story do they tell the buyer? Is this an inviting place where they would like to live? If not, move things around until you enhance that first impression.

i) Check the curb appeal. Are lawns mowed? What about flowers near the front door? It has been said that yellow flowers evoke a buying emotion. Be sure to trim the bushes and clean up any dead branches. Keep sidewalks clear of bicycles and yard tools. And lastly, make sure your house number is visible from the road. You don’t want buyers to miss your house!

2. Selecting Your Agent

Finding an agent that understands your unique needs and goals can simplify the process of selling your home, from listing, marketing to closing. Once you find someone you like, you will be asked to sign a listing agreement. A listing agreement will outline the details of the relationship, selling price, terms and conditions, and the commission.

One of the first things your agent will do for you is to pull a competitive market analysis or CMA. This report shows the detail of homes in your area that have recently sold based on size, features and other market data such as economic conditions, school information and crime statistics. This information will act as a guide to your agent to suggest a listing price.

Next, an agent will tour your property and make suggestions for improvements that will enhance its appeal in the mind of potential buyers. Improvements can include such things as painting, minor repairs, new carpeting, etc.

Once the agent has a sense of the property and the competitive landscape, he/she will prepare a marketing plan. The marketing plan may include, but is not limited to the following:

• ‘For Sale’ sign in your yard
• Box flyers attached to your ‘for sale’ sign showing a photo and description of your home.
• Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listing
• Real Estate agent preview tour. A tour usually takes place within the first week your house is on the market to allow local agents to preview the property and hopefully return with their buyers. This is a great opportunity to put out refreshments for the agents who will be on the tour.
• Advertising in the local papers, Website, and often Craigslist.com.
• Open houses may be scheduled to generate traffic through your home.
• Showings will be scheduled with you, providing ample time to tidy up your home before prospective buyers see it.

3. Offers & the Closing

Within a short time after your home has been on the market, you should begin to hear from serious buyers. In most cases, your listing agent will request that buyers have adequate financing or have been pre-approved by a lending institution prior to your consideration of their offer. Once an offer has been forwarded to you, there are three options you can take. You can accept the offer as is, you can reject the offer, or, you can counter the offer. Your agent will guide you through the negotiation process and seek the best terms and conditions for the sale of your home. Once you have an agreed upon offer, the closing process begins.

The Closing Process: What to Expect

Terms and Conditions
Seller's Warranty
Inspection
Appraisal
Insurance Requirements
Closing
Moving Day

Terms and Conditions:

Your agent will receive a purchase contract from the buyer for your consideration. This contract will provide an opportunity for the buyer to hire their own experts to inspect the structural, mechanical and environmental condition of your home. You will want inspections completed as soon as possible, so there will be a specific date when inspections are to be completed. These inspections are for the buyer’s informational purposes and do not obligate a seller to make repairs or modifications to the property as a result of these inspections. As a practical matter, the inspection report is often used as leverage to negotiate major problems discovered during the inspection process. Again, your agent will guide you through any additional negotiations from the buyer with your best interests in mind.

Seller’s Warranty:

In some contracts, the seller will warrant the condition of specific components of the house such as the heating, air conditioning, and the roof before the close of escrow. In other contracts, the components of a home are not guaranteed and sold ‘as is.’

Home warranty plans have become popular with both buyers and sellers in recent years. These plans are limited insurance policies offered by sellers to cover major systems and appliances should defects be found after the close. With new homes, buyers are typically protected on workmanship for the first year, mechanical problems for the first two years and structural defects for up to 10 years. On existing homes, buyers are usually covered for one year from closing on covered defects or breakdowns. As with most insurance policies, there are limitations on individual programs and different levels of coverage, deductibles and costs.

Inspection & Appraisal:

Inspection:

A condition of many offers is a home inspection and appraisal. Companies that specialize in home inspections will insure the house is free of termites, that surveys determining boundaries are accurate and that the structural, environmental and mechanical integrity is sound. The inspector will visit the property and determine if there are material physical defects that would require expensive repairs or replacements to be undertaken over the next few years. A typical inspection can take from two to three hours to complete. Since this inspection is requested and paid for by the buyer, the buyer may request to be present during the inspection to ask questions and learn more about the property. As a condition of the offer, if an inspection reveals significant mechanical or structural problems, the buyer may rescind or amend his/her offer to reflect those discoveries.

Appraisal:

An appraisal will be required by the buyer’s lender to determine value for property. The appraiser will conduct a search of comparable properties or use a cost plus evaluation to make a judgment as to the current worth of the property.

Next a title search will need to be undertaken by an abstract company to ensure the property has clear title. The inspection, appraisal, and the title search must all be completed and acceptable to the lender prior to closing.

Buyer Insurance Requirements:

Title insurance is purchased with a one-time fee at closing. This policy protects owners in the event that title to the property is found to be invalid at some future date. Coverage protects both the mortgage amount and the value of the down payment.

Homeowners' insurance provides fire, theft and liability coverage. Homeowners' policies are required by lenders prior to closing.

Flood insurance is generally required in high-risk flood-prone areas such as the coastal regions. Flood insurance is issued by the federal government and may be a requirement prior to escrow closing. Your agent will let you know if the property you have selected is within a flood-prone zone.

Closing:

Your real estate agent will provide you with the estimated closing costs and the time and location prior to the day of closing.

All closing papers including deeds, loan papers, and other documents will be prepared by closing agents, title companies, lenders and lawyers. This paperwork reflects the sale agreement and allows the buyer and the seller to verify their interests.

Closing is typically held at a title company or other office setting where the title is transferred from the seller to the buyer. The buyer receives keys to the property in exchange for payment for the home. Your agent will be present throughout the closing process should you have any questions or require additional clarification.

Moving Day:

Congratulations! You have sold your home and are, more than likely, moving into a new home.

If you are like most, you have been planning and packing for several weeks. Prior to the day you actually move out of your house, you may be in search of phone numbers to shut off utilities, discontinue the newspaper, get the carpets cleaned, hire someone to mow the yard while you’re packing, or find a repair service for those last minute fixes. At Salado Realty, we’ve made the process a bit easier for you. We’ve collected many of the contacts you will need on the right toolbar of our web site. If you don’t find what you need, simply give us a call at 254-947-9700 or send us an email, and we’ll be happy to help.

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