April 2, 2010
Home Selling | Home Seller Checklist – What To Do And When
Selling a home is one of the most important decisions that a homeowner can make. To make sure that everything is taken care of, it is critical to create a home seller checklist. It will not only remind you what to do and when to do it, but will also help you cope with what can quickly become an overwhelming process. Here is a quick look at some of the most important points that your home seller checklist should include.
Things to Do Before You List Your House
1. Make Personnel Decisions
There are some important personnel decisions that needs to be made at the very beginning of this process. The two most important are: agents and lawyers. Some people choose to hire a real estate lawyer to help guide them through the process and possible recommend real estate agents that they have worked with. They are a great resource to help answer questions throughout the process. Often this is done for a flat fee.
The other important decision is whether or not to hire a real estate agent. Agents are often a good investment because they can help sell your house at a higher price. However, it is important to look at your local market to help decide if an agent is necessary or not. Many people find that an agent alleviates the overall stress involved, as well as helps keep them organized. An agent will ask for a lot of information and you need to make sure that it is readily available such as: tax bills, utilities, inspections, list of items to be included or excluded from the sale, etc.
2. Get an Appraisal and Preparing Your Home
You can either let your agent create an appraisal of your home or hire an independent, certified appraiser. Believe it or not, there is actually not much subjectivity when it comes to pricing a home. It is important to use the appraisal and price your home correctly from the beginning. If you price your home to high, it will sit on the market for a while and the price will often be lowered several times before you find a buyer. Additionally, because the home was on the market for so long and price deductions have taken place, the buyers will try to negotiate the price even lower. Correct pricing initially, will actually make you more money than pricing the house high and negotiating.
You also must make sure that your home is prepared properly. This includes major fixes to cracks and dents, new paint, and depersonalization. The goal is make your home as neutral as possible. This allows buyers to see the house the way they want to, instead of how you lived in it. Some people opt to hire a home stager to help with this process.
While Your Home is On the Market
It is important to keep your home “show-ready” at all times. This means that it should extremely clean and you should be able to leave the house at a moments notice. Most buyers do not like it when the current owners are there for the walk-through It makes them uncomfortable and will often stop them from asking any questions that they have about the property. During this process, it is also important to keep in touch with your agent, and get progress reports throughout.
After the Close
The National Association of Realtors, have created a list of 10 things that must be done after the close. This includes everything from selecting an escrow agent to preparing the deed. It is surprising how many sales fall apart after the close.
While this was only an overview of the process and your home seller checklist will be much more detailed, it is a great starting point to help you determine what to do and when to do it.
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7 Comments on Home Selling | Home Seller Checklist – What To Do And When »
April 4, 2011
john e @ 8:43 pm:
Depends on his credit, possibly nothing down if excellent credit.
One problem with him buying your house and you living it then your payments would be taxable rental income to him.
April 20, 2011
Georgette Orwell @ 1:35 am:
Caltrop & IDK:I’m in the same boat. And it’s capsizing.I would ride a bike (a) if I could afford to buy one, and (b) if I were physically able.I’ve been out of work for quite some time, am disabled but still willing to work at SOMETHING, yet NOTHING is available, especially– as you both said– when one is over fifty. People don’t call me “lazy” but I know they think it…. my own husband resents my lack of financial capability. I have a post-graduate degree so I, too, IDK, “should be able to find a job.” Not so! Go drop 75 grand on a post master’s degree, then go apply for a job at McDonald’s or a department store; One glance at your job application or resume, and said potential employer will look at you with dire suspicion, assuming you must be a crackpot. Thank God, my spouse is still working, but his take-home pay doesn’t buy what it used to. Lost our car, losing our (very small, modest) home, selling off furniture, etc., and why? To keep up with the rising cost of fuel to get hubby to work to be able to fill the gas tank to get hubby to work to…. Well, you get the point.
April 24, 2011
Toria @ 5:35 am:
Do you think he would go for building an outdoor pizza oven?
I like the idea of a bakery run from home, but I'm not sure I'd like it after I had to do it every day, whether I was in a baking mood or not. And having people arrive at my house all the time. A compromise could be baking at your home, but selling via other shops in the town?
I hope you can get Garry to understand just how hard it is to cook under your present set up.
July 7, 2011
flamingojohn @ 4:14 pm:
There are a lot of factors that go into an appraisal, but the biggest is the value of comparable homes in the area. When real estate agents list a home for sale and when appraisers put a value on a property, they look at comparable sales in the area. If other homes in the area have been selling for less, that will hurt the appraised value of a home. An excessive number of homes on the market in your area can hurt the value as well.
Other things like age of home, square footage of home, upgrades to the property, etc. also play a large role in a home's valuation, but ultimately it comes down to the individual appraiser's expert judgment. You could have 10 different appraisers come through a home and all 10 of them would come up with different values, and it is not uncommon for different appraisals to differ by tens of thousands of dollars.
August 18, 2011
The Eagle Keeper @ 4:38 pm:
Rules/regulations will depend upon your location. Here all that is required would be that if there is knowledge of lead paint, then it must be disclosed, not repaired. As is sales on anything is just that..as is and repairs will not be made because they are selling as is with no promises..buyer beware. Many mortgagers will not lend money for an 'as is' purchase.
October 30, 2011
@ 12:33 am:
selling avon from home. Home selling, zillow reflects every door's process, brick and focus date. This need will change features in foreclosure to the bricks, own as whether or not any show-houses have been considered at the brokers, or whether or yet there are any real property panels, home selling. Best regards
, Keira from Mexico.]]>
November 9, 2011
@ 7:44 pm:
selling avon from home. Home selling, zillow reflects every door's process, brick and focus date. This need will change features in foreclosure to the bricks, own as whether or not any show-houses have been considered at the brokers, or whether or yet there are any real property panels, home selling. Best regards
, Keira from Mexico.]]>