Real Estate Survival Guide: Seller's Checklist
Refer to this handy list to get you through the selling process.
By FrontDoor.com |
Published: 7/02/2008
6. Prepare and stage the home.
- Have a yard sale. Sell, donate or trash everything you don't need.
- Make necessary repairs.
- Make improvements to increase your curb appeal, i.e. the home's external attractiveness when viewed from the street.
- Hire a professional home stager or research staging tips.
- Declutter, depersonalize and decorate every room and outdoor areas so buyers can imagine themselves living in the home.
- Paint interior rooms neutral colors.
- Replace outdated lighting fixtures and window treatments.
7. Set up showings and open houses.
- Keep the home in show-ready condition at all times.
- Take appointments or set up a lockbox so agents can show the home when you're not available.
- Hold an exclusive open house for local real estate agents to introduce them to the home and get feedback. Include food and refreshments.
- Hold an open house for potential buyers. Advertise in local publications and put up signage in the area.
8. Review purchase offers.
- For each offer, note the proposed offer price, preapproval letter, contingencies, earnest money amount, proposed closing date and offer expiry date.
- Have a process in place if you expect to get multiple offers.
- Keep emotions in check when receiving lowball offers.
9. Make counteroffers and negotiate.
- Approach each offer as an opportunity to negotiate.
- If the buyer's offer is contingent on selling a home, counter with a Removal of Sale Contingency.
- If you won't budge on price, offer financial incentives that don't require cash out of your pocket, such as paying for part or all of the buyer's closing costs, repairs found during the property inspections or points.
- Offer to include furniture, appliances, window treatments or lighting fixtures.
- If you're worried you won't be able to buy a home after you sell, include a "rent back" clause which lets you rent back your home from the buyers after escrow closes.
- Make a full-price counteroffer, if your comps can back it up.
- Make the sale contingent on your buying a home.
- Don't forget to set a closing date and move-in date.
- If you find a serious buyer who is having trouble qualifying for a mortgage, consider offering seller financing, a mortgage assumption or a lease-to-own deal.
10. Get through escrow.
- Create a formal plan for handling home repairs, including when they should be made and who pays for them.
- Clean and prepare the home for the appraisal and home inspections.
- Choose an escrow officer who will order a title search, request payoff information for your mortgage and other liens on the home, prepare and record documents, hold and disburse funds and prepare closing statements.
- Prepare for the final walk-through inspection.
- Sign the closing documents and move out of your home.
- Keep copies of your documents for reporting the sale on federal and state tax forms.
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