The Home Selling Process
What You Can Expect When You Sell Your Home
So you've read through the Home Sellers Guide and you've selected a Realtor, determined a fair market price, and have staged your home. In fact, your home's curb appeal was so appealing, you've received your first offer – now what?
The following gives you a step-by-step explanation of the Home Selling Process and what you can expect:
Receiving an Offer
Once a buyer decides they would like to buy your house, an offer will be presented. Review the written document taking care to note what needs to be done by both parties to execute the transaction. The contract should protect the best interests of all parties involved and should be comprehensive in nature. Once you accept the contract, it may be too late to make any changes.
The contract, though not limited to this list, should include the following:
- A legal description of the property
- The offering price
- The down payment
- Financing arrangements
- A list of fees and who will pay them
- Amount of the deposi
- Inspection rights and possible repair allowances
- The method of conveying the title and who will handle the closing
- A list of appliances and furnishings which will stay with the home
- The settlement date
- Any relevant contingencies and Addendum(s)
Remember that the legalities of this phase are very important. If you have any questions or concerns, they need to be addressed right away. Your agent can save you time and money by making sure that the offer is presented to you by a qualified buyer. There is no reason to review an offer if the person(s) making it will not be able to actually buy your home. Your agent will also be available to review the written offer to make sure that it is written in a proper way and covers the necessary areas.
Negotiating to Sell
Most offers to purchase your house will require some level of negotiating to come to a win-win agreement. It is critical that you be well versed on the legalities of the real estate contract used in your area. In addition to legal issues, you will need to understand contract basics, including what each contract clause means to you and your buyer, what you will net from the sale of your home, and what areas in the contract lend themselves easiest to negotiation.
Some of the things that you may have to negotiate on are:
- The price
- Financing
- Closing costs
- Repairs that need to be done
- Appliances and fixtures
- Landscaping
- Painting
- Occupancy time frame
To really gain some insight into why potential buyers are pursuing the purchase of your house and how they might proceed in the negotiations, it is important to know as much about the buyer as possible, especially their motivation for buying. Once both parties have reached a point where the deal is acceptable, you must be certain that you have a legally executable contract.
Your agent can save you time and money by representing you through the offer, negotiation, and acceptance process. He or she will review the written offer with you to make sure that you thoroughly understand what the buyers are offering and what they are asking in return. They will be able to help you understand the issues and how they will effect you. It is your agents primary responsibility to protect your best interest throughout these negotiations.
Sell
Once you have accepted an offer to sell your house you will need to make a list of all the things you must do, and a list of all the things the buyer must do, in order to proceed successfully to closing. The property may need to be formally appraised, surveyed, inspected or repaired. Depending on the specifics reached during the negotiations, you may pay for all, some, or none of these items. If each procedure returns acceptable results as defined by the contract, then the sale may continue. If there are problems with the property the terms set forth in the contract will dictate your next step. Depending on the contract, you or the buyer may decide to walk away, open a new round of negotiations, or close.
Your agent can save you time and money by coordinating all the necessary items that must be done to finalize the sale. Your agent will be directly involved and keep you informed as to the results of each action and what effect, if any, it will have on the sale of the property. He or she will also help you coordinate any actions you must take to keep the sale moving forward. There are some sales that go smoothly and some that require a lot of work to get to the closing table. Until you get into it, you won't know which one you have on your hands. Either way, your agent will be prove to be a valuable resource to you.
Pre-Closing Preparation
A few days before the closing you will want to contact whichever entity that is closing the transaction and make sure that all of the necessary forms and documents have been prepared and are going to be available to sign on the appropriate date. It would be a shame to get this close to selling and have the deal fall through because of a document not being at the right place at the right time. You should also begin to make arrangements for your upcoming move if you have not done so.
Your agent can save you time and money by making sure that all of the necessary documentation is prepared for closing. They will also make sure that all parties have done what they need to do so that the closing can proceed at the date and time planned.
Closing
This is where ownership is legally transferred to the buyer. As the seller you will need to be prepared to give over any necessary documentation regarding the property and, depending on the arrangements made during negotiations, you may be required to have done something specific in order to close. Be sure and read all the documents. Mistakes are more common than you might think.
Your agent can save you time and money by being present during the closing to help explain the process and forms to you and make sure everything goes as planned. By being present during the closing, they mediate any last minute issues that may arise. Something always seems to come up!
Post-Closing
Congratulations on the successful sale of your home! Hopefully, everything went smoothly and you will be vacating your house in the time frame that you had anticipated. You should make a list of all the items you will need to do to turn the property over to the new owners. You will need to do such things as make sure that all of the local services (i.e. electricity, gas, lawn care, cable, etc.) have been canceled or, if the new owner is going to retain some of the services, the name for the account should be changed. The property and anything assigned to the buyer according to the contract, should be prepared appropriately for the new owners.
An agent will save you time and money by helping you coordinate your move. They can help you develop checklists that you can use to make sure that everything is done so that your move goes as smoothly as possible.
(If you need recommendations for a mover just let me know.)
The professional team at Askins Realty Group, McKinney, TX, will be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding selling your home in McKinney or surrounding area real estate. Find out how you can save thousands with our Texas Best Buyer Rebate. Please email or call (972) 529-2394 Local Office.
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