Ten Simple Steps You Can Take To Ensure Your Home Sells At Top Dollar 1. Selecting the right agent. Finding the right agent can sometimes be very difficult. To start your search for the right real estate agent, ask for referrals from friends, relatives, or co-workers who have had a successful selling experience. Prior customer satisfaction is critical here, market share is not. Ask your agent, "Can you show me, in any capacity, that your past customers have been satisfied with your service?" 2. The listing process. The listing agreement is basically an employment contract and must be in writing to be enforceable. Although there are many types of listing agreements the most advantageous to the home seller is the Exclusive Right To Sell multiple listing agreement. This gives the Broker the authority and obligation to distribute it to all members of the Broker's multiple listing organization, thus exposing your home to the larger market. When the property is sold, the commission is divided between the listing Broker and the selling Broker. Question: Is the commission rate carved in stone? No, commissions are entirely negotiable. Our recommendation: be competitively priced and competitively commissioned. Don't pay more than you have to, to get the job done. 3. How long should a listing agreement run? This is subject to current market and price segment conditions. If homes in your town and price range are selling within 30-60 days, three months is more than adequate. However, if homes in your town are taking 5-8 months to sell then the listing will be longer. In this case a 90 day listing will not cause your home to sell within a "reasonable time. (See also: "How To Avoid Tying Yourself Up With A 3 To 6 Month Listing.") Money-Saving Tip: Make a list with names and addresses of any potential prospects with whom you came in contact before deciding to use a Broker, then get your Broker to agree to a reduced commission if someone on this list buys your house within the first month it is listed. 4. Having your home professionally inspected. A professional home inspector can alert you to problems that could complicate a potential sale. Correcting these problems early not only makes your property more desirable but it also simplifies the negotiation process when the time comes for the buyer's pre-purchase home inspection. Seller Disclosure: Home sellers who hide defects from buyers are asking for trouble. The principle of "caveat emptor"-let the buyer beware-doesn't apply anymore. Two-thirds of all lawsuits against real estate brokers, agents, or sellers, in the United States, allege misrepresentation for failure to disclose property defects. So to protect all parties involved in the sale of a home a seller disclosure statement is recommended. By disclosing all of the property's defects the seller is laying it out on the table and the buyer has no reason to carne back later and complain. Money-Saving Tip: To avoid the possibility of a lawsuit after the sale get the buyer's written acknowledgment of any problems before you accept an offer. 5. Preparing your home for sale. Preparing your home for sale doesn't have to mean making costly additions or remodeling. Most buyers looking for a home will want to plan their own major changes. All that is necessary will be cleaning, painting, landscape maintenance, and minor repairs. The closer to impeccable your home is, the easier it will be to show and sell. Curb Appeal: The wise homeowner will improve the lot and outside of the house before it is put up for sale. Simple but neat landscaping can help the marketability. It makes dollars and it makes sense. 6. How much is it worth? Value is defined as the cost vs. the benefit from the customer's point of view. Fair Market Value is defined as what a buyer is willing to pay and what the seller is willing to sell for when both are aware of its highest and best use and the property is "exposed" to the "open market" for a "reasonable" period of time. A Realtor's competitive market analysis will compare comparable properties that have sold and, importantly, those that have not. A good analysis will include the total number of homes on the market in any given month and the number of homes that have sold in that month, (Absorption Rate = Supply/Demand), the average number of days a home is on the market, and the percentage of list to sale price. The following questions will give you insight: What do the homes that have sold have in common? What do the homes that have not sold have in common? Is it advertising, marketing, Broker, or is it location, condition, price? By Example: 100 competing homes between $200,000-$275,000 in a 4-town area 70 homes in a prime neighborhood location, 40 in top condition. Market absorption 15-20 homes sell per month out of 100. Critical deciding factor is price. Caution: A Realtor's CMA may not include private sales, FSBO's or Sheriff foreclosures. The Realtor's CMA will, therefore, represent the highest retail value. Sheriff's sales represent the lowest wholesale value. Private sales invariably represent the value in between retail and wholesale. 7. Marketing your home. Golden Rule: Increase demand = increase value. Your home is considered a commodity. To increase the largest segment of demand use the multiple listing system. 83% of all home sales are made by Realtors. Therefore, in order to sell the home "once" you must sell it "twice". Making your home accessible, attractive, and convenient, and easy to show to Realtors, means you have access to their customers and clients. Any showing restriction will reduce demand. A good Realtor will provide a Marketing Plan that will market your home to the most effective buying segment. Caution: Classified ads contribute to approximately 15% of all home sales. You thought it would be more, didn't you? According to the National Association of Realtors' 1995 survey, nearly 57% of all home buyers knew their agent. were personally referred by someone who knew the agent. or were past customers of the agent Today the most effective form of marketing is to position your home within the Realtor community. Consumers today are process driven. Who do I trust to find me the right home? A Realtor Open House is more effective than a customer open house. 8. Analyzing and negotiating offers. Our best recommendation is preparation. At the time you sign a listing contract ask your agent to review with you a purchase agreement. In order to effectively analyze and negotiate your offer your advanced knowledge and skill will be important. By "role-playing" a purchase agreement questions will be raised, strategies will be determined, and current customs, trends, disclosures, duties, rights and restrictions of all parties will be addressed and eliminate unwanted surprises. 9. What you should know about your buyer's financing. In today's fast paced technological world, any prospective purchaser can be pre-qualified for a mortgage prior to finding a home. The levels of pre-qualification can range from an informal credit review to a complete buyer credit history analysis, including all 3 credit bureaus and credit scoring, employment verification and source of down payment funds qualification. This latter format becomes a "virtual" mortgage commitment subject to finding a home and having it appraised. If a buyer is going to ask you to take your home off the market for 30-45 days in which to get mortgage approval then you should at the very least determine that source of funds for down payment, and credit check with the results given to you in writing by a qualified mortgage lender. 10. Closing the deal. Ask your attorney for a HUD settlement statement, also known as a RESPA Uniform Settlement Statement, which will contain all of the information about the loan and the parties that participate in the settlement. The HUD form is customarily prepared in the final moments prior to closing, but can be reviewed in an informal manner earlier. An informal review of a RESPA form will raise questions and will provide insight to the settlement process, which will include fees, transfer tax, credits, property taxes, and seller's net proceeds. Using today's technology to help sell your home. To not overestimate, do not underestimate the value of today's technology. The use of the World Wide Web is one of the newest of many tools that a real estate company uses in the marketing of your property. Ask to see your Realtor's Web page and be sure that it includes pertinent information about the "process" leading to the sale. The single greatest factor in the use of the Internet is the distribution of information. Today's home sellers and home purchasers are progress driven. By process, we mean customs, trends, market conditions, contributing factors such as interest rates, community profiles, school information, and anything that would inform the consumer about the general safety and well being of one's family as they have their "American Dream" come true.