Home Sellers

Are you looking for a smaller or larger home? Are you looking to be in a new area? Is remodeling a possibility? Write down your pros and cons to selling.

Simple repairs and updates done before the house is put up for sale can be instrumental in getting the best possible price for your home. Do you need to paint or take down wallpaper? Are your mechanicals fully serviced and in good working condition? How old is your roof? Does your landscaping need to be taken care of? Any improvements that can be done before putting your house on the market will only strengthen your house’s position in the market.

The repairs or changes you need to make will start to add up. There may be staging or moving expenses that can accrue as well as costs for your purchase. Generally, the closing costs equal between 7 – 10% of the home’s selling price – this should include real estate agent commissions, transfer taxes and tax proration. Talk with The Dan Spain Group and real estate attorney so you have a good understanding of the costs associated with your sale.

Have you thought about what is important to you when considering your marketing strategy in selling your home. Does your real estate agent offer the necessary marketing strategies you feel is important to help get your home sold? Are they active on the internet? Does the Brokerage Firm have a solid agent base that will help get the word out? How many websites will your house be listed on? Will the real estate agent host broker Open houses and public open houses regularly? These are definite questions you should ask when interviewing real estate agents. It’s important to identify an agent who not only has experience but also brings real value to your sale.

The Dan Spain Group will bring comparables and work with you to decide your home’s fair market value. By looking at the comps and evaluating the market trends, you can make an informed pricing decision based on the numbers as opposed to making an emotional decision. Pricing correctly from the beginning is imperative in expediting the sale of your home.

You have met with The Dan Spain Group, signed the appropriate paperwork and started the process of listing your home as soon as possible. Now it’s time to get your home “picture ready”. While walking through your home, ask yourself the following questions – Does the room look cluttered? Do you have too many family photos or knick-knacks all over the place? Buyers like to picture themselves living in the space they see. You want your home to look as open and as clutter free as possible. Do you have any pets? For showings you will want to make sure you have a plan for your pet as well as making sure your home smells fresh and clean. Ask your realtor’s advice on staging your home. You may have a table that will show better in a different location or the basement needs to be rearranged to have a more open feel. It’s really all about perception of what the home could look like to the buyer not necessarily how it looks currently.

Your home is now on the MLS and the showings and Open Houses are in full affect! The Dan Spain Group will provide you with feedback from the showings so you can hear what buyers are thinking. There may be issues that you can’t/won’t fix but some buyers will point out – your basement ceiling may be too low, you have older windows, your home is on a corner, you don’t have a front porch and so on. There may be issues that arise that you may want to take care as soon as possible – fixing a broken window, replacing some light fixtures, painting the living room a more neutral color and so on. Again, this is all part of the process. Hopefully, a buyer will come in on day one and submit an offer!

The Dan Spain Group presents the offer to you, explaining everything in detail. You will work with your agent to counter-offer and negotiate until both sides come to a deal. This could take a few hours or this could take a few days. It all depends on the scope of the offer and the amount of negotiating that needs to be done in order to satisfy both parties. Once all parties initial and sign you have an executed contract. Executed contracts are then sent to the attorney’s for further review and negotiation. Most likely, the buyers will pay for a home inspection immediately after signing the contract. Once all inspection and any other outstanding items are negotiated through your attorney, you are then out of the attorney review and the next step is closing!

A final walk-through will take place right before closing. Make sure the house is as it’s supposed to be per your contract. Also, make sure it is at least broom-swept and all pertinent information is left behind for the next owners. Paperwork will need to be signed through the title company and your attorney. Once all paperwork is completed and the funds are wired you will be officially closed!