What you should know before selling your home
|
Every last detail
As you see, the home-selling process involves many factors and procedures. You can count on your agent or REALTOR® to cover all the bases and handle every last detail of this rigorous process.
Qualifying the buyer
The NAR (National Association of REALTORS®) conducted a study and found that only 4% of people who visit your home are ready, willing, and able to buy. It is critical to know that you are dealing with a qualified buyer before you sign any type of agreement. Many lenders will give pre-qualification letters that turn out worthless, so it is imperative that you thoroughly investigate the qualifications of prospective buyers.
Negotiating
When setting the terms of a sale, most people are concerned with the price. Avoid this preoccupation. Consider other factors such as timing and the overall convenience of the offer. Familiarizing yourself with the market conditions and keeping your personal motivation to sell in mind will guide you in the right direction.
Everything is negotiable in real estate. You may find that personal property (washers, dryers, refrigerators, and so forth) could become bargaining chips to keep your price where you want it. Negotiating with them could even keep you from having to move them yourself. Also, make sure to spell out every little detail in the contract because even a simple misunderstanding can kill a deal, regardless of how far along you may be, not to mention cost you thousands.
When you receive an offer, you have one of three options: accept the offer, reject the offer, or make a counter offer. For all practical purposes, a counter offer is a rejection—nothing binds the buyer to your property once you make even a minor change on the purchase offer.
Closing and moving
The final step of the home-selling process is no time to slack off. You need to stay on top of the mortgage company, the title company, all attorneys, the appraiser, the inspectors, and anyone else involved in the transaction to ensure that all goes according to plan before you start loading up the truck. Once you are clear to move out, make sure you have cancelled all utilities and forwarded mail to your new address. Once all work is complete, congratulations on the success of your sale!
