So you’ve decided to move and you’ve invited a real estate professional to interview for the job of selling your home. What should you do to prepare? What should you expect?
These are very important questions when it comes to selling your home. Preparing to meet with an agent is an important step in the process of selling your home. You see, the real estate agent is going to give you advice, and this advice will only be as good as the information that the agent uses to form the advice. With that in mind, let’s review what you should do to prepare for this meeting.
The most important piece of information that the real estate agent needs to know is your motivation in selling your home. Are you selling because you absolutely have to leave the area? Or, are you selling because you would like a bigger home? The differences between these two “motivators” is significant. This year, less than 40% of the homes that are put on the market will sell. If your motivation is not high enough, it is most probable that you will be part of the 60% who fail to sell their home. So, take a close look at the reason for selling your home in order to help the agent advise you on the reality of you successfully achieving a sale.
Your expectations are nearly as important as your motivation for selling your home. I occasionally meet with people who want to sell their home who have opinions on the market value of their home that is based upon rumor and seller opinion, not based upon what is happening in the market. Even though these homeowners are sitting on a pile of equity, they end up holding to a price that the market will not fetch. I have seen these same people try (and fail) to sell their homes for years! Even in a tough market, it does not take years to sell a home.
Sometimes as a home owner, you are privy to information that will affect the value of the home. Maybe the neighborhood is getting ready to have a new sewer system brought in, meaning everyone in the community will be assessed a good bit of money. It is important to know that this is a required disclosure to all interested buyers, therefore it is important that you share this information with the real estate agent prior to your meeting. The opposite is true as well, if you know of a positive event that will be occurring shortly that might increase the value when selling your home.
A list of all recent improvements will help the real estate agent determine what might be needed to make your home more sale-able as well as more marketable. A list of all liens and encumbrances will help the agent show you your true equity position. Finally, make sure you share with the agent the names of any and all people on the title of the home, and make sure all decision-makers are present when meeting with the agent.
The key to remember when preparing to interview an agent for the job of selling your home is that you need good advice and this can only come from an informed real estate professional. You have much of the information that the agent needs, so do your preparation first.
Here are some great home selling links:
- Tallahassee home selling resources
- What is Selling in My Neighborhood?
- Tallahassee Relocation Guide
- Getting Started Selling Your Home
- Marketing Plan For Selling Your Home
- Current Market Conditions
- What Is My Home Worth?
- Timeline for Selling Your Home
- Selling Your Home - Who’s the Competition?
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Joe Manausa is the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached by clicking on the comments button below, via e-mail through his company website at www.manausa.com, or by calling (850) 386-2001.
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