Stepping Stones From Listing to Closed

You’re selling a house, but you haven’t done it before and you don’t what you should be doing.  So, you hire an agent to assist you with the process.  But then you don’t know what that agent is doing for you!  To help you get a handle on that, here’s a timeline of just some of the basics that I do in the course of a shepherding a listing from listing to close.  


GETTING READY

1.    Develop and review with you a comprehensive market analysis to assist you in determining a sales price that will maximize your return while shortening time on the market.

2.    Go over the house with you and provide a checklist of recommendations to be completed before the house goes on the market so that it will outshine the competition and, thus, sell in the shortest time for the highest return.  Provide a list of service providers, if required.

3.    Advise you to get a pre-inspection to prevent any nasty surprises during the contract period.  Provide list of inspectors.  Attend inspection.

4.    Provide you with forms for all required disclosures. 

5.    Compile information received from you, county offices, and other sources to prepare the listing to be entered on the MLS and for marketing materials.

6.    Make an appointment with a professional photographer to photograph the house.  Attend photography session and assist with staging the home for photos. 

7.    Prepare marketing materials including a house book with information about the home and neighborhood, including special features or amenities, tax information, appropriate disclosures, and other pertinent information, as well as flyers and brochures where appropriate.

8.    Create an on-line virtual tour of your property to be displayed on major real estate websites such as ERA.com, Realtor.com (featured), Austinhomesearch.com, Google, Tulia, Yahoo! Real Estate, and many others as appropriate.

9.    Prepare MLS listing and enter in MLS.

10.    Arrange for listing to be entered on ERA Colonial and other websites. 

11.    Write blog on Active Rain and my personal blog to market your house to thousands of real estate professionals and consumers country-wide. 

12.      Attach a rider for the For Sale sign allowing interested buyers to text for more information, and follow up on all such inquiries.

13.      Maintain regular contact to keep you advised of feedback, changes in the market, and other information that impacts the sale of your property.


WE HAVE AN OFFER!  But it's very puzzling, and you don't know how to respond. 

14.      Receive all purchase offers and review them with you to make sure you are familiar with and understand the terms, including providing an analysis of the offer and a seller’s estimated net sheet so that you can have a good idea of what "bottom line" the offer will produce.

15.      Verify buyer’s loan approval status before you agree to accept an offer or counter it. 

16.      Make recommendations as to possible counter offers based on comparables and make sure you have all the information necessary to make an informed decision. 


WE HAVE A CONTRACT! 

Now, you have a contract and the REAL fun begins!  This is what I call the "cat herding" part of the process.  The goal is for things to go so smoothly that it appears that nothing's happening while the myriad of tasks necessary to reach closing go on under the surface. 

17.      Follow the contract through from offer to closing, making sure that all parties are timely with their part of the process. 

18.    Provide you with a timeline of deadlines included in the contract, and make sure that those deadlines are met. 

19.      Review any requests for repairs or allowances arising from the inspection and provide a list of contractors for bids to determine the cost of such requests to help you determine your response.  Assist in getting estimates.  

20.   Provide you with all information and advice necessary to determine how to respond to repairs requests, whether it be by having the repairs done, crediting an amount to the buyer for repairs, a price adjustment, or simply declining the request. 

21.    Keep in touch with the buyer's agent to make sure that the loan process is proceeding smoothly. 

22.      Be present at closing to help with any last minute questions.


In addition to these basics, every real estate transaction is unique, and I help you deal with any surprises that I can’t prevent from happening in the first place!  Also, additional specialized marketing venues will be used as appropriate to spotlight the unique property, whether it be a vintage home, a horse ranch, or anything in between. 

It takes a team to get a property successfully sold. My goal is to work with you and the other professionals involved in bringing a contract to closing, to navigate the real estate maze to sell the house, farm, ranch, horse property, or land in the shortest possible time for the best possible price in today’s market.