The following is an important message from a real estate agent I respect because she sells more homes than any other agent with whom I work.
Are you married, and separating or divorcing? Will you be selling your jointly owned property? There are some REQUIREMENTS to attend to when selling jointly owned property.
First and foremost, see an attorney and create a separation agreement. Don't skip or delay. Know who gets what possessions, and how the finances will be handled.
"Oh but Peggy, we are still friends, and our separation is amicable, so we don't need a separation agreement."
Ha! You say that now, but I've seen too many amicable settlements get ugly at the closing table when the parties get serious about who gets what from their possession, and who gets how much of funds. The time to address those issues is NOW, while cooler heads prevail.
Am I serious about settlement agreements? I will not put a house on the market until I have a copy of the settlement agreement in my file; you will get no listing in the MLS; no sign in the front yard; no advertising of Facebook, no postcards sent to our pool of active buyers; just an active URL on the net with your street addres dot com, and no content.
Another situation that will stop a listing is clutter and hoarding. You can box it all up and put it in the basement storage room, or in the local U Store It storage rooms. Buyers are on a search for nothing less than their dream home. Nobody dreams of having a house that is packed with dirty dishes in the kitchen, stained carpet EVERYWHERE, boxes piled five feet high and outdated wallpaper on the walls.
Turning away buyers because it's INCONVENIENT. The baby is napping? Tell them so and they will be quiet when they pass the baby's room. They call 30 minutes ahead of showing time and you're in the middle of a project on the dining room table; tough tonails. Gather it up and put it away.
The way we live our daily lives in a house is different than the way we live in a house for sale. Get used to it.
Is it a hassle? Is it inconvenient? You bet it is. My job is to sell your house for the most money, in the shortest time, and with the fewest hassles.
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