What a Sellers Needs to Know

You’ve decided it’s time to sell your home or at least see what it worth and if it will be profitable to sell at this time. Here are a few basic items you should know about the home selling process and tips to improve the chances of selling quicker and getting more for your home.

1.      Find an Realtor®

Yes, you could sell your home For Sale By Owner (FSBO) but there is so much more then just putting a for sale sign out front and waiting for the phone to ring.  The selling process is best handled by a professional that understands how to market your home to the widest possible base of potential buyers. They should also be an expert in understanding and working with Arizona contracts, have extensive negotiating skills, understand the ever changing real estate market and knows how to stage a home. In short this professional is a Realtor® and they are your advocate and know how to protect your interests. (The Vogel Group has all this and so much more; such as unmatched internet marketing, over 30 years experience and RE/MAX affiliation for greater exposure.

2.      Pricing Your Home

Once you’ve chosen a Realtor®, they will sit down with you and go over a Comprehensive Market Analysis to determine the right price to list your home. Overpricing is the single biggest mistake a seller can make, it will take longer for the home to sell and the longer the home is on the market the lower the offers tend to be.  FSBO’s tend to underestimate the value of their home, you should get what your home is worth and not less.

3.      Staging Your Home

Before you home goes on the market you need to make sure the house and yard will show their very best. The two most overlooked issues inside a home are paint and carpet condition and these are relatively inexpensive to correct. A little touch up painting can make a big difference to a buyer and if necessary a complete interior paint job will make your home more attractive and possibly get you more for you house. If the carpet is worn or stained it should be replaced, giving an allowance for carpet is the worst way to deal with the issue, buyers will move on to the next prospect. Staging the home is also critical, remove all clutter, keep the kitchen and bathrooms very clean, make beds everyday, open curtains or blinds to let in the light. Outside make sure the lawn is cut, the shrubs trimmed, the patio, front porch and walkways are swept, keep entry way clear of dust and cobwebs, clean windows. Remember, first impressions are extremely important.

4.      Marketing and Advertising

This is what separates a good Realtor® from a great one. Marketing is something that needs to be continuously updated to meet the changing conditions of the market and the ever changing ways buyers look for homes to purchase. A Realtor® must market to other realtors in the area as well as directly to the buyers themselves. Traditional methods of marketing still work to some extent, such as: home brochures, mailings to other agents, yard signs, open houses etc. A great Realtor® will go beyond these and find other sources of advertising to drive even more buyers to see your home. Since more then 86% of home buyers start their search on the internet, Realtors® must find a way to tap into this tremendous source for buyers. This can be done in various ways but it takes a Realtor® with a proven internet marketing plan to know the best techniques and how to monitor your home to see if the home is getting the response needed to get it sold in a timely manner. The Vogel Group are experts in all of these areas of marketing and are waiting to discuss how we can help you sell you home now.

5.      Seller Disclosures

Arizona law requires the seller to fill out a Seller Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS). This six page document gives the buyer a general overview of your property and any material facts about the property. Failure to disclose any material facts about the property may leave the seller open to civil liability. The SPDS form is broken into six basic categories: Ownership and Property, Building and Safety information, Utilities, Environmental Information, Sewer and Wastewater Treatment and finally there is an area for you to disclose any material facts not specifically asked for on the form.

6.      Inspections

Once you have an accepted, signed and delivered contract the buyer has ten days to complete all inspections and you have five days to supply the buyer the completed SPDS form. The buyers will generally have a professional home inspector do an extensive inspection of the house and give a written report to the buyer. Termite inspections are also done at this time. Once all the inspections are completed and prior to the ten day period expiring the buyer will give you a written request for any repairs they want you to complete prior to close. If you refuse to complete all the repairs or will only do some of them the buyers will have the option to accept your response or cancel the contract. In the sales contract there are Warranted Items (both mechanical and structural) that must be kept in working condition by the seller throughout the escrow period and are not negotiatable. For a seller this inspection period is generally the most stressful time but your Realtor® will help you through it and their expertise and experience should help put your mind at ease. Once the inspection period has passed and the repairs have been agreed on, the escrow from this point forward should go fairly uneventful for the seller.

7.      Closing

Prior to the close of escrow you will receive a HUD statement from the title company that shows all of the closing costs and what your final settlement will be. At this time you and your Realtor® should go over this statement to make sure everything is correct so there won’t be any issues from your side that could delay the closing.

This has been a fairly basic outline of the selling process and there are many other issues that may come up, such as: mold, major structural issues, buyer credit issues etc. If you are looking to sell your home now or in the future The Vogel Group is here to answer questions you may have regarding this process. If you want more detail on the marketing of your home we will be glad to go over our plan and help you get your home sold in a timely manner for the best possible price.