When
selling a home there are a number of
things to consider, one of the first things is
timing. Timing in the sale of a house may not seem
important to some people but can be crucial to others. Timing on
the sale of a house can be complicated because a number of factors
can affect it. Pricing, Market condition, curb
appeal, and location can all have different but dramatic
effects on the sale of your house. Please let your CENTURY 21
American Properties, Inc agent know what your time frame is when
listing your house for sale in the Richlands area.
Pricing
Pricing in the
sale of a house or property can be one of the main concerns to a
seller. Pricing is
determined by a CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc
agent based on the existing sales in your area or neighborhood.
This is called a comparative market
analysis (CMA). Once your real estate agent has found
the comparables for your area, they will look at them from a
appraisers point of view. The real estate agent will try to
pick 3-4 properties that are as similar as possible to your
current property. A main factor in a cma is square footage of
your property verses another comparable property. A CMA is not
an appraisal. A cma is a informal estimate of the properties
selling value. A licensed appraiser is the only person that can
perform an appraisal on your property.
Market Condition
The market condition is how houses and
properties are selling at that particular time and particular
area. Are homes selling above asking price or below, are homes
having a long period of days on the market? What economic
situations are having an effect on the houses? There are a large
number of factors that will effect the market condition. One thing
to remember is that all areas are different and the news media
sometimes has it wrong. Your CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc.
agent will be able to look at the market and give you a good idea of
how it is performing.
Curb Appeal
Curb appeal and house or property condition
is a crucial factor in getting the best possible price for
your house. The saying "You only have one chance to make a first
impression." is true. Even though the inside of the house may be
perfect, the exterior appearance will have a dramatic effect on
people driving by.
The selling process
CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc agents are
trained to get your Richlands home or land sold. We understand that sometimes selling
a house or property can be stressful, but with the right marketing
and action plan it will be as smooth as possible.
The first step you will need to do is
contact your CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc
agent and let them know that you are planning to sell your
property. The agent will set and appointment with you to view your
home. During this your agent will start the research on your
property, looking up tax information, comparables of the
neighborhood and a marketing plan.
The CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc agent will
explain all the paperwork to you and what is involved in selling
your home or property. Item you will see include a
Exclusive Right to Sell, Seller Disclosure
Form, Lead Base Paint Disclosure, Working With Real Estate Agents,
and Dual Agency Addendum. Also during this time, your agent
will go over pricing of the property (high and low values),
comparables in the form of a CMA, marketing plan, to name a few.
If you are planning to relocate to another
area, your agent will be able to have our
relocation department
contact someone for you at your
destination. If you prefer you can
contact us now about relocation services.
After you have signed all the paperwork with your CENTURY 21
American Properties, Inc agent, it will be time to walk
around the house and identify the things that need to be completed
that will make the house easier to show. Preparing a house is
simple and can make a world of difference when prospective buyers
view your property.
During the next few days your CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc
agent will be doing a lot of the behind the scene work. Putting
your home or property in the mls system, letting the other agents in
the office know that the house is on the market, creating ads,
getting your home or property the internet exposure, key box
requests and sign requests to name a few. There is a lot of
activity behind the scene that takes place by your CENTURY
21 American Properties, Inc. agent that will help you get
your property and home sold.
Key Box
A key box is a electronic box that your agent will put on your door
so other agents will have access to show the property wihto0ut
having to drive to our office to pick up a key. This device makes
the showing easier and more convenient for the showing agent. Each
licensed real estate agent with the Jacksonville Bard of
REALTOR will have a key box card, each key box card has a
electronic code they will punch in in order to open your key box.
Each key box card has to be updated each night in order to work the
next day.
Soon you will have agents from CENTURY 21 American
Properties, Inc. contacting you about showing appointments
for your home or property. If your property is vacant, most of the
time the agent will use the key box to show. An agent from this
office will try to contact you on the numbers provided to your
agent.
Contracts
Contracts on your home or property can be an exciting time. This is
a offer from a perspective buyer. Sometimes, the offer is right on
the asking price, but it is over or below the asking price. If it
is considerable below your asking price, do not be offended. Some
buyers are just testing the water with the first offer. Your
CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc agent will
explain the offer and terms to you, make sure you ask all questions
before signing the offer to purchase. If you want to make a counter
offer you can. But remember, that once anything is changed on the
offer from the buyers, they can either accept, reject or counter
again. Be patient and look at all your options with your agent.
Accepted
You have accepted the offer or the buyers have accepter your
offer, either case you have a contract on your property. You
can relax a little but, it is still not over. During this time
the buyers will be working on getting the final
financing approval, the appraiser will
appraise the house or property, repairs may be called, the
buyers may have inspections, and you need to make plans to
relocate. It can be a whirl wind. But, talk to your
CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc. agent
frequently for updates and status.
Inspections
There are times when a home inspector may find something wrong with
the house. Don't be alarmed, this is common on almost all houses on
the market. The home inspector should be only identifying
structural or system problems and not cosmetic ones. The system or
structural problems will need to be address, if any. Note: these
items are in fact negotiable. But if you refuse to correct a system
or structural problem the buyers will have the option of getting out
of the contract in some cases. Your CENTURY 21 American
Properties, Inc agent will be able to go over with you the
finding and your options. Some examples: Heating unit not
working, rotted wood in crawl space, shingles missing or leaking,
GFCI outlet not wired correctly. These are just a few examples
Once all the inspections the buyer has elected to do are complete,
the house or property has apprised with full value, any repairs are
corrected, all items in the contract are fulfilled, the mortgage
company has approved the buyers for the loan, and the attorney has
completed the title work on the house, you will
be ready to close.
Closing
Closing on the property is when the deed and ownership transfers to
another owner. In a lot of the cases the sellers of a property have
already left the area and the property is closed by the agent.
Before closing make sure your CENTURY 21 American
Properties, Inc agent goes over the HUD settlement sheet
with you. A HUD settlement sheet is prepared by the attorney, and
will indicate all the costs incurred by both
parties. At the bottom of the HUD settlement sheet you will
see the amount you will be getting as proceeds from the sale of your
home or property. Once the buyers have signed all their paperwork
the mortgage company will wire the funds to the attorney, the
attorney will then record the deed and other documents for the
buyers at the county office.
