Selling Your House
So you’ve decided to sell your house. Okay, there are some steps that must be followed. Some questions that must be answered. First up: Are you prepared to do all the legwork yourself or are you going to pony up the green stuff to a broker so he can handle all the headaches involved in advertising your property and screening potential buyers. For argument’s sake, let’s say you decide to go the sane route and hire a broker.
There is still some legwork involved. Well, not so much legwork as questions to ask. For instance, is this person licensed? There are a lot of unlicensed brokers out there and while it’s really not fair to generalize and call them all criminals, it is better to be safe than sorry. At least if they’re licensed, you’ll have some grounds on which to lodge a formal complaint or hire an investigator should they skip town. Which they probably won’t. If they’re licensed. Also ask exactly how they plan to go about advertising your house. With the internet and the availability and inexpensive video production, you should expect much more than a simple listing in the newspaper or even a real estate property listing book. Also ask if you will be getting multiple listings. It’s not a bad idea to get an idea upfront of the price the broker plans to suggest for the house.
In addition, before signing any agreement with the broker make sure all the important info is in writing. What’s the important stuff? Agreeing on your specific asking price. The amount of the broker’s fee. And, perhaps most importantly, what is the exact time limit promised for finding a qualified buyer. Typically, this is going to be 90 days, but it’s not carved in stone, though it should be carved into your contract.
Before setting that specific asking price, it’s a good idea to get an appraisal. And don’t confuse a home inspection with an appraisal. An appraisal will involved a complex combination of an actual on-site inspection along with an analysis of market price in the neighborhood to determine the actual value of your house. Unless you’ve had an appraisal very recently, for instance in the last two years, it’s a very good idea to go ahead and get a new one. Don’t just ask your neighbor what he paid for his house and tack on a few thousand dollars. Get an expert opinion or you could wind up selling for far less than your house is actually worth.
Let’s say someone has come to take a look at the house and just falls in love with it and makes and offer and you accept. Does that give you license to stop showing the house? Ethically, perhaps so. But just because someone makes an offer that doesn’t mean they are going to be successful in acquiring the loan. A lot of things can stand in the way of someone getting financing, most notably a poor credit rating. Go ahead and continue showing the house to potential buyers, always making sure that they do know an offer has been made but not finalized. Actually, there’s nothing unethical about this. It’s all a question of saving your time in case the first offer falls through. And believe it or not, first offers have been known, upon certain occasions, to fall through. Better for you to have a backup offer immediately should this scenario arise than have to continue showing the house after a delay.
Remember, selling a house isn’t just about the paperwork. It’s also about salesmanship and, as the saying goes, your house will sell for more if there’s not a broken toilet in the front yard. Okay, so maybe that’s just a saying around these parts. The point is, it doesn’t hurt to spruce up the old homestead a little before putting it on the market. Most of this stuff should be common sense, but common sense ain’t what it used to be. Obviously, clean up any clutter in the yard, especially if part of that clutter is a broken toilet. Mow the lawn, sweep the patio, and shear the shrubbery. If you’ve got a broken or squeaky gate, either replace it or oil it. Slap a little paint where it needs to be slapped and fix that shudder that’s slightly askew. If you’ve got a broken window, drive down the Depot and get a replacement pane.
Now to the inside. While there are people who really go for that British cottage cluttered look, most Americans love space. So if you’ve got a bunch of stuff and excess furniture, if there’s any possible way to pack them off elsewhere, do it. The less stuff you’ve got, the more spacious it looks. Everybody homebuyer is impressed by large rooms more than anything else. And what you do keep in the house, keep neat. If you’ve got a messy house you send out the message that you haven’t kept it up well. And speaking of keeping it up, fix leaky faucets and toilets that need a little handle jiggle. Clean the shower and tub and sinks, make sure the air conditioner kicks on. Replace any light bulbs that have burned out and, hey, while you’re at it exchange any of those low-wattage bulbs you’ve been getting by with the ultra-bright bulbs that actually shed adequate light. Scrub down your countertops and dump those ratty looking shower curtains.
And one last piece of advice. And this advice above all others must be followed if you are in any way serious about selling your house.
Whenever you know a potential buyer is coming to the house to look it over, either bake chocolate chip cookies or fry up some bacon.
