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Seller Information
Selling your home can be an exciting, yet confusing and very emotional experience. While you might be looking forward to moving into your dream house or even relocating across the world, you might also be reluctant to leave your memories behind.
Additionally, you may be wondering if your house sells fast enough or at the price you are expecting. All in all, it will take a lot of work and patience.
The following tools will guide you through the home selling process. They can help you make your real estate sale go more smoothly and assist you in avoiding costly and time consuming mistakes.
Steps of Selling your Home
If you are thinking about selling your current home while buying a new home you should consider doing the following steps first:
- Check your credit report
Equifax
Experian
Transunion.com
You should know what your credit reports say about your financial situation, because these reports are essential when you apply for a mortgage for a new home.
- Get your finances in order
Correct errors in the credit reports, close credit cards or loans ahead of time.
- Check the different kinds of mortgages
Many different kinds of lenders and mortgages are available to you. Make sure you understand the pros and cons of each and watch out for loan fraud.
More calculators from Bank Of America for
Mortgages
- Find out how much you can invest and how much mortgage you can afford.
Most lenders won't give you a mortgage with monthly mortgage payments above 29% of your monthly gross income. Our mortgage calculator will help you estimate monthly payments.
Calculator
- Get pre-approved by a mortgage company
Being pre-approved could not only help you getting your offer to purchase accepted, but is sometimes also necessary to be able to look at houses.
Most homeowners won't let you in their house when they don't know if you will be able to purchase their home and therefore open their home only to pre-approved buyers.
- Check your mortgage payoff
Check with your lender the payoff for your current mortgage.
-Check your options
Checking and determine your finances will give you a realistic picture what to expect and in what range you can consider buying a new home.
- Determine your home's fair market value
- Estimate your costs to sell
- Determine your costs to buy a new home
- Calculate your estimated proceeds
-Proper pricing
Setting a realistic price for your property right from the beginning is critical for getting the best results, getting the most for your property and selling it quickly.
- Make necessary repairs
Unless you want to sell your house as a fixer-upper, you should repair anything that is broken and could give potential buyers a reason to submit a lower offer.
- Get your house ready for showing
Check if your property is visually appealing and in good condition.
It will attract more potential buyers and will sell more quickly.
- Curb appeal is important. Maintain the yard, lawn, and scrubs, repair cracks, paint windows, shutters, siding, doors, store lawn mowers, get rid of debris and clutter
- Stage your home. If necessary call an interior designer or ask your real estate agent for help. The most important thing is to clean your house. Everything should sparkle. Remove any debris and all unnecessary clutter. Remove furniture if your house is too crowded. Paint the walls in neutral colors. Deal with smells and remove the cause. Put valuables out of view, maybe in a safety box before showing the home. Decide what will stay and be included in the sale price- draperies, light fixtures, shutter. Remove fixtures and everything that is attached to the house which you don't want to sell with the house and store it somewhere else
- Decide whether you will sell on your own as For Sale By Owner or work with a Real Estate Agent
If you are thinking about selling your house yourself to save the commission charged by a real estate agent, you should consider that you will be responsible for everything personally, from placing ads, answering phone calls, showing your home and dealing with all negotiations, to scheduling all procedures and contracts. In addition most buyer will offer less for your home, because they assume that you want to save the commission.
- Real estate agent / broker
Real estate agents know a lot more about the business of selling your home - they are professionals. They will help you establish the right price and promote your property in a professional manner. They will list it in the multiple listing service / MLS. They will create and place ads for you. They will attract buyers through mailings and other means, schedule appointments, show your home and weed out buyers who will not be able to buy. They can refer to services, help with the negotiations, check if all procedures are in place that the closing will take place according to your time frame.
- Find a real estate agent / broker
If you would like to sell your property through a real estate agent, talk to several agents before choosing the one you want to work with. Find out which brokers specialize in your kind of home or your area by searching the internet, looking in the Yellow Pages, the local newspaper's classified real estate ads or talking to friends an neighbors. Ask the agent how they plan to market your property. Refrain from choosing agents just because they suggest the highest asking price, or because it is the largest agency in town, the busiest agent, or the agent with the most experience. You need an agent who will market your home aggressively and professionally to buyers and to other agents. Most importantly, choose a broker that you feel comfortable with, can work with, and like. Negotiate the broker's commission and sign the listing for a limited period of time.
- Get Legal representation
You should get legal advice and representation especially when you are selling on your own. An attorney with expertise in real estate transactions can assist and protect your interest in a sales contract and will be present at the closing.
- Talk to a tax attorney
The sale of your property can have a major impact on your federal and state tax return. You should check all the factors that could affect your taxes resulting from the sale of your home.
- Estimate your home selling costs
When you use the service of a real estate agent you will have to pay a real estate commission. In addition there are advertising costs, signs, fees, closing, attorney and professional service fees, prorated costs for annual expenses, fees for surveys, inspections etc.
- Qualifying a buyer
When you use the service of a real estate agent, your agent will check whether potential buyers will be able to afford to buy your property. If you sell on your own, you should check the debt and credit history of a buyer, his income and employment status, his cash and availability of a down payment and the time he needs until the closing
- Home warranty
Home warranties are very useful, whether you are buying or selling a home. A home warranty policy will pay for the cost of fixing or replacing many systems. Home warranties give peace of mind in the period after a purchase.
- Settlement / closing
At the time of the closing the ownership of the property is transferred to the buyer. Before the closing day you should check the progress of appraisals, inspections etc, on a daily basis, so that you know immediately when there is a problem you must deal with.
Free reports for Buyer's and Seller's
Links
-> Get free reports for Buyer's and Seller's
->CNN Money / Buy my house, please
-> Home Seller's Guide to Success / Realtor.com
->ABC's of Real Estate / Home Selling
-> About Homeselling tips
-> HUD / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Home Selling Tips
Copyright © 2005-2008 Flavia Westerwelle / All Rights Reserved
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