Not Properly Preparing Your Home For The Buyer’s Eye. As the process begins it is time to walk across the street from your home to evaluate how a buyer will view your home. If you are competing with other homes for sale in your area, how does your home honestly compare? For more information, Visit Stage and Sell.- Incorrect Pricing For The Market. Statistically the longer on the market the lower buyers will offer. Understand value of positioning vs. pricing. Recognizing this makes the difference between your home selling or, helping another home seller. Motivations of the parties, concessions and other factors are not immediately apparent if you only know the price. A well-connected Realtor® will know these other value factors as well as the condition of the comparable closed sales. Appropriate pricing, with the help of an unemotionally involved expert, is key to a successful sale. See Scott’s No-Hassle Competitive Market Analysis
- Signing A Long Term Listing Contract With No Way Out. Agents often ask or expect a listing contract for up to 6 months. Most agents work hard and do a good job, yet like everything there are exceptions to most rules. Factors to insist on: 1. A written marketing plan; and, 2. A performance guarantee (see the Williams System 24-hour easy exit guarantee and the written marketing plan). In the event the terms aren’t met, what are your options? May you cancel your listing agreement? Do you have any financial obligations to the agent or the brokerage? Are you able to hire another agent to represent you immediately? Even though most agents do a good job and work monumental hours, be wary of an agent who is not confident enough to work without an exit or cancellation provision in the contract. Get everything in writing.
- Mistaking Lookers For Buyers – Some Things Are Not As They Appears. If you’re doing it on your own as a “for-sale-by-owner”, take a deep breath and be willing to ask the necessary qualifying questions. Can you ask about their down payment, income, debts, alimony, FICO score? Pre-qualified is not the same as a “ready, willing and able buyer”. Good agents recognize wishful thinking of a buyer while asking a series of questions. Buyers often begin to look at homes up to six months in advance of their intended purchase. An important question is, “how soon do you want to move?” An answer of: “We’ve been looking for a year,” or “when the right property comes along, we will know it” would qualify as a looker.
- Using A Hard-Sell Technique. Take a moment and consider trading places. How would you feel having someone following you around or looking over your shoulder? Buyers usually smell commission breath and over-eagerness from agents and sellers alike. Let them take a breath and look on their own. Buyers appreciate discovering some things for themselves. If you’re going it on your own, “For Sale By Owner” remove valuables (lock them up outside your home) while your home is for sale. If you arrange Open Houses, consider your own personal safety. Always have a safe way out. If necessary, do-a-“Vanna White” by pointing the way upstairs or down the hall, then follow behind, but not too close. Don’t worry about offending, and don’t be a target. Remember your safety is more important than trying to make a sale! Keep pets either out of the way or out of the house.
- Unrealistic Expectations – It’s My Way or No Way. Remember the need to be flexible on the terms and conditions of sale depending on the dynamics of the marketplace for your home. How many other homes are for sale in your neighborhood and price range? Are you the only game in town in a highly sought after school district or neighborhood? How much does this buyer have as a down payment? What contingencies exist, if any? Does the buyer have another property to sell? What type of move-in date is involved? Is the buyer looking for help financing or closing costs? Most first-timers are looking for “How much down and how much a month?” therefore offering you a higher price to compensate for you assisting with the buyer’s closing costs. Some up-scale buyers may enjoy the thrill of negotiating a more bottom-line price. Be open and understand how your home relates to the marketplace.
- The Absence of A Written Purchase Agreement. Rule #1: Always put it in writing and understand what you’re signing. A real estate contract must be in writing to be valid in California. A seller may make a statement meaning one thing, when the buyers hear something else. Leave nothing to memory. What’s included in the sales price? What stays and what doesn’t? Will there be any additional repairs? Who fixes and who pays? How soon after closing does your buyer receive the key? These are all part of your negotiations from the very beginning. When and if anything changes, it must be agreed upon and signed by all parties. In California there are nearly 15 pages of disclosures that also must be in writing and signed by all the parties. Without signatures a deal can be rescinded.
- Not Understanding The Roles of Others in Your Sale. California uses Escrow companies, for the role of a neutral third party. The escrow professional (officer) follows the instructions from the seller and the buyers alike. If you’re working with an agent who is also a Realtor®, they have a Fiduciary responsibility to you in your transaction. That means they are required to act in your best interest while negotiating on your behalf. Housing inspectors are normally hired by a buyer to evaluate the condition of a home, sometimes as a contingency of the agreement. Other inspections and contingencies could include radon, asbestos, mold, pest control, and geological conditions. The appraiser (different from the housing inspector) usually confirms the value paid for the property and normally works for the lender or Mortgage Company. Title companies search ownership interests and may provide an insurance policy at closing. Property line surveys may or may not be required in a transition. Who pays for what, and how much? Know the roles and players involved in your transaction.
- Thinking Time is on Your Side. Some sellers mistake the importance of a time-line. Contingencies are the occurrence of a stated event, which must happen before a contract is binding. Most contingencies have a written time period for compliance. Both buyers and sellers need to be aware of their individual responsibilities when it comes to satisfying these contingencies. Failure to fulfill the contingency agreements could result in a non-binding contract by either party. There are mandated time restrictions for property disclosures, homeowner’s association documents, the city of Santa Barbara Zoning Information Report and other items. Are you in contract or out? Does a buyer have the right to withdraw an offer to purchase based on the time frames within your agreement? The familiar saying you’ve heard for years “timing is everything” does apply in real estate. Stay within all the guidelines and time commitments throughout your contract.
- Thinking All Agents Are The Same. Most consumers think an agent is also a Realtor®. Not true. Agents are licensed within the requirements of the jurisdiction or state. A Realtor® is a licensed agent who also belongs to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), one of the nations largest trade associations. As a member of the National Association, a Realtor® pledges to act in the best interests of their clients, the consumer. Like most organizations, levels of education and credentials also have an important role. NAR offers levels of higher education within the organization. If you are interviewing a Realtor®, ask if they have any credentials certified by the National Association of Realtors®. See Scott’s credentials. If they’re not sure what you’re asking, be polite and say thank you for your time. It takes an extra effort and commitment to earn the professional designations.
