Pre-Market

Pricing Your Home

• Your list price must be at or close to your home’s value in order for it to sell. If you are serious about selling your home the best way possible, please heed the advice below
• Overpricing will likely lead to longer days on market and inevitable price reductions and downward negotiations, bringing you significantly less money than you would have received by listing closer to the home’s value. If the home sells for over value anyway, the appraisal may disrupt the process. More on the appraisal in the next bullet below
• If the appraisal values the home lower than the agreed purchase price, the buyer's financing institution will not loan the full purchase price, it will only loan up to the appraised value. This means that either the buyer has to make up the difference in cash, negotiate for you to split the difference, or negotiate for you to lower the purchase price - the only other option is contract termination. There are no issues with financing if the appraisal comes in higher or at the purchase price
• At most a 3% to 5% difference may be acceptable in excess to its current appraised value. Tax records are not a reliable source for any information, especially home value
• In order for your home to have a chance at selling for over value, it MUST show well so do the work to make your home look great
• If you would like your home to sell faster, it’s best to list slightly below or as close to the home’s appraised value
• To be sure of the home’s appraised value, consider ordering an appraisal prior to listing. Appraisals usually cost around $400 and take several days to be completed

Information for the Listing

• Be sure that all listing information is as accurate as possible, you could be liable for any misrepresentation such as incorrect square footage
• Provide records or a list of updates to the home in the recent years via a word document
• Having a lock box on the door for agents to access is a great idea if you don't want to attend every showing

Cleaning

Whole house

• Dust and wipe baseboards, ceiling fans, light fixtures, lamps, door frames
• Wipe all surfaces and counters
• Remove stains
• Vacuum floors and furniture
• Empty all trash cans
• Clean windows and blinds

By Room

• Living rooms - vacuum couches/chairs
• Bedrooms - dust ceiling fans and blades, nightstands and lamps
• Kitchens - clear stains on stove and appliances, wipe countertops, clean sink
• Bathrooms - wipe down toilets and behind toilets, empty trash cans, scrub bath tubs and clean shower curtains
• Dining room - wipe down dining table, dust baseboards and crown molding, clean windows
• Exterior - Pick up sticks and limbs, rake leaves, power wash, clean out gutters, windex windows, clean grill and patio furniture

Smells

Common bad odors: Pet smells, overly strong odors from air fresheners or other chemicals, moldy or mildew like odors

How to remove

• Wipe down walls where the scent is strongest with clorox wipes and wet towels
• Wipe down/vacuum furniture
• Wash sheets/bedding/curtains
• If an odor is in the carpet such as urine, consult an odor removal company or replace the carpet

Repairs and Improvements

• Simple, cheap repairs
• Change dead lightbulbs
• Caulk around plumbing, countertops, doors, windows, etc.
• Replace faded/damaged light switch and receptacle cover plates
• Replace outdated door knobs and cabinet/drawer handles
• Consider getting a home inspection to find issues that a buyer might cause a buyer not to pursue the home

Staging

Overall

• Remove personal photos
• Less stuff is more space
• Clear off surfaces with at most two items on each

By Room

• Living rooms - no more than two couches or chairs
• Bedrooms - at most one dresser, one bed, and two nightstands, at most 4 pillows on the bed
• Kitchens - counters mostly clear, at most one or two attractive items
• Bathrooms - no towels or towels neatly folded; soap bottles and bath items hidden
• Dining room - staged with plates and place mats, a centerpiece like flowers
• Front Yard - flag that is colorful, tasteful, and well cared for or no flag; chairs on porch if applicable; no toys or ornaments in the yard
• Back Yard - chairs on patio/porch if applicable; fire pit set up with chairs if applicable; nothing in the yard (tools, lawn mowers, toys, etc)

Active to Closed

Showings

• Answer calls as much as possible and return missed calls as soon as possible
• Prepare the home for each showing using the staging and cleaning guide
• Turn all the lights on and open all the blinds and window curtains, more light is better
• On rainy days, leave a note that asks the buyers to remove their shoes at the door
• Some buyers arrive a few minutes early, it’s best if you leave the home 15 minutes before the showing and return when the showing is completely finished
• You may receive feedback from agents showing the house, take the feedback seriously and make changes based on them if needed

Getting Offers

• Be quick to respond to agents’ inquiries through phone, email, and text
• Kindness goes a long way when talking to agents, they’ll be more excited to work with you if you’re decent in communication
• Accommodate special requests like viewing the house multiple times
• In the case that it doesn’t sell right away, the recommended price reduction schedule is to reduce by 2% every 3 to 5 weeks
• Our opinion is that open houses are not effective at selling houses, but feel free to set them up if you would like. Weekends between 1 and 4pm are the usual times

Offer Negotiation

• Don’t reveal any confidential information that an agent can use against you, i.e. your own money, salary, what you’re motivations are, what the terms of other offers are, etc.
• If an offer is lower than you prefer, work with the buyer by reducing a little at a time. For instance if you’re home is listed for $250,000, you’re okay with receiving $245,000, and the buyer offers $240,000 - reduce to $248,000, they’ll likely come up to $242,000, and so on
• The best negotiation tactic is respect and courtesy, it’s not usually a good idea to tell a buyer “no” flat out. Get what you want by working with the buyer, not against them
• If the buyer won’t come up to your minimum acceptable amount, don’t settle just yet, give them a day or a few days and they may come back ready to negotiate again. After one week, it may be good to reach back out to them if you want to try and start negotiations again; do not burn bridges
• You’re free to let the agents know if there are other buyers viewing the house or if there are other offers, but it must be truthful and cannot reveal the other buyers’ information. This may encourage the buyers to get an offer to you faster or make their offer terms more competitive
• If you have multiple offers or would like to wait for more offers, you can tell the agents day and time in which an offer will be chosen or countered
• Try to wait no longer than 2 days to accept or counter an offer but if you’re ready to decide then the sooner is better

Inspections and Due Diligence

• Let us know when you have a contract and I’ll change the status in the MLS
• Sign and return all documents in a timely manner
• Save agent’s contact information (email and number) to your contacts
• Save closing attorney’s information to your contacts if you're using the buyer’s attorney
• Send all documents to your closing attorney if you're using your own. The buyer’s agent will send documents to buyer’s attorney
• Deposit the Due Diligence check as soon as possible, this money is non refundable and essentially allows the buyer to back out of the contract for any or no reason
• Stay in touch with the closing attorney (yours or theirs) and ask questions on processes and timelines if needed. Feel free to ask the buyer's agent any non-confidential questions, they are interested in a smooth process so they want to make sure you're educated, too
• The Due Diligence period typically lasts 3 weeks
• The agent will set up various inspections either on separate days or one day, be accommodating but also realize that they some may last for several hours, it is best to be away from the home at this time. If they order a Radon inspection, you must keep all doors and windows closed as much as possible and not touch or tamper with the detection device
• An appraiser will also visit the house if the buyer is obtaining a loan
• Keep the home clean and in good condition during this time

Repair Negotiations

• Before the Due Diligence period ends, the buyers may use the inspection findings as leverage to lower the price, having closing costs paid for, physically repairing items, or get cash at closing
• It is recommended not to agree to repair items prior to closing but rather negotiate to transfer funds, pay for some of the buyers closing costs, or lower the purchase price. This avoids a headache of disrupting your own time prior to closing and potential dissatisfaction with repairs
• A general rule is to only negotiate based on highly impactful defects such as high radon levels, termite damage/presence, active leaks, structural damage, etc. If the defect would prevent you from buying a house without repair then it’s good to repair. If that buyer walks away and you don’t cater to their requests, you’ll need to find a new buyer who is likely not okay with those issues and will not buy the house
• To satisfy the buyer and keep them in the transaction, it may be advised to allow the buyer minor costs even if there are no major defects. Consider how competitive the offer process was to determine if this is necessary
• Typical repair costs range from $500-$2000 but can vary depending on severity of defects, negotiations, and expectations

Closing

• After the Due Diligence period, there is a wait prior to closing, check in with the closing attorney to be see if there is something that you need to do
• Keep the house clean and yard mowed, this is a requirement outlined in the purchase contract. The buyer will return to the house for final review prior to closing
• Prepare your belongings for moving, schedule a final move as close to the closing day as possible. There may be delays to the closing date
• Communicate with the closing attorney on what time and day to sign the closing papers
• Consider getting the buyers and/or buyer's agent a small gift to show appreciation
• Leave the last key in the lockbox and give the remaining keys to the buyers if you’re meeting them at closing, if not then give to the attorney

Remember to set up a mail forward to your new address!