A seller’s guide to a successful real estate transaction!

For most people, their home is their largest financial asset, and deciding to sell it is a big decision that involves a lot of preparation and work and marketing. When you're ready to sell, it's important to have an experienced real estate professional handle the details involved in the successful sale of a home for top dollar. 

There is having your house on the market and there is having your house on the market to sell. The second one does not mean that you are having to ‘give away’ your home, it just means that your home is in a condition and is priced right for someone to buy the property.

Rule #1. Take the term ‘your home’ out of the discussion equation. You need to substitute the term ‘the property’ or ‘the condo’ . This little change will take the emotional ownership out of the equation. This emotion will drive your thoughts and that is not productive for a sale.

That is what any potential buyer will do. They have not developed an emotional attachment so the fact that your kids grew up in the home is more of a negative because it reflects on the age of the home than the comfort the property has provided the currently seller. To them, a property is location, layout, room sizes, land, view, space, amenities and other non emotional items.

Rule #2. This is a buyer’s market. There are more properties for sale than there are buyers to buy them. These are the times we are living in. Lots of property on the market to compete with your property for those limited buyers. What this means is that if buyers are comparing similar properties at the same price, they will go for the one that needs less work and is the easiest to get a mortgage on.

We used to say that if the property needs work, just make appropriate adjustments in the price to accommodate the work to be done. That just won’t cut it in this type of a market. To be competitive in pricing, a property needs to be in good shape. Needs to be painted. Needs landscaping spruced up. Needs holes in the wall patched. Needs appliances to be working. Remember, you now have serious competition.

Rule #3. A buyer does not care what you paid for your home. If two houses are on a block and they are in the same condition, same basic location, same facilities and amenities, but their owners bought them at different times and paid different amounts for them, they still need to be priced the same. A buyer is going to pay according to the current market rates.

Rule #5. A Realtor® doesn’t sell your property by themselves. The seller, the Realtor ®, the Brokerage, and the other 20,000 local Realtors® work as a team to sell the property. If any part of this team isn’t working together then properties stay on the market longer than necessary. There is not a time that any member of the team does not remember that the property belongs to the seller. All decisions should be and are made by the seller. However, the seller must remain an active part of the team. They must read the marketing reports provided by their Realtor®. This means understanding pricing and property maintenance. The Realtor® and their Brokerage is responsible for developing a marketing program for the property. All programs have certain financial restraints. Certain more expensive properties may require expensive marketing plans which will require participation of both the Realtor® and the seller to accomplish.

With over 83% of all transactions now having some influence by the web, many Realtors®, especially the D&J Realtor Group of Century 21 Hansen put major emphasis on Web marketing. We encourage you to look at our web site and see all of the locations where our properties are marketed.

Rule #6. Contract Negotiations - This is an integral part of the real estate transaction. In order for it to be successful, all parties need to be in the frame of mind to negotiate. Buyers need to understand that if they come in with a low ball offer and then come up some, they should not expect the seller to come down a similar amount. And believe me the buyers often do. They hear from the news media that they can get property for pennies on the dollar and figure that it applies to all property. However, many sellers come in with sometimes unreasonable demands also. In most cases, a buyer will take a mortgage or at least have the property appraised.

Rule #7. Know what to expect before you begin the process. Everyone has a bottom line. Remember the buyers don’t care about the seller’s bottom line for they have their own. Calculate it on paper and make sure that needs and wants are separate. The best thing you can do is to have an appraisal done before you list the property so you can see what the banks will accept. An appraisal will cost between $350 and $500. Appraisals are calculated, un-emotional and do not take into consideration that the seller has new appliances or high grade granite. Their amount is what they will loan off of.

All D&J Realtor® Group Realtors® are extremely qualified to give an accurate free Broker Price Opinion which is generally similar to an appraisal but uncertified.

Rule #8. Unlike in many other States, once the transaction has closed, the sellers has no rights to be in the property so all items must be removed from the property and it, according to the contract, must be left in broom swept condition. Any entrance to the property after closing is totally at the will of the new owner. The seller needs to make sure that all moving is coordinated and completed prior to closing as it the case for mail forwarding and utility changes.

Rule #9 Oh yeah, you do get money for your property. Disbursements of the sale are done by the closing agent. They will get your payoff for any financial liens on the property. This may include, but may not, a bond for the water company if the property is a home so clear any outstanding water bills. Since taxes in Florida are paid in arrears, the closing agent will deduct your portion of the real estate taxes up to and including the date of closing.

If the seller is currently paying their mortgage company escrow for taxes and insurance, their financial institution will return the collected amount within 5 weeks of closing which is a nice little after closing bonus.

Rule #10 This is most important rule of all. Trust D&J Realtors Group to help you get through all parts of the real estate transaction. With over 50 years combined experience in helping customers successfully complete their real estate transactions with many repeats and referrals, we must be doing something right.