When selling a home there are a number of things to consider, one of the
first things is timing. Timing in the sale of a house may not
seem important to some people but can be crucial to others. Timing on
the sale of a house can be complicated because a number of factors can
affect it. Pricing, Market condition, curb appeal, and location can
all have different but dramatic effects on the sale of your house.
Please let your CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc agent know what your
time frame is when listing your house for sale.
Pricing
Pricing in the sale of a house or property can be one of the main concerns
to a seller. Pricing is determined by a CENTURY 21 American
Properties, Inc agent based on the existing sales in your area or
neighborhood. This is called a comparative market analysis (CMA).
Once your real estate agent has found the comparables for your area, they
will look at them from a appraisers point of view. The real estate agent
will try to pick 3-4 properties that are as similar as possible to your
current property. A main factor in a cma is square footage of your
property verses another comparable property. A CMA is not an appraisal. A
cma is a informal estimate of the properties selling
value. A licensed appraiser is the only person that can perform an
appraisal on your property.
Market Condition
The market condition is how houses and properties are selling
at that
particular time and particular area. Are homes selling above asking
price or below, are homes having a long period of days on the market?
What economic situations are having an effect on the houses?
There are a large number of factors that will effect the market condition.
One thing to remember is that all areas are different and the news media
sometimes has it wrong. Your CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc.
agent will be able to look at the market and give you a good idea of how it
is performing.
Curb Appeal
Curb appeal and house or property condition is a crucial factor in getting the
best possible price for your house. The saying "You only have one
chance to make a first impression." is true. Even though the inside of
the house may be perfect, the exterior appearance will have a dramatic effect
on people driving by.
The selling process
CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc agents are trained to get your home
sold. We understand that sometimes selling a house or property can be
stressful, but with the right marketing and action plan it will be as smooth
as possible.
The first step you will need to do is contact your
CENTURY 21 American
Properties, Inc agent and let them know that you are planning to sell your
property. The agent will set and appointment with you to view your
home. During this your agent will start the research on your property,
looking up tax information, comparables of the neighborhood and a marketing
plan.
The CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc agent will explain all the paperwork
to you and what is involved in selling your home or property. Item you
will see include a Exclusive Right to Sell, Seller Disclosure Form, Lead
Base Paint Disclosure, Working With Real Estate Agents, and Dual Agency
Addendum. Also during this time, your agent will go over pricing of
the property (high and low values), comparables in the form of a CMA,
marketing plan, to name a few.
If you are planning to relocate to another area, your agent will be able to
have our relocation department
contact someone for you at your destination.
If you prefer you can contact us now about relocation services.
After you have signed all the paperwork with your CENTURY 21 American
Properties, Inc agent, it will be time to walk around the house and identify
the things that need to be completed that will make the house easier to
show. Preparing a house is simple and can make a world of
difference when prospective buyers view your property.
During the next few days your CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc agent will
be doing a lot of the behind the scene work. Putting your home or
property in the mls system, letting the other agents in the office know that
the house is on the market, creating ads, getting your home or property the
internet exposure, key box requests and sign requests to name a few.
There is a lot of activity behind the scene that takes place by your CENTURY
21 American Properties, Inc. agent that will help you get your property and
home sold.
Key Box
A key box is a electronic box that your agent will put on your door so other
agents will have access to show the property wihto0ut having to drive to our
office to pick up a key. This device makes the showing easier and more
convenient for the showing agent. Each licensed real estate agent with
the Jacksonville Bard of REALTOR will have a key box card, each key box card
has a electronic code they will punch in in order to open your key box.
Each key box card has to be updated each night in order to work the next
day.
Soon you will have agents from CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc.
contacting you about showing appointments for your home or property.
If your property is vacant, most of the time the agent will use the key box
to show. An agent from this office will try to contact you on the
numbers provided to your agent.
Contracts
Contracts on your home or property can be an exciting time. This is a offer
from a perspective buyer. Sometimes, the offer is right on the asking
price, but it is over or below the asking price. If
it is considerable below your asking price, do not be offended. Some
buyers are just testing the water with the first offer. Your CENTURY
21 American Properties, Inc agent will explain the offer and terms to you,
make sure you ask all questions before signing the offer to purchase.
If you want to make a counter offer you can. But remember, that once
anything is changed on the offer from the buyers, they can either accept,
reject or counter again. Be patient and look at all your options with
your agent.
Accepted
You have accepted the offer or the buyers have accepter your offer, either
case you have a contract on your property. You can relax a little but,
it is still not over. During this time the buyers will be working on
getting the final financing approval, the appraiser will appraise the house
or property, repairs may be called, the buyers may have inspections, and you
need to make plans to relocate. It can be a whirl wind. But,
talk to your CENTUY 21 American Properties, Inc. agent frequently for
updates and status.
Inspections
There are times when a home inspector may find something wrong with the
house. Don't be alarmed, this is common on almost all houses on the
market. The home inspector should be only identifying structural or
system problems and not cosmetic ones. The system or structural
problems will need to be address, if any. Note: these items are
in fact negotiable. But if you refuse to correct a system or
structural problem the buyers will have the option of getting out of the
contract in some cases. Your CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc
agent
will be able to go over with you the finding and your options.
Some examples: Heating unit not working, rotted wood in crawl space,
shingles missing or leaking, GFCI outlet not wired correctly. These
are just a few examples
Once all the inspections the buyer has elected to do are complete, the house
or property has apprised with full value, any repairs are corrected,
all items in the contract are fulfilled, the mortgage company has approved
the buyers for the loan, and the attorney has completed the title work on
the house, you will be ready to close.
Closing
Closing on the property is when the deed and ownership transfers to another
owner. In a lot of the cases the sellers of a property have already
left the area and the property is closed by the agent. Before
closing make sure your CENTURY 21 American Properties, Inc agent goes over
the HUD settlement sheet with you. A HUD settlement sheet is prepared
by the attorney, and will indicate all the costs incurred by both parties.
At the bottom of the HUD settlement sheet you will see the amount you will
be getting as proceeds from the sale of your home or property. Once
the buyers have signed all their paperwork the mortgage company will wire
the funds to the attorney, the attorney will then record the deed and other
documents for the buyers at the county office.
