The Selling Process
Lori will help guide you through the process of deciding on a listing price.
Lori will help guide you through the process of deciding on a listing price.
When interviewing potential REALTOR®’s to list your home you should keep in mind the value added by a full-service agent. Try not to focus on how much they will discount their commissions. Remember there is a lot that goes into selling a home and the preparation, proper marketing strategy, and trained negotiating skills have a direct effect on the final sales price. Ask yourself, If this agent is quick to lower their commission just to get my listing, are they going to negotiate the same way just to get my home sold, or are they really going to work hard at negotiating to get me a top dollar?
As your experienced agent, backed with statistics and comparisons, Lori will help guide you through the process of deciding on a listing price. This price will be clearly explained to you through this process of analysis. It is important for you to know that neither you (the seller) or the agent actually determines the price. The market trends will paint a clear picture. In the end, A property is worth what the highest buyer is willing to pay. Keep in mind, even if a buyer is willing to pay way over market value, if they are obtaining any financing at all, the home will need to appraise at or above that price.
A title company will prepare a title report on your property to know exactly how the title is held and if there are any clouds on the title that need to be cleared prior to selling. An escrow account is then opened for the buyer to deposit funds into at a later date. (see buyer list) Your escrow officer will provide you with a seller’s net sheet so you will know exactly how much money you will net from the transaction.
Lori will schedule all necessary inspections, typical inspections are Home, Pest, Roof, Chimney, and possibly Pool. She will go over all of the inspections with you and together you can decide which (if any) repairs will be completed prior to going on the market. You will also fill out a series of disclosures that will give the buyer any and all information, to the best of your knowledge, about the property.
In addition to uploading your home on MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for all real estate agents to see, your listing will then be syndicated to sites such as Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, and a host of other online platforms. Lori will do a variety of marketing such as Social Media geographical boosts, paid Online Ads, Print media such as newspapers and postcards.
Prior to going on the market, it is of utmost importance for your home to look the best in its class. Professional Cleaning, landscaping, painting, flooring, staging are some of the items, Lori, your Full-Service REALTOR®, might suggest. See our Compass Concierge program that will cover most of these upfront costs for you (at zero % interest) and will be reimbursed out of escrow once your home is sold.
In addition to the Broker’s Tour and Open Houses it is very important for your home to be available for as many agents to show their buyers as possible. Many agents will place a Lock box that only agents can use to access your home. The information of who, what , when will be tracked through the lockbox and sent to your agent.
Lori will schedule professional photography and have beautiful 4 color brochures made highlighting your home's features and selling points.
These are important dates for potential buyers and their agents to view your home. Both broker’s tours and Open Houses usually last about 3-4 hours.
In some markets, not all, an offer deadline will be selected and stated on the MLS. Offers, if any, will be due at that time.
Lori will sit down with you to carefully review all offers. She has the knowledge and expertise to point out to you, why in some cases, one offer that seems to be the highest price might have other terms not obvious to the seller that make the offer not as appealing. This is when it is extremely important to have an expert negotiator on your side. She will discuss with you the terms of the offers and how to counter or accept the one that best fits your goals.
In most cases, the lender will only lend 80% of the Value of the home. This is another reason that the highest offer might not be the best offer. Your experienced agent will discuss this with you when reviewing offers.
After contingencies have been removed if the buyer backs out they will forfeit their initial deposit money.
There are a series of documents usually Docusign sent back and forth between the Listing Agent and Buyer’s agent that require both buyer and sellers signatures so that everyone agrees on all items and everyone has a copy.
You, the seller, will need to come into the escrow office or Lori can send a notary to your home to sign all of the final documents required for closing.
After the escrow company ensures that all contract conditions have been met the Lender will fund the loan and escrow is closed.
Within a few hours of being notified that the sale has been recorded, you should see the funds in your account. At this point, you are no longer the owner of the property and you can shut off any utilities and discontinue any insurance policies on the property.
Lori is responsive, enthusiastic, and professional, she has built a solid reputation and a vast network of local connections, to aid and assist her clients in every aspect of their transactions.
