Step 1: Getting Ready to Sell

Emotion vs. Reason

When conversing with real estate agents, you will often find that when they talk to you about buying real estate, they will refer to your purchase as a "home". Yet if you are selling property, they will often refer to it as a "house". There is a reason for this. Buying Real Estate is often an emotional decision, but when selling real estate you need to remove emotion from the equation.

You need to think of your house as a marketable commodity. Property. Real estate. Your goal is to get others to see it as their potential home, not yours.

De-personalize the House

The reason you want to "De-personalize" your home is because you want buyers to view it as their potential home. When a potential home buyer sees your family photos hanging on the wall, it puts your own brand on the home and momentarily shatters their illusions about owning the house. Therefore, put away family photos, sports trophies, collectible items, kick-knacks, and souvenirs. Put them in a box. Rent a storage area for a few months and put the box in the storage unit.

Fixing up the House

Do not do anything expensive, you may not recover the cost in the sale. If possible, use savings to pay for any repairs and improvements, do not go charging up credit cards or obtaining loans now. Remember that part of selling a house is also preparing to buy your next home. You do not want to do anything that will affect your credit scores or hurt your ability to qualify for your next mortgage.

Price and Terms of Sale

When setting the terms of sale, the main thing you are concerned with is the price. You should have a basic idea of what your home is worth by keeping track of other sales in the neighborhood. Exercise great care in determining your asking price, making sure not to set it too high or too low. In addition to the price, you will disclose what personal property, if any, goes with the house when you sell it. Personal property is anything that is not attached or fixed to the home, such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, and so on. There may be some item that is considered "real property" that you do not intend to include in the sale. Real property is anything that is attached to the home. For example, you may have a chandelier that has been in your family for generations and you take it from home to home when you move. Since the chandelier is attached to the house, it is considered "real property" and a reasonable buyer would normally expect it to go with the house.

Real Estate Commission

In some areas of the country there is a certain percentage that real estate agents expect to earn as a commission.This commission amount is a certain percent of the sales price.Or, some companies will charge a set fee for their services. When completing the listing agreement, you and your agent will agree on the amount of the real estate commission.

Agency Duties of an Agent

The listing contract will specify that your agent is acting as a "seller’s agent." This means that, in the sale of your house, they are working for you and only you. However, there may be times when your listing agent has a client who wants to buy your home. For that reason, there is a little "wiggle room" in the listing contract. If your agent also represents the buyer, the listing contract should specify that they provide an additional disclosure that details their duties as a dual agent. The contract also provides permission for your listing agent to act as an agent for others on other transactions. They can continue to list other properties, and represent buyers looking at other homes.

Step 3: Marketing

Office Flyers

Your agent will undoubtedly prepare flyers about your property so that prospective homebuyers can be informed about the attractive features of your house. These flyers (or similar ones) should also be sent to all the local real estate offices, too. Most areas have a weekly flyer service that delivers advertisements to all of the local offices. Since agents get these flyers every week, they do not always look at them. However, a large percentage of them do. Some agents will keep the flyer and bring buyers to your house.

Advertising in General

Every home seller likes to be assured that their listing agent or the real estate company will run ads featuring their home. Newspaper ads could be large display ads with lots of listings or small classified ads featuring just your property. Ads may also appear in local real estate magazines and your listing will also show up on the Internet.

Showing the House to Potential Home Buyers

Your house should always be available for show, even though it may occasionally be inconvenient for you. Most agents will call and give you at least a couple of hours notice before showing your property.

Why You Should Not Be Home

Homebuyers will feel like intruders if you are home when they visit, and they might not be as receptive toward viewing your home. Visit the local coffee house, yogurt shop, or take the kids to the local park.

Keeping The House Neat and Tidy

Not everyone makes his or her bed every day, but when selling a home it is recommended that you develop the habit. Pick up papers, do not leave empty glasses in the family room, keep everything freshly dusted and vacuumed. Try your best to have it look like a model home – a home with furniture but nobody really lives there.