Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The Basics of Selling Your Home

Last week, I described the necessary steps that one should take when buying a home. Now, I will do the same for those who wish to sell their homes. First, you should make sure that you work with a real estate professional that will guide you through the process of selling your home. In conjunction with your agent, you should determine the asking price by reviewing comparative market analysis. This shows how much homes similar to yours in the same area have sold or are selling for. Another item to keep in mind when deciding upon your price is the amount of time you are willing to wait for a buyer to make an offer. The process of working with an agent will include signing a listing agreement, which is an agreement between you, the seller, and your real estate agent. It enables your real estate agent to represent you as your exclusive Seller?s Agent. The contract usually includes such items as the length of the listing period, desired sale price, and the amount of commission for the broker. An important factor in determining the right agent is to you know the marketing plan before obligating yourself to a contract. The obvious goal is to sell your home for the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time.

When you prepare your home for the sale, you want to make sure that it has good ?curbside? appeal, because buyers often look closely at the outside appearance before they even consider the inside. Make the outward appearance of your home as inviting as possible, but also ensure that the inside shows as being in good condition. Interested buyers for your home will present offers to your agent, who will then present these to you. A seller can accept, reject, or counter-offer . Once you accept one of these offers, a formal contract of sale will be negotiated and signed. Part of the contract usually allots the buyer a certain amount of time to have the home inspected by a Property Inspector. After this inspection is complete, the Buyer?s Agent will tell you that your home is in a secure contract, and the selling process will continue. The contract of sale says that the sale is subject to a clean and marketable title, which is the seller?s responsibility. Other ?must dos? that need to be taken care of before the closing are the appraisal, survey of the property, and final loan approval. After all of the above steps have taken place, there will be a final walk through of the home to make sure everything is in order. And, finally, the closing will take place.

For even more information of selling your home, and for FREE forclosure lists visit Walnut California Real Estate

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