Selling a home is a very exciting time for most homeowners. It marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. It’s also a time though where many, many things are going on, often all at once, and it can be overwhelming.
When offers come in from buyers, it will feel like things are even happening more quickly. This is an important time. You cannot be nervous. You need to be able to confidently know you are making the right decisions, and not second guessing whether you are making important financial and legal decisions too quickly, without enough thought.
To successfully get through the closing process and feel like you are in control of everything, as it rapidly happens, you really need to come to grips with these three things, right when you home goes on the market and DEFINITELY before you start taking offers. Today we want to share these with you:
1) The Home You Are Selling Is No Longer Your Home
As we’ve written in many articles before, when you prepare your home for the market, you are decluttering it and updating things. You are doing this not to your tastes and likes, but what will be the most appealing to the highest number of sellers. Parallel to this, you need to resolve in your mind that the home is “no longer yours”. The faster you can remove emotion from the selling process, the better you will prepare your home and the more effectively you’ll be able to handle objections, negotiations or questions when evaluating offers.
2) You Got The Home Ready To Go To Market. Your Done Right? WRONG!
While preparing your home to go to market can be a big ordeal, it’s only the first step of many in the home selling process. To those ends, you need to stay in a frame of mind that is open. For instance, you might accept an offer from a buyer, but it includes some requests about financing, moving dates, contingencies, etc.
Some of these things are to be expected. Others though can be an inconvenience or cost you money. This is where having alternatives planned and the costs and benefits weighed of as many potential situations you can think of is important. Considering these things ahead of time will help ensure your transaction goes as smoothly as possible.
3) It's more than just "Sale Price"
The value expressed in a buyer's offer to purchase involves 5 key elements - it's a financial package:
- Purchase Price is not automatically the amount the seller receives since other factors, like unpaid property taxes, can reduce the total. It's not the purchase price, but the net proceeds of the sale that sellers should concentrate on. Real estate professionals can calculate, or at least estimate, the seller's net proceeds after costs related to the offer and deduction of commission.
- Closing Date, or the day ownership is transferred and the seller receives the money, can represent cost or value to sellers. If the seller has to make two moves or has to pay two mortgages during the transition from one home to another, costs can add up and offer value goes down.
- Inclusions and Exclusions represent costs and value. Appliances, light fixtures, and draperies are common seller inclusions, but the cost of replacing them in the next home reduces profit.
- Terms and Conditions are clauses in the offer which cover "what if" risks and the obligations of both parties. These clauses detail what the buyer asks the seller to do for the purchase price. The degree of uncertainty attached to the conditions and the buyer's related ability to close effect the value of an offer.
- Intent and Sincerity are vital aspects of an offer although difficult to quantify. For the seller, offer value lies in the certainty that the buyer will close in spite of market shifts and other problems ahead.
Discussing strategies and contingencies with your listing salesperson ahead of offer presentation will help the professional negotiate a solid high-value Agreement with the buyer. Mentally preparing yourself, and anyone else who has a say in what happens to the property, means no one will be pressured into snap decisions or miss opportunities under the tight timelines common with offers.
Real estate professionals are trained to help sellers make decisions in their own best interest by providing necessary context and details, but these professionals cannot advise sellers exactly what to do, nor make decisions for them.
To gain full benefit from the knowledge and experience of the real estate professional who lists your real estate, let them fully prepare you for offer presentations in advance. When an offer comes in (usually at a very inconvenient time), you'll feel as confident and prepared as possible faced with this life-changing opportunity. You will understand which decisions to make and how to evaluate the full offer.
