How To ....
A Simple Step By Step Guide To Sell Your Home
Whether you have to relocate for work or you just need a change of scenery. Selling a home doesn’t have to be a stressful event. Find a great realtor to help you navigate this process every step of the way.
1. Research – Do some research on what homes in your area are selling for. You can use sites like Zillow or Realtor or contact a local agent for some answers. But remember there is a difference between the asking price of a home and what it actually sold for.
2. Find an agent – Call around, ask family and friends , but most importantly find an agent you feel comfortable with. Not all agents are the same.
3. List Price and Timelines – Discuss with your agent what the list price should be for your home. Most likely your agent will have done their own research and will have a good opinion of value. Discuss timelines of when you would like the home sold and discuss possibilities like what if the home is sold in the next week ? Would you have somewhere to go? How much time do you need to move to your new location and have you already found that location?
4. Prep – Start to prepare the home for pictures and open houses’. In most cases a professional photographer will come to the home and take multiple photos of all areas of the home. These are the photos that buyers will see on sites like Zillow and Realtor. Your agent will also schedule open houses, this is so buyer’s can walk through the home and get a feel for the interior and exterior before making an offer.
5. Home history – Disclosing all aspects of the home, good or bad. There are multiple forms that you as the seller will need to complete detailing a known history of the home. For example : Has anyone past away in the home? Have there been any major modifications done to the home? Has the roof been replaced since you moved in? Is the AC broken? Are there noisy dogs next door? These are some of the questions you will be required to answer.
6. Negotiate and accept an offer – Once you receive an offer that you are comfortable accepting and your agent has negotiated all terms your happy with , you move on to the inspection phase. In most cases if the buyer is taking out a loan to purchase your home, they will need to complete inspections to satisfy the lender of that loan. They may require a home inspection, pest inspection, if there is a septic tank or well for water , those may need to be inspected. If the offer is an all cash offer, then it’s up to the buyer if they wish to perform those inspections.
7. Close escrow – All inspections have been completed and loans have been funded. The escrow company will now close escrow and that is when you get paid and the buyer gets the keys.
A Simple Step By Step Guide To Buy Your Home |
Congratulations on taking the first step in buying a home. That first step is research!! Research a good Realtor, research what type of home and locations of that home. And most importantly research how much home can you afford. $$
1. Find out how much home you can afford – This step is called getting pre approved. You can get pre approved thorough most banks and home loan lenders. You may want to use your own personal bank or reach out to an agent in your area to get an idea of which lenders are being used in that area. Keep in mind that you may need a different pre approval if your considering buying a mobile home in a park or multi family housing like an apartment complex.
2. Find an agent – Research good agents in your area, ask some friend’s and family who they used and find a good fit. Not all agents are the same.
3. House hunting – Once you have a pre approval and you have found an agent you want to work with, now is the fun part. House hunting. Your agent will work with you and your budget to show you homes that fit your needs.
4. Making an offer – You found the home and now its time to make an offer. You can discuss with your agent the offer terms and what you would like to negotiate within the offer.
5. Inspections and appraisals – If your offer is accepted, you will have a period of time called a contingency period . This is time to order inspections of the home, if you care to do so. If you are getting a loan on the home, most banks will require some type of inspections for example a whole home physical inspection and or a pest inspection. Most banks will require a home appraisal as well, this is to make sure the home is worth what the bank is loaning on the home.
6. Keys – Once all inspections have been completed and all parties are satisfied with the transaction the escrow company will close escrow and you are now the owner of your new home.
