Want to sell your home? Here’s what to expect.

First, we setup an in-person walkthrough of your home, where we also have preliminary discussions on what we need to do to list.

Once we arrive, the first agenda item is to go over the PA State Consumer Notice, a compliance requirement . Any time a “substantial conversation” about real estate occurs, we have to review and sign this document first. Don’t worry, it’s not a contract! It simply explains the different types of agency in the state of Pennsylvania.

Next, we do the walkthrough. Here’s where we note any required/recommended repairs, how to stage the property, and what will be included or excluded from the sale (think appliances & fixtures).

And that’s it! Normally we answer questions or provide specific information too, but this is the basic idea.

Now comes the Comparative Market Analysis, or CMA for short. Since we’ve got a good idea of the interior condition of your home, we can now compare it against other homes in your area. The main considerations are:

1. Condition

2. Type / Style / Features

3. Location (Urban, 0.25mi; Suburban, 0.5mi; Rural, varies)

4. Time Period (usually 6mo, +/- depends on market activity.

Here is where experience counts. Being able to accurately predict a valuation will make or break your sale. Not only could an inaccurate price cause an appraiser to undervalue a home resulting in the sale falling through, but initial pricing will affect the quality of offers that come in. If there’s one thing you should make sure to do right, it’s setting the correct price.

It’s time to formalize the client-agent relationship, which means completing the Listing Contract. Here we establish:

1. Seller Agency

2. Listing Price

3. Term (How long the contract lasts)

4. Broker’s Commission (We do it a bit differently)

5. Seller and Agent responsibilities

6. How do we market? (MLS authorization)

7. Inclusions/Exclusions (fixtures, appliances, etc)

8. Any liens or judgements not part of the public record

This is one of the longer contracts, so don’t feel bad if you have questions. Now is the time to fill out the Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement and Lead Paint Hazards Disclosure as well, if applicable.

Once the Listing Contract is fully executed, it’s game time. We’ve gotta get out to your home, install signage & a lockbox, and take pictues.

General Rules for pictures and staging

1. Clear your surfaces and declutter as much as possible.

2. Even if the house looks really nice, keep the number of pics between 30-40. People don’t pay attention after that, all we need is a hook to get them into a showing.

3. No night photos, no winter photos. As best as can be done.at least

4. Images should flow like you’re walking trough the house to give a sense of layout.

At this point, your home should be ready to show at a moment’s notice. No pressure!

Come one, come all! Step right up and see your marvelous home, Live on the MLS - your one stop shop for houses, apartments, and other points of interest. We’ve got the price, we’ve got the documents, we’ve got the pictures, and now we just need the gosh dang Buyer!

The MLS is syndicated with literally tens of thousands of sites across the country, making sure that anyone looking in your area won’t miss it. That means locals can see it, as well as folks who might be relocating.

As soon as we go live (within 30min), the Listing is opened for showings to be scheduled. No turning back now! Well that’s not really true, you can back out at any point. But then you’ll make Savannah mad, and trust me that’s bad news for all of us.

Showings. How do they work, how are they managed? Pretty easily actually. When a home is listed on the MLS, a program called Showingtime is automatically integrated. Showingtime is pretty cool – it’s an automatic scheduler that’s accessible only to other real estate agents, so don’t worry about Joe Schmoe scheduling a midday burglary. You can setup any restrictions you’d like, time of day, days of the week, excluded holidays, you get the gist. You can also setup if showings require approvals, or if the Buyers can just show up out of the blue.

The first two weeks are critical, as over 80% of your potential Buyers will come through during this time. Make that time count, be flexible and allow as many showings as possible at whatever times are requested. A third of Buyers won’t come back if you decline that first showing. And after two weeks, Buyers will see that the Listing hasn’t moved and start low-balling you on the price. Don’t overprice, make sure to allow every showing you can, and soon you will no longer have strangers romping through your (soon to be ex) home.

It’s the end of the second weekend your house has been on the market, you have three offers on the table. What now?

You pick one!

If you’re going to pick an offer with no mortgage contingency, we get Proof of Funds.

If they’re offering a two week settlement period, they’re probably scamming you. Title takes at least two weeks to process, and no one is going to buy a house without a title search. 30 days is how long it usually takes to complete a transaction.

Deposits have been rendered effectively meaningless in a modern contract, so don’t worry too much about that part. Check out the “Our Philosophy” section to find out why.

There is SO MUCH to consider when picking an offer, and here is where to trust your agent. We’ve seen every disaster that can happen, and we’re very good at our jobs, so let us help steer you away from pitfalls.

You’ve chosen an offer, you’ve signed the AOS, and you’re all done now.

*Borat Voice* NOT!

Now comes the real work. For us and the Buyer that is, generally being a Seller is the easiest role in a transaction. If applicable, you’ll have to :

1. Collect the Deposit

2. Schedule Inspections

3. Schedule an Appraisal

4. Order HOA Documents

5. Complete the Use & Occupancy Inspection

6. Collect Certs

90% of this will be done by us, your agents. And if we can’t do it on your behalf, we’ll walk you through it. Sit back and let us handle things, that’s what you pay us for!

If the Buyer has opted to do inspections, they are usually done within 2 weeks of going under contract. Now there’s a whole slew of inspections that can be done, but those are for special circumstances. The big three that we see most often are:

1. General Home Inspection

2. Radon Inspection

3. Termite Inspection

Fun fact – if your property doesn’t have a basement and instead sits on a slab, a radon test isn’t necessary. As a heavy gas, Radon pools in the lowest sheltered points which is most often the basement. No basement, no pooling.

After the Seller receives and reviews the inspection report and any requested repairs from the Buyer, negotiations start. Be careful – many bad faith Buyers will overpromise with a “too good to be true” sales price, only to plan on nitpicking the inspections to bring the price down to where they originally wanted it to be. If a sale is going to fall through early on, inspections are where it happens.

If the Buyer has opted to get a mortgage, there’s almost certainly going to be an Appraisal.

Appraisals can be desktop, drive-by, or in person.

• A desktop appraisal is pretty much a CMA, done by a licensed Appraiser. There’s so many comps out there, and the pictures are good, so they don’t even need to come out.

• A drive-by appraisal is like a desktop one, except they do a quick visit to make sure everything’s on the up-and-up.

• In person appraisals are the most common, and thorough. The Lender selects an independent Appraiser who comes out, does a tour, and gives their opinion on the price.

If the Appraised Value is less than the Sales Price, that’s what we like to refer to in the industry as “Not Good.” While rare, it has been known to happen occasionally, no fault by either party. That’s where the Appraisal Contingency Addendum is useful here, it can help determine next steps.

Appraisals can be contested, though most of the time it only makes the Appraiser grumpy. We’ve had success twice though (NBD) so don’t give up hope!

Conveyancing is mostly done by the title company – we like to have the Buyer’s selected title company handle the seller-side conveyancing items, that way there are fewer chances for miscoordination. We’ll help you with the things that are on us to complete. By settlement, we’ll need to collect:

• Tax Certs

• Water & Sewer Certs

• U&O Cert (On Us)

• Mortgage Payoff Letter (On Us)

• HOA Package (On Us)

• Clear child support, judgements, liens

There may be other items as well, for instance if it’s part of an estate sale. But there’s no need to go through every permutation. Are you sick and tired of this yet?

Nobody move, nobody breathe. We’ve almost made it to the finish line. Hopefully the house is still standing, and there haven’t been any Boeings falling out of the sky on your front lawn, as they are prone to do (allegedly, ALLEGEDLY!).

This is the Buyer’s last chance to make sure everything is acceptable – joking aside, this means there hasn’t been any inadvertent damage to the property, and the home is “vacant and broom-swept clean.”

Per the AOS, the Buyer gets TWO walkthroughs which can be done at any point. Usually one is at the end, and one is during inspections. This does not mean the final walkthrough is a chance for inspections! No saying “I’m not settling until the bathtub is re-caulked.” If it was like that when you signed the AOS, then you’re out of luck.

After the final walkthrough, we like to sign off that the property is in acceptable condition, then it’s on to settlement!

Finally, the day has come. Everyone puts on their fancy pants, crosses their fingers, and hopes that the Lender funding the sale isn’t a no-call no-show (true story!).

Settlement is easy for a Seller. There’s a couple of boilerplate forms to sign, the final ALTA (cost breakdown sheet), and that’s it. Don’t forget to bring your ID.

Nowadays, we can do settlement remotely though. If you don’t want to show up, no worries. Title will prepare a “Deed Package” containing everything you’ll need to sign at settlement besides the final ALTA. One of those forms grants us as your agent a limited Power of Attorney to sign on your behalf at the settlement table. You will have to sign the deed package in front of a notary though – pro tip, almost all banks that you’re a member of provide notary services at no cost.

And that’s it, your house is SOLD! Hopefully you remembered to buy a new house. You didn’t? Don’t blame us. You could, but we’d really prefer if you didn’t.