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Selling Information
Marcus & Associates can help service all your Residential Real Estate needs... |
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| Steps to Selling |
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| 1. |
Determine Reasons for Selling Your Home
Determine your motivation for selling.
- Growing Family – need more space?
- Empty Nest – downsizing?
- New Job – moving to a new city, state?
- Financial Concerns?
- Economy is in a Good Market—Want to make money!
- Investor Seller in a Good Market
- What’s the timeline?
Share this information with your real estate agent. By knowing your particular needs, you agent can set a realistic time frame for the process to proceed and save you a lot of frustration, time and money. |
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| 2. |
Determine Market Value
Determine the most likely selling price for your house.
- Your agent will prepare a Comparative Market Analysis.
- Analysis will take into account the following:
- State of the local and general real estate market
- The condition of your home
- Recent sales of comparable properties
- The time frame in which you need to sell.
- Any other factors which may affect the property’s value.
- Net Proceeds to Seller/Selling Costs Breakdown
- With this Market Analysis (CMA) your agent can guide you in determining a fair market price that will help sell your house within the desired time frame.
- Be reasonable about the price you set. An overpriced home which stays on the market too long, often sells for less than what you could have gotten if you started out at a fair market price.
- There are 4 main ingredients that make up the sale of your home:
- Location. We usually cannot move a home! To coin the favorite phrase of appraisers. "Location, Location, Location." The pricing of your property must reflect its location.
- Condition. The upkeep and presentation of your property is crucial to obtain the highest value for your home in any given market, at any given time. The pricing of your property must reflect its condition.
- Price. Price is the number one factor in the sale of a home. A property is really only worth what one person is willing to pay another to gain ownership of it. Price must be in direct relationship to the other 4 ingredients and it is the most important of all!
- The Market. i.e. Interest rates, competition, and the economy all make up and influence the state of the Market when you sell your home. The pricing of your property must reflect the current status of the Market.
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| 3. |
Prepare Your Home for Sale
Prepare Exterior "Curb Appeal"
- Many buyers will decide whether to consider your home when driving to the curb. You should give special attention to the landscaping and exterior condition of your home.
- How your house looks will have an immense impact on how quickly it sells and how close to market value it sells for.
- Look at the property from a potential buyer’s point of view. You only get one chance to make a good "First Impression".
- Exterior should look clean and freshly painted. This may require completely repainting the house.
- Grass and shrubbery should be neat and trimmed.
- Sidewalks should be swept and free of litter. Toys, etc. should be kept off front lawn
- Windows and doors should be clean and in good repair. Gutters should be clean
- Remove all clutter within the house. Rent a storage locker if necessary.
- Make your home appear as spacious as possible. This may require you to store some of your family heirloom furniture off premises.
- Ask your agent for an objective and expert opinion on what needs to be done. Your agent can give you invaluable tips on preparing your home for showings and sale.
Preparing the Interior of Your Home
The same careful attention should be given to the inside of your home as you give the exterior. Once buyers have entered your home, you will want them to see it at its BEST.
- Interior should look freshly painted
- Rooms should appear clean and uncluttered
- Electrical switches should function perfectly
- All lighting should have fresh bulbs
- Dripping faucets and leaky toilets should be repaired
- Doors should open smoothly
- Garage should be clean and uncluttered
Presenting Your Home to Buyers
After you have prepared your home to look its best, you can add some last minute touches before an appointment with your agent and potential buyer.
- Remove pets to a separate area
- Open draperies and shades
- Open all interior doors except closets
- Turn on all interior lights, day or night
- Turn on exterior lights at night
- Turn on soft music
- Place a vase of flowers in a prominent place
- Remove money, jewelry, and other valuables to a safe place.
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| 4. |
Develop a Marketing Plan
Your agent will develop a marketing plan for the sale of your home.
The plan may include, but not be limited to the following:
- Inputting into the Multiple Listing Service and affiliated Internet Websites
- Yard signs
- Broker Open Houses
- Sunday Open houses
- Newspaper Advertising
- Advertising in the Homes and Lands Magazine
- Internet Advertising
- Sending flyers to targeted markets
- The first 2 to 4 weeks should be the busiest. If no activity is generated during that period, the marketing plan should be revisited and possibly modified.
- Your agent will present to you the best marketing plan that will have the highest possibility of bringing not only the most buyers, but the most qualified buyers, to your doorstep.
- The marketing and advertising of property listed by Marcus & Associates, Inc. is typically conducted through several print and cyber media:
- Multiple Listing Service
- Honolulu Advertiser
- Midweek
- Honolulu Star Bulletin
- Homes & Land magazine
- Virtual Tours
- Brochures
- Flyers and Fact Sheets
- The use of additional advertising and marketing resources will be discussed with clients having unique or specialty properties that may benefit from national or international exposure.
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| 5. |
The Offer
When an interested buyer decides they would like to buy the house, they will make an offer to purchase.
- The buyers with the help of their agent, will draft the offer using a Purchase Contract. This is the standard purchase agreement developed by the Hawaii Association of Realtors.
- The offer will be sent to your agent, who will review it and in turn present it to you.
- Your agent will go over the offer with you and discuss the pros and cons contained in the offer and whether it addresses your requirements.
- The Purchase Contract, though not limited to this list, should include the following:
- A legal description of the property
- The offering price
- Down payment
- Deposit amount
- Financing arrangements
- Inclusions (appliances, furniture, etc.)
- Inspection rights and relevant contingencies
- Who will handle the escrow and closing
- The closing date
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| 6. |
Negotiating the Offer
Most offers to purchase will require some level of negotiating to come to a "win-win" agreement.
- Your agent will review the written offer with you to make sure that you thoroughly understand what the buyers are offering and what they are asking in return. Your agent will be able to help you understand the issues and how they will effect you. It is your agents primary responsibility to protect your best interest throughout these negotiations.
- Some of the things that you may decide to negotiate on are:
- The price
- Financing
- Closing costs
- Repairs that need to be done
- Appliances and fixtures
- Closing Date
- Contingency Timeframes (Inspection, Review of Disclosures/Documents)
- Termite Contingencies
- Encroachments
- Painting
- Occupancy time frame
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| 7. |
Satisfy Conditions and Prepare for Closing
Once you have an accepted contract, you need to make a list of things you, the seller, must do to satisfy all the conditions of the contract and proceed to a successful closing.
- Your agent will help you coordinate all the necessary contingencies that must be done to finalize the sale.
- Your agent will not only coordinate your efforts, but will keep you apprised of the buyer’s progress in fulfilling his part of the contract.
- Some of the conditions may include the following:
- Buyer to apply and qualify for financing
- Appraisal of the property
- Survey of the property
- Buyer’s home inspection
- Review of Seller’s Disclosure
- Review of Subdivision/Condo Documents/Title Report
- Pest & termite inspection
- Completion of repairs to home and appliances
- Final Walkthrough
- There are some sales that go smoothly and some that require a lot of work to get to the closing table. Until you get into it, you won't know which one you have on your hands. Either way, your agent will prove to be a valuable resource to you.
- Almost concurrent to all of the above happening, the title and escrow companies will be assuring that title to the property is in order and all the necessary transfer documents are ready for closing.
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| 8. |
Signing / Closing
The signing of the conveyance documents usually occurs a few days prior to the actual transfer of ownership. Signing is usually done at the escrow company’s office with an escrow officer.
- Your agent will be present at signing to help explain, along with the escrow officer, the process and forms to you and make sure that everything goes as planned.
- The buyer(s) and seller(s) normally sign separately.
- The buyer(s) will normally sign for their loan prior to signing at escrow.
- Closing occurs when the escrow company, after receiving the buyers down payment, loan proceeds and the fully executed documents signed by the sellers and buyers, files the documents with the State Bureau of Conveyances for recordation.
- The typical time frame from signing of closing docs to recordation is 3 working days.
- Upon receiving notice of recordation from the Bureau, escrow will release the seller’s proceeds to the seller.
- Title to the property is transferred to the buyer at recordation, Keys are delivered to the buyer. You should have been packed and moved out of the property prior to that date.
- Your agent can provide you with a checklist for moving so you won’t overlook notifying the utility companies, Post Office, etc. of your move.
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