If you haven’t sold a home in the last 10 years, you’ll find that it’s changed quite a bit
The entire sale process can be rather challenging for most people, requiring a great deal of patience and a good sense of humor. It is always helpful for you to keep the end goal clearly in mind, ask clarifying questions no matter how silly or small they may feel to you and be fair-minded in the negotiations and any later resolutions.
Selecting an Agent
Of course, it begins with the selection of which agent to hire to do the job. 10 or 20 years ago many homeowners “gave their listing” to a neighbor, social group, friend, or perhaps the friendly agent who happened to knock on their door. Today sellers usually interview two or three prospective agents, hopefully, based upon their expertise in the area where the property is located.
The interviews should be based on what is important to you for representing your best interests, and ideally aided with having a list of questions to facilitate the interview. You can expect that each agent you meet with will skillfully ask a lot of questions about the things that are important to you and the timing and location of the move you plan to make. They will provide basic counseling regarding the current marketplace, sale process, and actions required of you as a seller.
The agents should have obtained information regarding your home and will have taken care to see what liens there may be and what other issues might impact the salability of your home. They generally will have prepared a comparative market analysis before meeting with you, so they can be prepared to discuss your home’s theoretical value. They will need to explain how automated home valuations systems (such as Zillow) work, why these are of little benefit in our particular area, and how the appraisal process is done.
Preparing the Home
Once you have selected the agent with whom to entrust the marketing of your home, that agent should discuss such issues with you as pre-inspections, ideas about home preparation that may be helpful, alternative marketing and pricing strategies, and timing of the entire process. Your agent may discuss with you what items could be repaired, how to handle required disclosures, and what to expect during the entire marketing and escrow process.
The marketing process itself may begin with the agent helping you to prepare your property for photos to be used in advertising for greater exposure both in print and on the Internet. The agent will arrange for brokers to preview your property on what’s called a “caravan,” which is a three-hour period during which real estate agents and possibly some of their clients can tour your home without having to make an appointment.
The marketing period may be as short as a few days or as long as several months, largely depending upon:
- The ease or difficulty of showing
- How well the property looks
- How competitively it is perceived to be priced in the current marketplace
Showings are generally arranged with you in advance by your agent or team member, and usually a day ahead. A typical showing might require 15-20 minutes, and you can expect second showings could take 30 minutes or more, depending on the size of your home and property.
Negotiating Offers
Once an offer is received, your agent will discuss all of the various aspects, strengths and weaknesses, and will suggest various alternative counter-offer ideas for you to consider if it is not acceptable to you as it is. If you are fortunate to receive more than one offer at the same time, as had often occurred in the last several years, hopefully, you have selected an agent with experience and skills in handling multiple offers. Ideally, you would want your agent to help you attain the best quality contract, and to possibly have the next best offer/buyer be in a backup position in case the first buyer cancels escrow.
Property Inspections
The next phase consists of the buyer arranging for various property inspections, which may include sewer line scoping, chimney inspection, roof inspection, pest control inspection, as well as a general and usually very thorough check-up of the entire property. Even though the standard purchase contract now states that the buyer is purchasing the property in its “as-is” present physical condition, nearly every buyer will do at least a basic general inspection.
The buyer typically will have 7–17 days to perform any investigations that they desire, and then to decide which requests or credits they may want to ask of you. Hopefully, you will be able to arrive at an acceptable agreement regarding any requests the buyer makes and the escrow will continue towards closing. It will be your choice whether to accept, reject, or propose negotiating a compromise about their requests. During this same period or shortly thereafter the buyer’s lender (assuming they will be obtaining a loan) will have an appraisal done to ascertain the value of the property for financing purposes.
Moving
The moving process itself can be very complex. However, if organized and planned well in advance, it can be accomplished efficiently. An experienced real estate agent will often provide suggestions about preparations for moving before beginning marketing.
Thoughts For Future Homeowners
Some Practical Considerations For Teens and Millennials
Most of our real estate observations and practical suggestions are geared to homeowners or people currently in the process of buying their first home. With the cost of housing having risen to such remarkably high levels over the last several years, especially in pricier areas such as we enjoy, it may be useful to consider actions that could be taken by younger generations in anticipation of the time when they too might be able to begin the process of homeownership.
Of course, some people in that large group will benefit by the inheritance of substantial funds from either their parents or grandparents and thus be enabled to purchase their first home sooner. However, even those could benefit from beginning a systematic approach toward future home ownership when they are younger, learning better how to manage money, and preparing themselves for a disciplined program of investing wisely.
There are many books with guidelines for effective management of funds, such as Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series. There are also some useful and simple practices such as allocating every dollar earned from childhood onward in “buckets” or accounts such as: 10% for taxes, 10% for some charitable purposes, 10% for savings, 10% for investments, and the balance to be spent on whatever they would like to buy or enjoy.
The 10% put aside for investment could then be used to start a small business activity, further fund one already begun, or built up over time to enable a down payment on some real estate. Having already begun to earn a fair amount during high school years doing online-based business activities, they could end up owning a small starter income property before they are 21. With family assistance, some could even do small-scale property investments in fixer-uppers.
Thoughts For Seniors
What You May Have Wished You Had Done Before
During the last few decades, I have often heard similar feelings expressed by seniors about things they wished they had done much earlier than in their later years. Many longed to have begun traveling in years when they had much more energy, others yearned to see their grandchildren more frequently, and some felt their lives would surely have been better if they had taken better care of themselves along the way.
Of course, being in the profession of providing real estate counseling and service, most of my interest in seniors has been focused on their daily living and how well their homes continue to work out for them. Many wished they could have found a way to avoid paying capital gains taxes to feel freer to sell their property and enjoy a richer and less encumbered life. Other themes I have heard include wishing they had moved sooner when they felt more energetic and could have adapted better to senior living communities or facilities.
From a practical perspective, many regret not having gotten the clutter out of their lives sooner, or better organized important papers for their family’s later use. Others wished they had been more mindful of making their home safer, such as by replacing a tub with an easy-entry large shower.
