It's good to have a plan!
Find the right representative. The experience and knowledge of a dedicated real estate professional can be priceless. A good REALTOR® forms a powerful team with his or her clients that makes it possible for them to have a smooth, successful, stress-free sale.
Determine your needs/wants for the sale and for your new home. Selling your primary residence can be tricky because you have to simultaneously be thinking about where you would like to buy. First, weigh your priorities - selling price is certainly important, but having a quick and efficient sale can often be worth accepting a slightly lower offer. Talk to your agent and make sure you're comfortable with where your priorities are.
At the same time, you should be compiling a needs/wants list for the home you will buy. You will probably have to act fairly quickly when your house sells, so any amount of preparation you can do will serve you well.
Prepare your home for showing. Underprepared homes can be sales disasters. Your home will never get as much attention from potential buyers as when it is first listed, so clearing clutter, cleaning, making repairs, and putting your home's best foot forward is essential. Don't "open for business" until your home is ready to be seen as favorably as possible.
Find out what your local market looks like. Being realistic about your market is the key to a smooth sale. There is no substitute for a professional real estate representative when it comes to local market knowledge.
CHOOSING A REALTOR®. Some don't put a lot of thought into it. Some drive the neighborhoods until they find a sign with a real estate agent's name on it and then they cross their fingers. Or they may just assume that all agents and agencies are created equal. It's not quite that simple, however.
The most crucial step in selling your home - on your terms - is choosing the right REALTOR® for you. First, what is a REALTOR®? You may notice that this word has special meaning, hence the "®" behind the name. The term REALTOR® "is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics."
This Code of Ethics "establishes time-honored and baseline principles that come from the collective experiences of REALTORS® since the Code of Ethics was first established in 1913." Those principles can be loosely defined as:
Loyalty to clients;
Fiduciary (legal) duty to clients;
Cooperation with competitors;
Truthfulness in statements and advertising, and non-interference in exclusive relationships that other REALTORS® have with their clients.
What to Consider. There are a variety of things to consider and it takes a little research, but once you're partnered with an agent who is ready to get the results you want, you can breathe much easier. The following is a list of things to look for when you're interviewing REALTORS®:
Find someone you're comfortable with. Selling a home can be a deeply emotional experience as well as confusing at times. You'll have questions and if you don't feel you can ask your REALTOR® for answers and advice, find a new one.
Choose a local REALTOR®. This might be a given for smaller communities, but in larger ones where one Multiple Listing Service (MLS) serves a much more populated area, a seller may not consider how well their REALTOR® knows their specific community. A REALTOR® is a source for people looking to relocate. So, it makes sense that if those buyers come to your neighborhood, a local agent will be better prepared to bring them to your door.
Look for a REALTOR® who'll give it to you straight! This simply means that if the market's soft, they'll say so; if a reduction in price will sell your home quicker, they'll let you know as soon as they can see the benefit. We all like to be flattered - but it won't sell your home! |
