Have you decided it is time to sell your home?  Century 21 Shoreland is committed to help optimize your home sale experience and implement industry best practices in the sale of your home.

Listed below are some steps to help guide you through the process of selling your home: 

• Preparing Your Home for a Sale
• Working with a Real Estate Agent
• Pricing Your Home
• Marketing Your Home
• Negotiating an Offer
• Home Inspections and Appraisals
• Information About Closing Day

Preparing Your Home for a Sale

• The seller should prepare the home’s appearance and make sure the home is in the best possible condition.  It’s important to look at your home with the critical eye of a potential buyer. Below is a short list of suggestions. Consider consulting a profession Home Stager. Many will provide a checklist of things you need to take care of for a small fee, and will do all the work for you, if you desire.
  • Outside Curb Appeal - Maintaining landscape, keeping grass cut, bushes free of debris, flower beds weeded, walkways swept, and old vehicles/toys out of sight. Repaint if it’s peeling. Power wash siding and decks.
  • Inside Appeal –A fresh coat of paint (a must), personal photos put away, candle burning in kitchen, pets out of the house, replace leaky faucets and showerheads, reseal/grout around sinks, tubs, and showers, remove clutter from counters and rooms, and make sure the house is spotlessly clean—don’t forget the windows!  If you have to, hire a professional cleaning service for the time the house is on the market to come in and do an overall cleaning a couple times a month. Have carpets cleaned and replace any that are badly stained or worn. Don’t forget about cabinets, closets, and the inside of your refrigerator and oven—buyers will look in them!
• Try not to leave your home vacant when preparing to sell.  It is best to leave some furniture, area rugs and lamps in the home.  You will need to vacuum and dust regularly to keep the home attractive to buyers.
• A comparative market analysis (CMA) should be done to find out approximately how much your home is worth. This will be based on what comparable homes in your area sold for within the last six months, in addition to other factors.

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Working with a Real Estate Agent

The relationship between a seller and his or her seller's agent must be based on trust, mutual goals, and understanding. The seller entrusts the seller's agent to always keep his or her interests first and foremost.

What to look for in an agent:

• An understanding of your needs
• A willingness to work with you until your needs are fulfilled
• Professionalism
• A familiarity with the neighborhood in which your home is
• Experience with the price range in which your house lies
• Professional designations: for example, GRI, Graduate of the REALTORS® Institute or ABR, Accredited Buyer’s Agent
• Strong references from previous sellers
• College degree or higher education

Some questions to ask a prospective seller's agent:

• How long have you been in real estate?
• Are you a full-time agent?
• What is your marketing plan to sell our house?
• How will you come up with the suggested listing price for our home?
• How many home sales did you participate in last year?
• What is the average sold price of the homes you sold last year?
• Do you normally work with sellers or buyers?
• How many sellers are you presently working with? How many buyers?
• Where do you feel your strengths lie?
• Can you give me three seller references?
• Will you be present at closing?
• Will you work with me personally or will I also work with an assistant or associate?
• Will you be representing me, the seller, or both?
• How will you be compensated on the transaction?

Massachusetts law requires that at the first face to face meeting with a customer/client about a specific property, an agent must present for signature a Mandatory Licensee-Consumer Relationship Disclosure. This form is merely a disclosure, and does not obligate the customer/client in any way. You may decline to sign it, but the agent must present it.

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Pricing Your Home

• There are several factors that play a role in pricing your home.
  • Market conditions
  • Interest rates
  • Supply and demand
• What is your home worth on the current market?  There is the price owners would like to get, and then there is the price buyers are willing to pay.
• You want to make sure your listing price is reasonable.
• A “competitively priced” home is not more than 5% over recent market sales prices of comparable homes in the area.

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Marketing Your Home

• A tremendous benefit to working with a real estate agent is that your agent will absorb the price of marketing your home in a large number of venues.
• Types of marketing include signs, newspaper advertisements, internet exposure on numerous websites, showings, open houses, and having your home posted to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service).

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Negotiating an Offer

• Take every offer seriously--even the first offer to be presented. 
• Negotiate with the buyer for an acceptable offer.
• Make sure to meet all deadlines as defined in the offers presented.

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Home Inspections and Appraisals

• Home inspections are generally included in the offer from the buyer.  They consist of a top to bottom inspection that uncovers possible problems within the home.  It will potentially save the buyer from purchasing a home with major plumbing and/or electrical problems.  The home inspection contingency, if in the written offer, gives the buyer an out if serious problems are discovered.  It also gives the buyer the ability to negotiate with the seller to either fix the problems that are detected or to adjust the price to include repairs to the items that are in need of repair.  This is one reason that it’s a really good idea to fix any major problems you are aware of before you put your house on the market.
• Home inspectors are paid professionals that scan the home for safety, structural, or major issues that need addressing either immediately or within the near future.  The home inspectors are not responsible for appraising the home for its current value or market price.
• An appraisal is an estimate of what the seller might expect to receive for their home.   The appraisal is based upon house condition, market values, and area sales. 

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Information About Closing Day

• Closing costs are additional fees that are above and beyond the selling price of the home in question.  The additional fees can include things such as escrow fees, property taxes, and title insurance.  These costs are absorbed by the buyer, seller, or both. 
• Prior to closing day all utilities should be notified so a final reading can be made and services can be switched over. 
• The house should be kept clean for the buyer to perform a final walk-through of the home. 
• On closing day you will need a form personal identification, such as a driver’s license.
• All papers will be signed.
• Keys will be transferred.

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