Selling: A Step by Step Guide
Whether you’re planning to downsize, trade up or relocate out of the area, when you choose to work with me, I realize that you are entrusting me to list and sell one of your most valuable assets.
Selling your property is a big decision. What determines how much you will get from your home will be a function of the Housing Market, the Condition of your house and the Agent you partner with. How your home is priced, how it shows and how it’s marketed makes all the difference, so it’s important to work with an agent you can trust to get the job done perfectly.
With me as your agent, you're not just getting a professional who uses the best tools and technology to sell your property for the maximum return on your investment, in the least amount of time, with the least amount of stress to you. You're getting transparency and instant communication throughout the entire process, so you can relax knowing every detail is taken care of.
Negotiating Offers
When a potential buyer is serious enough, they will put together a purchase offer with their agent who will then present the offer to me, your listing agent. It is customary to allow 2-3 days for a seller to notify the buyer of their response but this is negotiable.
As a Seller, you have four choices when responding to purchase offers:
- ACCEPT as written. If you do this, you are “in contract” to sell the property.
- REJECT the offer.
- COUNTER an offer with a revised purchase price, length of escrow, contingency period or other terms. Once you receive a counter offer back from a Buyer, you can then ACCEPT, REJECT or COUNTER the counter. This can go on until both parties come to an agreement.
- Offer a BACK-UP position behind an accepted offer.
It is important to consider how the market is responding to the list price and adjust accordingly. I will work with qualified agents and buyers and set a deadline to review offers. Rarely does an offer get accepted as presented. There are usually terms that need to be revised which are addressed through the counteroffer process.
Should there be more than one interested buyer, there could be a multiple offer situation. This creates live competition among buyers and helps increase price by initiating counter-offers.
The highest offer isn’t always the best offer. Not all offers are equal. Factors such as all cash, a request to rent back, home warranty, date of closing and pre-approval letter all affect the value and it is important to discuss how any of these might make one offer more beneficial for you as the Seller.
You accept an offer only when you’ve covered all of your selling costs, and when you know you’ve gotten the best possible price for your home.
As part of my fiduciary duty to you as your agent, I will thoroughly explain this process, discuss the best negotiation strategy for all offers, and provide you with the best information to help you make a well-informed decision.
