Help From Your Listing Agent
From A-Z, there are literally dozens of things that need to be considered, handled and resolved in the course of selling your home. Certainly that's why you've engaged a professional real estate agent as your partner.
From placing your home on the market to signing the final closing papers, here's how your listing agent can help:
- Price and Prepare Your Home for sale
- Market to Other Agents
- Market to Potential Buyers
- Negotiate, Handle Paperwork and Close the Deal
Prepare Your Home
A good agent will help you prepare your home for sale. From offering advice on how to spiff-up your living space to helping you decide on your asking price, here are a few things you can expect from a BOWES GMAC Real Estate agent.
- Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). Your BOWES GMAC Real Estate listing agent can generate a report that compares your home to the other homes currently being sold in your area. It may also show other homes that have sold recently, or expired from the market before selling. This data will help you and your agent decide together on the most realistic asking (or list) price for your home.
- Interior and exterior improvements. Your home should "smile a welcome" to prospective buyers. The exterior's curb appeal will get them in the door; the interior will seal the deal. Your agent will tour your home with you, offering objective advice about which improvements that should or could be made.
Market to Other Agents
A good agent also knows the value of spreading the word about your home to other agents. A BOWES GMAC Real Estateagent will widen your audience of potential buyers using these techniques.
- Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The MLS lets real estate agents showcase and sell each other's listed properties as "cooperating brokers." It's an electronic database promoting large and small brokers' listings. The more agents who know your home is for sale, the faster it's likely to sell.
- Brokers' Open Houses. Your agent will host this tour (usually held on a weekday morning specific to an area) and invite local agents to see your home; agents who will preview it for their buyers.
- Lockbox. Your agent will provide an electronic key or numeric combination to open a door-hanger, which holds your house key. Agents will be able to show prospective buyers your home, even when you're not there. If you're away from home a lot, or if you're house is off the beaten path, this is a great convenience.
Market to Potential Buyers
For every home, there's a buyer. Let your BOWES GMAC Real Estate agent connect you to "the one" with these tactics.
- Yard Sign. Yard signs are an awareness-generating tool, notifying neighbors and drive-by buyers that your home is for sale.
- www.realtor.com Listing. The Internet is a popular choice for home "shoppers." Nationally, more than ever before more people in the market for a new home use it. It's especially valuable for people relocating to your area. Your BOWES GMAC Real Estate agent will provide you with real-time listings, open houses and plenty of photos that showcase your home to Web surfers. All of our listings will appear on over 50 websites. For more information click here.
- Community Newspaper Ads. This most basic marketing tool is still important in many areas. Your agent will advertise your home in the real estate pages of your local newspaper (and tell you how often), with a brief description, asking price and contact information.
- Showings. Your BOWES GMAC Real Estate sales associate will set up showings to accommodate the schedules of qualified buyers and their agents – without inconveniencing you and your family.
- Open Houses. Your potential buyer may still be around the corner, but open houses can bring them to your door. Ask your BOWES GMAC Real Estate agent if s/he will hold them and if you should be away from the house when they occur. Consider a weekday open house – they're not just for Sundays anymore!
- Direct Mail. Promotional postcards and other written materials about your home can be sent to targeted market areas and the potential home buyers who live there.
Close the Deal
It may seem ceremonial, but closing the deal is often the hardest part of a real estate transaction. Your BOWES GMAC Real Estate agent will start working for you even before the final sale.
- Qualification/Pre-Screening. Prospective buyers visiting your home should be financially able to purchase it. Your listing agent can work with the buyer's agent to assure that the people who see your home can afford what you're asking, and that they have been pre-approved by a qualified lender.
- Inspections. City code, general home, and pest (if necessary) inspections. Your GMAC Real Estate listing agent can represent you (and your interests) during these appointments so you don't lose time from work or school.
- Evaluating and Negotiating the Offer. It takes a certain finesse to navigate the ins and outs of a buyer's offer. Is the offer acceptable? What closing date works for you? Are you willing to repair the roof in exchange for your full asking price? Helping in shaping your decisions is why you'll want a trusted, objective professional like a BOWES GMAC Real Estate sales associate as your partner.
- Contract Acceptance. Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions of your life. Rely on the guidance and objectivity of a trusted professional. Your BOWES GMAC Real Estate listing agent can make sure that details are remembered and your interests protected.
- Legal and Other Documents. A real estate transaction can involve listing and purchase agreements, multiple disclosure statements, waivers,schedules, amendments and conditions. Do you work with real estate-related legal documents every day? Your BOWES GMAC Real Estate listing agent does. Rely on his/her familiarity with the language, timelines and requirements that lie within these legal documents.
- Dispute Resolution. Even the smoothest, simplest real estate transaction involves two parties, with needs and objectives that may differ. The right real estate agent can provide skilled negotiation and mediation and conflict resolution. Let your agent deal with the sticking points that can sometimes offend a seller.
- Facilitate Closing. The old adage, "the devil is in the details," is no less true at closing. Once you've accepted an offer on your home, your BOWES GMAC Real Estate agent will work quietly and efficiently to keep things moving smoothly and according to plan. Broker, lender or lawyers. Everyone needs paperwork, signatures, verifications and certifications. From listing too closing and final title transfer, it's another area where the right agent can make the difference.
- Conditions. Conditions in your Agreement of Purchase and Sale are terms that must be met before an agreement is firm and binding. The written conditions, therefore, must also be removed in writing, through the use of either a Waiver or an Amendment by a specified date before the contract can be fully in effect. Whether it's financing, inspection or any other item your agreement is subject to, BOWES GMAC Real Estate listing agent can assist you in understanding and fulfilling these contractual conditions.
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