Office Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Northwest 792 E Rand Rd Arlington Heights, IL 60004
Selling Checklist
Whatever your
reasons for selling, it is important to have professional help. I will assist you by
getting your home ready for sale, strategically marketing the property, negotiating
contracts, and ultimately closing on the sale of your home.
Representing your
best interests at all times, I share your same goals- to position your home competitively,
to find the right buyer, and close in the time frame you need.
Use the
checklist below to serve as a helpful guide as you start on the road to selling your
home.
Contact Kim Quanstrom, Realtor®,
to sell your home.
I will meet with you and
answer any questions you have about selling your home. At this meeting we will:
Determine the price of your home based on the current price for sale
inventory in your area, and what houses have sold for in the recent past.
You will sign a listing contract, authorizing me to be your real estate
agent.
You will fill out a disclosure document. Sellers are obligated to
disclose any major problems or flaws in the structure or property, including things like
dry rot, termites, asbestos, or a new highway slated to run nearby. If you
fail to mention the leaky roof or flooding basement, you could be sued for fraud. There is
really no upside to trying to hide problems since most buyers will have the home inspected
before closing.
I will measure rooms and take inventory of personal property
that is included and excluded in the sale of your home. We will walk through the house
together during this process.
I will take interior and exterior pictures of your home to be included
on the Multiple Listing Service. If needed, I will contact my staging consultant to
come into your house, at my expense, for a two hour consultation (an $80 value). These
photos are very important and usually the first impression that potential home
buyers have of your house.
I will need 3 copies of your house key. One copy is for my office, one copy is for me,
and one copy will be in the lockbox, attached to the front door of your home.
I can fill out an estimated proceeds of sale based on your mortgage
balances, property taxes due, title insurance, and other assumptions.
I will make copies of all signed contracts
at my office, and deliver them to you. I will put a lock box on your house at this time.
You should start weeding out your
current possessions. One of the top reasons a house doesn't sell is due to
clutter. Home buyers feel that if the home owner didn't keep up on the esthetics of a home
they didn't keep up with the maintenance of the home.
If needed, I will contact my home staging
consultant. They will make a detailed recommendation list of things to do to
position your property in the best possible light. Recommendations can include painting,
reorganizing furniture, decluttering, and home repairs. I will retake interior photos that
reflect the changes that were made.
When your house is ready, I will
activate your house listing on the MLS. We want everyone, including other agents,
to see your home for the first time in the best possible condition.
The listing will show up on our corporate
websites, ColdwellBanker.com,
ColdwellBankerOnline.com and also on Realtor.com, one
of the internet's most popular websites for home buyers.
I willschedule a
broker open house. Open only to real estate professionals, the open house is an
opportunity for agents to view your house, without their buyers, to verify the value of
your home.
I will schedule an open house for the
general public. This tour will be on the first Sunday after the listing becomes
active. I will advertise the open house on the internet, on the Coldwell Banker websites, Realtor.com, my personal website, and others.
I will prepare marketing materials for
your house. These include customer information flyers which highlight the most unique and
sellable features of your home.
I will create a video for your property
(a $500 value). I will post the video on YouTube, and
other video websites. This is just one more service that I bring to you for FREE. Check out an example below.
I will prepare other internet
promotional flyers and post them to sites such as Craigslist.com, and Oodle.com. The
more buyers I can expose your home to the faster we can sell your home. Exposure
sells real estate. The Internet is the ultimate exposure vehicle.
I will hold your first public open house.
I like to hold them on Sunday, because that is when most people in the area respond to
them. I will show your home in its most positive light. During the course of the listing
we will decide if other open houses are necessary. I ask that you be out of the house
during all open houses. Buyers feel awkward and ill at ease when the owners are in the
house.
While on the market many agents will
want to show your home to their clients. The agent will call Coldwell Banker to
schedule an appointment to show your property. At that time I will be notified via email
that a showing has been scheduled. It gives me the agent contact information, as well as
the appointment time and date. My staff will give you a courtesy call to let you know that
a showing has been scheduled. You should make sure that the house is picked up and that it
is in showroom order to make a great impression on the agent and their client. Just as
requested during an open house, I ask that you be out of the house during these
showings.
The majority of your home's showings
occur when your home first comes on the market, in the first 2 to 3 weeks. It quickly
attracts the attention of the largest number of buyers looking for a home in that price
range. Pricing your property competitively from the start will generate the most activity
among agents and buyers.
At all times during the active marketing of your
home I will communicate important facts.
I will review all purchase offers
as they are presented, and will negotiate on your behalf to reach a purchase agreement
with terms that are favorable for you. Typically an offer is initiated by the buyer
through their Sales Associate and includes the following information:
The amount the buyer is willing to pay
Mortgage amount, if any
Closing and occupancy dates
Contingencies, such as mortgage commitment, building inspections and pest
inspections to include where appropriate (but not limited to): termite, pest, radon, water
potability, well, lead, septic, oil tank.
Any personal property specifically included or excluded
If the offer is not acceptable to you, further negotiations may be
necessary to reach terms agreeable to both you and the buyer. Counter-offers are common
(any change in the offer can be considered a counter-offer) and I will be in close contact
with you throughout this process.
Closing the sale. You will want to hire an attorney to review your contract. Once we
have a signed sales contract I will monitor and inform you of the progress of the
transaction, including the satisfaction of all contingencies and conditions during the
entire process.
When the offer is
accepted, the buyer's attorney may order inspections, such as home or
termite, as requested in the sales contract. I will represent you at all inspections. They
will also order a survey, to verify that the house is situated on the land properly.
Final
negotiations. Many times the inspection report is used to re-negotiate. That's
why it is so important to have your home in the best shape it can be, before the selling
process begins.
The buyer's mortgage
broker will schedule an appraisal for your home, to verify value. I will
represent you at the appraisal.
The buyer will have a walk-through
inspection prior to closing. I will represent you at the walk-through.
I will attend the closing, to
make sure that things go smoothly.Your lawyer, the buyer's lawyer, the buyer's loan
officer, and a title company representative will also be at the closing.
The closing is a formal process where
all parties sign the necessary paperwork needed to complete the transaction. Title to the
property is transferred from you to the buyer. The buyer receives the house-keys and you
receive payment for the house. From the amount credited to you, the title
representative subtracts the funds to pay off the existing mortgage and other transaction
costs. Deeds, loan papers, and other documents are prepared, signed and ultimately filed
with the local property record office.
After the closing I will be contacting you to
make sure that you were satisfied with my service. My main focus in business is to be a great
seller advocate.
