FOR SELLERS

SELLER'S HINTS AND TIPS

The Internet has been a great problem–solver for home sellers. They can start to consider a home sale much earlier, spend more time on research, and gather more information to see how their home might be positioned in the current market.

However, did you know that there is a great deal of suspect and inaccurate information on the Web in regard to real estate and particularly home values? Some of it comes from court tax records, which are notoriously inaccurate value statistics. Other value estimates on the Web come simply from gathering listing price data. It’s not an accurate value until a buyer and seller agree on a number, so listing numbers are just a guess. I am highly experienced in the Bonita Springs, Estero, and Naples real estate markets, and I want to give you a better valuation estimate through actual sales data.

LISTING PRICE

Develop a market report of similar homes to yours in your neighborhood that have sold recently.
Send you that report with details and photos of the homes, as well as the prices at which they were listed and finally sold.
Give you my interpretation of the current market for homes like yours, near yours, and in your home’s price range.
Keep you updated with any changes, new listings and closed sales that will effect your sale.

PUT IT OUT THERE

I want you to learn about the power of “syndication,” and why I spend significant resources, time and effort in syndicating your listing information to a great many real estate websites much larger and more heavily visited than any local real estate websites. I have systems in place to have your listing on dozens of websites, including Yahoo, Trulia, Zillow, and others, and within days of your listing going live.

So, although I'm getting great search engine exposure, I'm not relying on it to be my only resource to sell your home through online marketing. Each of those sites to which I syndicate your listing will have links back to the original and complete listing at my website. It’s there that I shine in marketing your SW Florida real estate property - once I’ve attracted visitors from these other sites.

IN IT'S BEST LIGHT

I take a full and expert suite of professional quality images of your home. These images will showcase your property and are critical to Internet marketing. Surveys prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that buyers value high quality images more than any other feature of real estate listings.
Virtual tours when appropriate are created for your property. Some properties are better marketed with still photographs, others with a slide show of stills, and some with a video and voice–over. I’ll work with you to produce the very best marketing approach for your property.
Thorough professionally written text descriptions and very thorough information fields to bring every facet of your property to the prospective buyer.

INSPECTIONS AND REPAIR NEGOTIATIONS

While my sellers tend to become less stressed as soon as all of the purchase contract signatures are in place, I am with them and ready for the next negotiation phase. Property inspections can frequently result in buyer requirements for corrections by the seller. Whether you’re prepared for these or they come as a surprise, I'm here to help you to deal with them, as repair disputes are the most frequent reason for contract failures before closing.

Part of my job is to help you to avoid too many “surprises” related to condition and repair negotiations after inspections. I'll do my best to give you information about what I see that buyers may want corrected, but there are definitely things that nobody can anticipate until the inspectors have submitted their reports. So, there’s one other thing I try to do in order to prepare you and leave some negotiation room for you.

CONTRACT TO CLOSING

My seller clients really appreciate my services in listing, marketing and getting a buyer signed on the dotted line on a purchase contract. However, neither they nor we can rest just because a contract is inked. There are more than 50 tasks and deadline deliveries on my normal residential seller side real estate transaction checklist. And, I take our responsibilities seriously in the processing of all documents and meeting of all deadlines. The process of taking a signed purchase contract through to closing involves a great many details, deliveries and document submissions. I coordinate all of this for my sellers, making sure that all phases of the closing process move along smoothly.

CONTRACT TO CLOSE

TITLE WORK

Title – I work closely with the title company and attorneys to make sure that all documents and deliveries are processed in a timely manner. I work with my sellers to examine all of their title and recorded documents to uncover all material defects and items of importance. Though this is normally of more concern to the buyer, sellers must respond to their objections, so it’s important to know what’s in all recorded documents. Example: while there are normally few items in a title binder that can be corrected as they’re recorded and pass with the property, sometimes there are requirements or exceptions that weren’t expected but must be addressed. With the more careful lending environment, more “quit-claim” deeds are being required as one example. Perhaps you have a previous divorce and the lender wants better protection against claims and will require a quitclaim deed from your former spouse.

Inspections, Survey & Appraisal

Inspections, Survey & Appraisal – My job is to coordinate access for inspectors and the appraiser, and to accept deliveries of reports as well as any objections or correction requirements from the buyers. I take this job seriously and will be with my sellers every step of the way. Every instance of delivery of an inspection and/or buyer objections requires a response in most cases, and there are deadlines. I stay on top of these deadlines, make sure reports are delivered to you on time or extensions are put into place, and that you respond within required time lines. Failure to do so could obligate you to repairs or other corrections or kill the deal.

REPAIR NEGOTIATIONS

Repair Negotiations – If the buyer submits requirements for corrective actions to items on reports, I work with my sellers to determine the cost of those requirements and the appropriate response necessary to keep the deal going in a way beneficial to my seller clients. Should you agree to make certain repairs, there will be deadlines associated with completion, and possibly requirements for the buyer’s inspector to return and re-inspect for completion and repair quality. I keep all of this on track for you, and can recommend contractors I know do quality work at fair prices.

LENDER DOCUMENTS

Lender Document Coordination – One of the leading causes of delayed closings is some problem with funding due to lender last minute requirements or other document demands. I am monitoring all

document flows to make sure this doesn’t happen for my sellers. As the seller, you aren’t getting a mortgage, but you need to be very concerned with the buyer’s ability to do so and their lender’s process and ability to meet deadlines and fund at closing. Mortgage problems kill a lot of deals, so we’re going to be involved in the buyer’s process to protect you, our seller client. ONLY LICENSED REALTORS, BY LAW CAN OBTAIN INFORMATION ON LOAN STATUS.