To prepare yourself for the journey of selling your home, Guy has broken down the selling process into the following 16 steps. Guy will be by your side EVERY step of the way - NO rookie agents, NO unfamiliar assistants, NO transaction coordinators…simply Guy!
Guy visit your home in order to obtain the following information: 1) to see in person your home's location with respect to other homes and various points of interest in the immediate neighborhood, 2) to see your home's floor plan, 3) to gather information on improvements made to your home, and 4) to recommend improvements still needed to be made to your home before coming to market.
Guy heads back to the office to dig a little deeper regarding details on your home and what it will take to sell it for top dollar. He will first research your home’s value based upon: 1) comparable sales in the immediate neighborhood, 2) what other homes are available in the area, and 3) the time of the year. He will secondarily develop a custom marketing plan for your property and thirdly will construct a detailed step-by-step home sale plan-of-action calendar.
Guy meets with you again to discuss and finalize, in detail, your custom home sale plan-of-action. The more we discuss your plan-of-action, the more prepared we are to execute it as well as handle any unexpected problems that may arise.
This paperwork will include the following:
Every home sale plan-of-action calls for slightly different activities; however, in general, the following will always be recommended to a seller: 1) declutter (or possibly even empty) the property, 2) clean, clean, clean, and 3) paint the interior which is a great way to freshen up stylistically as well as clean, clean, clean, 4) landscaping improvements including re-grading of soil, and 5) gutter cleaning and extending. Other recommendations would involve general repairs and improvements which will be different on a case-by-case basis, e.g. foundation bracing.
Lastly, we do offer professional staging as needed on a case-by-case basis, which can include staging one room, multiple rooms, or simply a sprucing up of what is already there!
Once the home is fully-prepared, Guy will start generating traditional marketing materials with the primary goal of garnering as many eyeballs on the property as possible via exposure, exposure, exposure!
Guy's traditional marketing materials/methods include the following:
Once the home is fully-prepared, Guy will start generating online marketing materials with the primary goal of garnering as many eyeballs on the property as possible via exposure, exposure, exposure!
Guy's online marketing materials/methods include the following:
After all the marketing prep has been created, finalized, and set into place, it’s time to GO LIVE and officially present your property to the market place. At his point, buyers can now view your home in person and make offers. Guy will help you navigate the logistics of these pressure-filled, action-packed days as well as help you negotiate any and all offers to achieve the goals we set out to achieve in our home sale plan-of-action.
Guy will help you review, negotiate, and accept an offer outlining various terms, including the purchase price; items included/excluded; the closing date; and various contingencies - including but not limited to inspection/testing, appraisal, financing, and possibly even home sale.
After you have accepted an offer, it is customary for the buyer to make a good faith deposit to be held in a third party neutral account. This deposit is referred to as the earnest money deposit and can not be released until instructions of its release are signed by both you and the buyer. Assuming that all goes well with the transaction, these monies are applied to the funds needed by the buyer to finalize their purchase of your home on closing day.
If the buyer has not already done so when obtaining their loan pre-approval letter, they will now have to submit the rest of the necessary paperwork requested by their lender in order to eventually obtain a final approval of their loan. The buyer is to send us written notification that their loan application process has begun with 7 days of offer acceptance.
These transactions typically require that the seller purchases an owner's title insurance for the buyer. Title insurance is an insurance policy that protects agains financial lost caused by defects in the title that were unknown or undiscovered at the time of the purchase, e.g. errors in public records, forged deeds or signatures, unknown heirs claiming ownership, recording mistakes, undisclosed liens.
NOTE: The buyer often has to purchase a lender's title insurance policy for their lender.
The title insurance policy isn't actually received by the buyer until after closing; as a result, a title commitment is obtained that is a promise from a title company that it will issue title insurance, as long as certain conditions are met.
It typically includes who owns the property, a legal description of the property, and any foreseen issues on title, such as liens, unpaid taxes, easements, judgments, restrictions, and conditions that must be cleared before closing, e.g., payoff a mortgage.
The buyer has a specific number of days to inspection and test the property’s components. A general inspection typically last 2-3 hours, after which the buyer will receive a written report to help them decide if further inspections are needed of specific property components, e.g. the chimney, and to help you compile a list of repairs the buyer might want you to make or credit money for in order for the buyer to move forward with the transaction.
Testing contingencies can include but not limited to radon, well water, well system, sanitary system, asbestos, and mold.
NOTE: Any contingency can be waived, but it’s best if the buyer has been made fully aware of the potential negative consequences, i.e. a signed waiver.
The buyer has a specific number of days to ensure that the appraiser, if required by the lender in order to obtain final loan approval, comes out to the property and generates a written appraisal report with a numerical value of the home. Typically the lender requires that this numerical value is equal to or greater than the agreed upon purchase price in the offer. If it is not, then the buyer can back out of the transaction or request a reduction in the purchase price.
The buyer has a specific number of days to provide you with a lender-generated letter, a.k.a. loan commitment letter, stating that the buyer is clear to close on their loan. NOTE: If there is no loan, the buyer will have to provide you with documentation, a.k.a. proof of funds, demonstrating that the buyer has the cash to purchase the property.
Wisconsin has customarily been referred to as a “closing table state”. You typically will meet at your, the lender’s, or the title company’s office to review and sign closing documents. The buyer will typically be present to review and sign their loan and closing documents too… thus the term “closing table state”.
After you sign your closing documents and then verify that the buyer’s money, a.k.a. the funds, has transferred to your bank account, the property is officially yours.
Hand over the keys and enjoy not having to mow that lawn anymore!
