SELLING 101 - The SELLING Process from Start to Finish

Whether you are selling your home for the first time, or haven't sold a house in a while, it is nonetheless a daunting task and a major move in your life.  No move from house to house should be taken lightly. 

There has been a major trend as of the last three year of homeowners going at it on their own and trying to market and sell their homes by themselves.  The failure rate from the Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors is 89%.  That means that 89% of all FSBOs (For Sale By Owners) eventually list with a Realtor.  Why do they waste all that time, money, and effort if they know they're going to fail.  I have an idea why! 

Most For Sale By Owners don't have the equity built up in their homes to pay the services of a Realtor.  The reason being, is that during the course of their loan, they took out a home equity loan to pay off debt or repair, or remodel.  This is all well and good, but guess what.  The husband finds out a year later that he is being transferred to a plant in Illinois and he has to move.  Now the family is faced with a decision. 

Can they sell their house by themselves?  Surely there's nothing to it.  I mean, just price the home and stick a sign in the yard right?  Hopefully you'll know the answer to this question and a lot more as this presentation of bullet points illustrates the selling process from start to finish.

• Deciding to sell your house is a major decision.  If at all humanly possible, please us a Realtor.  An experienced Realtor who knows how to market homes to sell and not sit on the market for six months is the one you want to find.  Allow me to make a case for TREGO REALTY and my services as a Realtor.
  • No one prices a home to sell faster and for more of the asking price than TREGO REALTY.
  1. Our broker Derrick Ogert, is an experienced, "hands-on" broker and always ensure that customer satisfaction is a high priority with each transaction.
  2. We have the #1 Internet marketing program in Cedar Rapids and even in the state of Iowa.  We generate more Internet traffic through our websites and our real estate blogs. (ranked by www.point2agent.com).
  3. We expose your listing to more "potential buyers" than any other Realtor/Brokerage in town, guaranteed, and for a lot less money.
  4. We offer 5, 6, & 7% commission plans to fit YOUR BUDGET, and not the companies budget. 
  5. We are a full service brokerage just like the big guys.  We have lenders, appraisers, insurance personnel, title opinion, and closing department employees, just like everyone else, no difference from the big guys!
  6. Your listing is placed immediately on page one of Google for the #1 key search phrase for real estate here in town; Cedar Rapids Real Estate.  No other Realtor/Brokerage is on page one of Google.
  7. Your listing immediately goes out to 100 Realtor websites (like ours), 25 local, regional, and national websites, and is then picked up by hundres of other affiliate websites. 
  8. Your listing receives its own website and you have exclusive "back door" access to your own listing.  You will see where visitors are coming from, how many times your virtual tour was viewed, which pictures out of the 36 full color, high resolution, wide angle lens photographs the "potential buyer" liked the most, etc...
• When you are ready to list your home on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) contact a Realtor.  Probably the greatest thing we can do as Realtors is provide you with a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis) of your home.  This will show you homes in the area like yours that have sold in the last six months, and also ACTIVE comparables currently on the market (so you know who your competition is).
• What TREGO REALTY does is also provide you with a Highest Priced Analysis.  We will let you know the absolute highest price you can list your house for and sell for in today's ever-changing market.
• The key to selling your home 90% of the time is price.   If you are willing to forget the "sweat equity" you and your family have put into your home, you can really save a lot of money.  We will price your home to sell and not sit on the market for six months.
• Other factors involved in marketing your house to sell are the Realtor used and his/her marketing efforts, the home's condition, the curb appeal, and if you have maintained/updated the home throughout the years when necessary.
  1. We don't sell homes at TREGO REALTY.  We market homes to sell and there is a HUGE difference.
  2. Your home must be in excellent condition.  Anything cracked, dirty, or in disrepair must be fixed so that the home is move-in ready.
  3. How does your home look when you pull into the driveway?  If you are satisfied, great.  If not, you've got work to do.
  4. If you've lived in the home for 20 years, have you maintained and updated the homes look so that it is current with today's trends and styles?  Do you still have the Avocado Green "Partridge Family" countertops of the 70's?  (No, they are not coming back in style)  Look at items such as flooring, walls, countertops, paint, and other items to spruce up your home to sell.
• The seller pays the selling agent and buying agent commissions in the state of Iowa.  This total commission is generally around 7% or $7,000 in a $100,000 transaction.  TREGO REALTY offers FLEXIBLE commission plans to fit your budget, not our pockets.  You can save thousands of dollars at closing time, which can make a big difference to you and your family.
• So, your house is on the market and I receive a phone call.  Bob from ABC Realty wants to show your house to his clients at 4:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon.  The first thing I ask Bob as your agent is, "Bob, just a quick question for ya.  Are your buyers pre-qualified to buy this house in this price range?"  If Bob says no, they don't get access to your house.  The worst thing that can happen is Bob's clients write an offer, you accept it, and we find out two days later that they are not financially qualified to purchase the house.  Is a Realtor worth it to you?
• You finally receive an offer on the house.  My job is to get you the most money possible for this transaction.  One item that is very popular right now is for the seller to pay for the buyer's closing costs of up to $3000.00.  We will make sure and negotiate our final price to reflect this buyer request.  (More info on this at our initial meeting).  One thing we definitely want to remember is that you have a certain amount of equity built up in your home.  We want to keep most of that equity to move forward for your next purchase.  Once we negotiate a successful offer, the clock starts ticking.
• If you didn't have a house picked out before, now is the time.  We can generally find you a place within three or four days if we really do our homework.  Closing on your new house will generally take place in 35-40 days.
• During the 35-40 days it takes to close and have possession of your new house, the buyer's will be conducting inspections on your house.  They will generally have a Whole House Inspection, a Termite Inspection, and sometimes, a Radon Inspection.  The buyer pays for all these inspections.  Possible related expenses are if the house tests high for radon, the buyer will ask for it to be mitigated, and this can run as high as $1500.00.  With the Whole House Inspection, the inspector is looking for major safety, mechanical, or other problems that would greatly affect the sale of the home.  With regards to the Termite Inspection, as long as there is no ACTIVE INFESTATION, you are fine.  If there is evidence of this, it will cost around $800 to treat and remedy this situation.  I want to let you know up front some of the expenses you might be faced with (emphasis on might).
• An appraisal will also be done on the house to make sure it appraises for what the final asking price was.  The buyer has to be financially qualified to purchase your house 10 days after accepted offer.
• During this 35-40 days, you will want to make sure you contact all utility companies and have turn off the day that the buyers take over possession of your house.  The buyer will subsequently have utilities turned on that very same day, so there will be an overlap of 12 hours.

That's it, you have gone to school for Sellers 101 and passed with flying colors!  If you have additional questions regarding the selling process and how TREGO REALTY can best represent you, please call or email us to get started.  It has been a pleasure to present you with this information, and I hope it has helped answer questions you might have had about the selling process!  Happy Selling!

• Much more on this process when you contact me and our offices.  Thank you!