Gussy up the house! Clean, clean, clean. Sell or store as much "stuff" as you can. Put away all personal photographs and mementos, animal trophies, and religious icons. Secure small valuables and firearms, preferably off-site. The best sales price in the shortest amount of time can be achieved by having the most people look at the house. Don't leave valuables lying around. When the house is ready, I want to take plenty of pictures. These photos will appear on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and many other associated websites. That is how buyers today first engage in home buying. Most potential buyers will not return to a house that has had improvements made since the first time they looked at it. The house needs to be ready from the beginning.
Alaska law requires homeowners to complete a Residential Real Property Transfer Disclosure. (Alternatively, you and a buyer may mutually agree to waive the disclosure, but there should be a very good reason to do so. An estate sale is a good reason.) The form is 13 pages long. Be as comprehensive as you can with your answers. The object, from the seller's point of view, is to avoid being sued later by a buyer who discovers a defect which you corrected to the best of your ability, but did not disclose. Disclose everything! I have copies of the form and can send to you as "homework" for our listing meeting. You have to initial every page and sign it, and then so does the buyer, acknowledging they received it. Important Note: If you decide to purchase a presale home inspection, whatever is revealed in that inspection must be disclosed.
Set a price
I will create a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to compare similar recently-sold properties in your area to your property. I can advise you on what I think yours will sell for, but ultimately, the decision of price is up to you. Issues of condition, size, style, upgrades, and age only matter to a slight degree. The over-riding factor is the comparable properties.
I will provide you with a seller's cost estimate. Tell me how much you owe in first and/or second mortgages and I'll tell you approximately what your proceeds (or lack thereof) will be if you sell. You will want a good guess as to closing costs.
You don't need to tell me the lowest price you'll accept, but you should have it in your mind.
List the property
Should you use a salesperson?
Well, let's see . . . Are you available to show the property? Do you have the time to do marketing? Do you have the expertise to negotiate? Do you know what paperwork is legally required to complete a transaction? If you answered "yes" to these four questions, then, no, you don't need a salesperson.
As of this writing, advertising the amount of compensation offered by the seller to real estate licensees is changing. You will now see compensation as part of the purchase agreement. Things are in flux in the industry and I'll update once I have more info.
Showings
I will put a lockbox up so that members of the Alaska MLS (Multiple Listing Service) can access the property. MLS members use an app on their cell phones which open any MLS lockboxes. The lockbox pops open and your house key or door code is inside. The salesperson takes out your key and uses it to access the property, then locks the door and puts it back into the lockbox when they leave.
Decide how you want salespeople to notify you that they will be accessing your property. Do you want them to call and leave a message? Do you want them to speak with you? Are there certain hours the property is not available to view? Can they simply drop in? The easier it is to look at, the more showings you will get.
Do you have a tenant? Tenants complicate things a little . . . or a lot, depending upon the tenant. We can talk about it.
The main thing is to keep the house tidy and clean all the time. It's not easy, but worth it in the end.
Receiving an offer
Make sure that I can contact you. The standard offer comes with a deadline to respond, many times it's only a day later or later that same day. I need to be able to reach you.
You and I will discuss what to do based upon what we see in the offer. Remember, everything is negotiable. I will prepare a new Seller's Cost Estimate, using the terms of the offer in-hand.
The offer contract spells out dates to perform the following: a home inspection, a request for repairs, a repairs agreement, an appraisal order, and recording.
Home inspection
You can allay a lot of buyer concerns by purchasing a presale home inspection and then making needed repairs prior to listing the property for sale. It's fine for you or friends to do general repairs if you know how. Please leave the electrical repairs to the electrician, heating system repairs to the HVAC folks, etc. Keep your receipts and jot down what you did. A presale report will not stop a buyer from having his or her own home inspection, but it should forestall any major items from coming to light with bad timing. The buyer pays for his or her own home inspection and the contract will set out when that must be accomplished. The buyers have a few more days (whatever is stipulated in the contract) to request repairs from you. You then have some time to figure out what you want to repair, what you can repair. A repair amendment will most likely stipulate that repairs be accomplished by a licensed professional. You will either sign the repair amendment or we will come up with a different one.
The buyer may have the home inspector revisit to make sure the repairs are accomplished. The revisit is a buyer's cost. If something isn't quite right, then the cost of any future visit is yours to bear.
Appraisal
The contract will stipulate who pays for the appraisal, the buyer or the seller. It is a negotiable item. If it is a buyer cost, you will need to write a check to your lender by the date set in the contract (and I'll tell you when). The appraisal is ordered by your lender and the lender owns the appraisal report.
The appraiser sets the value of the property. He or she uses several different methods to determine value. One method includes the use of comparable properties and what they've recently sold for, another is the cost to replace the property.
Our desire is that the value set by the appraiser matches or exceeds the sales price. If the appraisal comes in below the sales price, then we must either renegotiate the contract or you must come up with enough cash to cover the deficiency or you may back out of the deal. In a hot market, we may stipulate that you will pay more than the appraised value, and how much more, in the offer.
The appraisal is usually the last step before the loan package goes to underwriting and then you close.
Closing
Closing is not to be confused with Recording. Closing occurs when the lender is ready to loan the money while adhering to the dates specified in the Purchase & Sale Agreement. A few days before closing, I will make an appointment with the title company for you to sign closing documents. An appointment later in the afternoon gives everyone more time to make sure they have correct documents. The lender sends all the necessary loan documents to the title company. You have an appointment to close and the buyer has an appointment to close. This can even be on different days and it's frequently done in different locations. I do not need to be with you when you close, although I try. Once you sign all the documents at closing, the lender sends the money to the title company, and then the title company records the sale at the recorders office. This is usually the next business day after closing. If you close on a Friday, the transaction records on Monday (unless it's a holiday). You own the home until recording. You must keep it insured with the utilities connected until then. Recording is the date listed in the contract, so in order to comply with the contract we need to make sure and close at least one business day before recording.
A note about utilities . . . the buyer should contact the proper utility at least two days prior to recording in order to switch service onto their account on recording day. You should contact the utility on recording day to make sure that it has been done.
Real Estate Brokers of Alaska
1577 C Street, Ste. 101
Anchorage, Ak 99501
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