Posts Tagged ‘selling your home’

Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Tulsa – Select a Listing Realtor right for the job – Questions you should ask

Not all Realtors are the same.

It doesn’t seem to matter if my Buyers are looking at $80,000 houses or $300,000 houses – we will run across listings with no photos, no virtual tours and little information on MLS. And, Buyers will totally rule out looking at homes that they can’t preview from their home computer. So, before you sign up with a Realtor to SELL your home, be sure to ask where and how your home will be marketed.

Individual Realtors offer different services, and we pay to advertise your home out of our own pocket. We don’t regain that investment until your home sells.

In order to select a Listing Realtor who will properly market your home, ask lots of questions!

Questions you want to ask your Realtor include: does your Realtor offer the enhanced advertising on realtor.com that allows more photos, extensive verbiage and virtual tours?

On which web sites will your virtual tours be displayed? Ask them to send you links of their other listings on Realtor.com, Trulia, Yahoo and Zillow so you can be sure of what type and level of exposure you can expect for YOUR listing. [links to trulia, zillow, etc.]

84% of Buyers are searching for homes on the internet before they ever contact a Realtor, so if your photos and virtual tours are not plastered on YouTube, Realtor.com and a dozen other popular web sites, the number of Buyers NOT seeing (and considering) your home is almost unquantifiable.

Select a Listing Realtor right for the job – Questions you should ask – Will your Realtor be honest with you about the needed updates to prepare your home for sale? Is your Realtor looking at your home through a potential Buyer’s eye?

Does your Realtor offer an electronic keybox, so that your showings can be accurately tracked and does your Realtor follow up with cooperating Realtors to get feedback? Will your Realtor provide good directions to your home so that Buyers and Realtors can easily find you?

What staging services will your Realtor offer and will your Realtor go over comparables to price your home competitively? What steps will your Realtor take to promote a sale within a reasonable time frame? Will your Realtor present you with his/her marketing PLAN?

How often will your Realtor communicate with you? You probably know how often your home is being shown if you occupy your property. Establish expectations from day one, and you’ll be less frustrated.

Lastly, ask for references. I display testimonials on my web site, and am happy to provide you with phone numbers of previous clients.

Your home will sell if it is in top condition, priced correctly and marketed aggressively. Choose the Listing Realtor that understands this selling strategy.

Marketing your home is expensive, but priceless.

Negotiating Repairs in Tulsa Oklahoma – compromise and compromise are key

In the state of Oklahoma, Buyers and Sellers agree to a “repair cap” when negotiating a real estate contract BEFORE inspections are done. I understand from real estate blogging that it’s not done this way in other states, but that’s how we do it here.

The amount agreed to in the real estate contract is the CAP that the Seller agrees to spend on repairs. After inspections, should the required repairs exceed the cap, the Seller has the right to back out of the contract or we re-negotiate which repairs will be completed and who will pay for what. I encourage Buyers and Sellers to divide the excess equally and sometimes I encourage the Buyer to be selective about which repairs really must be done.

When I’m representing a Buyer, I will look for things that I know will need to be repaired such as wood rot or a hot water heater that needs to be raised. We come up with a best guestimate as to what will be needed and determine the amount to request for repairs – all dependent upon how fair (high or low) our sales price offer is and whether or not we are asking for closing cost assistance from the Seller.

Typically, I will encourage my Buyer to ask for a low amount in repairs. If you ask for $1,000 and only $500 is needed in repairs, the Buyer is not refunded the unspent $500. The Seller is prepared to spend $1,000, but will net $500 more on the transaction if the entire $1,000 is not needed.

The majority of my transactions will result in a few plumbing issues that are inexpensive and easy repairs, perhaps some wood rot that is also easy and inexpensive or maybe the home inspector will identify a window that is not sealed properly. Everyone involved in the transaction sighs with relief when inspections yield such minimal results.

But let’s consider worse case scenarios.

The structural engineer discovers that piering is needed in one corner of the home and estimates that cost to be $3000 ($500 per required pier). Or the termite inspector discovers mold in the crawl space and recommends treatment in addition to a plastic vapor barrier and additional ventilation – that gets expensive.

If any result of the inspections CONCERNS the Buyer, they can withdraw from the contract and be refunded their earnest money, just as the Seller has the right to withdraw from the contract if the repair cost exceeds his repair cap.

At this point, the Seller has taken his home off the market for almost two weeks and the Buyer has spent $500 on inspections and another $375 on an appraisal, so both parties have a vested interest in keeping the transaction together.

Depending on the type of financing the Buyer has, some repairs may HAVE to be made prior to closing. Focus on the NEEDED repairs and give the WANTED repairs a lower priority if necessary. And if either party is short of funds, the Realtor can often recommend a repair person who will wait to be paid at closing.

Negotiating Repairs in Tulsa Oklahoma – compromise and compromise are key

We’re not opponents. One of you wants to sell your home and the other party wants to buy it.

The Seller really didn’t know about the needed piering – when you live in a home, you get use to creaks and groans – we don’t always notice when something begins sagging.

And Mr. Buyer, you knew the home was built in 1950 and you are buying a sixty year-old home – you didn’t really expect it to be perfect, did you?

Let’s compromise. If the Seller will pay for 75% of the piering cost, will you pick up the other 25% and wait to repair the dishwasher out of your year-end bonus?

Compromise allows us all to sleep better at night. Look for solutions, because they are likely right in front of you, waiting to come to light.

If you are interesting in buying or selling a home in the greater Tulsa area, please contact me!