THANK YOU for contacting us regarding listing your property. This book will give you an outline of the selling process and the systems we use. We, Bryan & Marijean, believe that real estate is much more than buying and selling property, it’s building relationships and building futures. We look forward to meeting with you to see if we can help you take the next step.
We take our roll as your Listing Agent extremely seriously. As your Listing Agents, we are tasked with the following fiduciary responsibilities, which effect your bottom line: presenting you with an accurate list price, helping you determine which repairs and updates to make to make your property the most marketable within its price range, guiding you through the process of selecting the best offer for your situation, defending you against a bad appraisal, negotiating through inspection-flagged repairs, and negotiating through items that may or may not convey. In short, it’s our job to maximize the money in your pocket upon closing your home sale.
Prior To Our Appointment
Before meeting with a potential seller, we do some basic research on the property.
- We visit the County Assessor’s website to establish the assessed value of the property as well as important property details such as square footage, style, number of rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, lot size and exterior features.
- We search the MLS to do a comparison of properties that are active, pending, and have sold in the recent months within your neighborhood or area.
- We run a property history search to evaluate the fluidity of the property and the pricing trends.
With this information in mind, we can better compare your property when we tour it upon our visit. If the property has more unique qualities, a specific and more thorough comparison may not be done until after the preliminary appointment.
At Our Appointment
At our appointment, we will take as long as necessary to answer your questions and gather information.
- We like to start our appointments with a conversation to better know our seller’s needs and expectations.
- We will take a tour of your property where you can point out the details and items of interest, positives, negatives, and upgrades. At this time, notations will be made on a staging and homework checklist. These would be steps you might consider undertaking to enhance the market value of your house and shorten the time on market.
- We will share the research information we gathered prior to the appointment and help you understand the market trends.
As much as we would like to tell you exactly what your home will sell for, the market will determine that.We can only advise you on the comparisons in the market and what will positively affect your selling price and what may negatively impact it.Know that we will be honest and upfront with you so your expectations will be reasonable and not disappointing.
Three things determine the value of your home:
Location, Condition and Price.
We will determine the estimated current market value of your home. Certain adjustments may need to be taken into consideration for differences between your property and recent sales.
- Comparisons will be printed and highlighted so that you better understand how the approximate sale price is being determined.
- Timelines and price reductions will be discussed so we have a game plan in place and can adjust to the response of the market.
- We will fully explain the listing contract with you,as it is a binding and legal document.
- We will provide you with a net sheet, so you have an estimate of your costs and are aware of your bottom dollar.
- We will present you with options for listing preparedness from basic cleaning and decluttering through major updating projects and weigh out your bottom line profit probabilities for each option. We will leave you a homework checklist to complete. Once the homework is done, the house is ready to go one the market.
Once your house is on the market, it is no longer your home, it becomes a product.
It is important for you to understand that your house must be the best product on the shelf for the price, hence creating value. Emotion leaves and motivation enters.
- Do Homework Checklist and Repairs: Complete the homework checklist and make any and all repairs needed in order to be proactive to a home inspection. Depending on the situation, you may want to have the home pre-inspected.
- Declutter: Start packing those boxes! Thin out personal effects and extra furniture. This helps your house appear larger and more spacious. Personal items tend to distract buyers and the less items you have displayed the more they can envision themselves in the home.
- Get Lock Box Ready: You will need to provide an extra key to be placed in the electronic lockbox. The lockbox is placed outside the home to allow licensed agents access to your house. This system also alerts us when a scheduled agent enters the property. Once your home is ready for the market, we will have professional pictures taken to highlight your home’s best features and capture the buyers’ eye. Most buyers begin their property online and we want to make a stunning first impression. Properties with professional photos are seven times more likely to be visited by potential buyers. additionally, they are three times more likely to sell within the standard listing period.
It becomes everybody’s job to keep the house spotless. Even Fido is on alert! When there are showings animals should be in a kennel or out of the house. Keep in mind many people have pet allergies so keeping the home vacuumed, dusted and litter boxes under control will create a more enjoyable showing experience for potential buyers.It is our job to protect your investment. When an offer is received, we will scrutinize it before presenting it to you.
Things to consider in an offer, but not limited to:
- Purchase price
- Earnest deposit
- Financial lender and pre-approval
- Closing costs
- Home warranty
- Home inspection
- Closing date
Choosing a Title Company
In Hillsborough County, it is up to the seller to choose the title company, since sellers are responsible for paying for the deed stamp. If you have a title company that you would like to use, please let us know. If you do not have a preferred title company, we can offer you three choices of those which we work with on a regular basis for you to select from. A title search will be done on the property and any “clouds” on the title will be addressed. Additional documentation may be needed to successfully do this. If there is anything that needs to be disclosed about title or deed on your property, now is the time to share that information with us. Everyone named on the deed will be required to sign it. The designated title company will set up a time for all sellers to sign the documents, so they are able to pass title to the buyers. If you hold a current mortgage, the title company will contact your lender and determine the payoff amount. The payoff will be wired to your lender directly after closing.
What You Can Also Expect from Team Reith
- Qualified Referrals. You may need help with “homework” items to get your home ready for the market or home inspection repairs once we have an offer. A list of our preferred vendors in enclosed in this packet.
- Weekend Open Houses. As needed and if desired, we offer open houses that will broaden your marketing.
- Communication. Everyone has a different lifestyle and communicates effectively by different means: phone, text, email. We pride ourselves on keeping a high level of communication with our sellers, no matter your style. We are never too busy for your questions or concerns.
- Coordination. Think of us as your Project Manager. There are at least a dozen different people involved in a real estate transaction: both agents, buyers and sellers, home inspectors, contractors, lender, underwriters, appraiser, termite inspector, title company and closers. As your agents, we will make sure everyone is working together and completing their tasks on time.
- Enjoyment. We love what we do! Our real joy comes when a transaction is complete and we have satisfied your goal of moving forward.
Everyday Team Reith is helping families who are growing, downsizing, relocating, getting a job promotion, losing a job, going through a divorce, getting married, finding their first home, searching for their last home, or just looking for a change.
No matter your situation, moving can be very stressful and can be compounded by these outside factors. We are not here just for the sale, we are here to help you move forward.
Our service does not stop on closing day. Please consider us your trusted real estate advisor as we can help you with anything real estate related. We can provide referrals for lawn care, pest control, carpet cleaning, handyman, painting, electrician or plumber. As always, if you know of anyone in need of our services, your referrals are welcomed and sincerely appreciated.
Thank you for the opportunity to guide you through the home selling process. We look forward to getting to know you and to a successful, painless transaction.
Sincerely,
Bryan & Marijean
