Your Experts: Building the Network
Let's start by assembling a "dream team" of real estate professionals to assist you
with your sale - your expert network. Select these individuals based on their
respective expertise and services.
Since you're the one managing the process you should find very qualified, reputable, and
affordable real estate professionals to make your team effective and stay within the
budget allocated
for the sale.
You can start by checking our resource directory,
looking in the yellow pages, or asking family and friends for referrals.
Real Estate Attorney
The first and probably most important member of your team will be a
real estate attorney.
Interview a few attorneys and make sure that they have in-depth experience with
real estate as well as assisting individuals, such as yourself, who prefer not to use
a real estate agent. Then select one to become a member of your network of experts.
Think of the attorney as your guru. You need to make
sure you are comfortable with the attorney's ability and can get along with their personality.
Some of the things you may have your attorney do are:
- write and review contracts
- handle transaction money
- fix defects in your title policy
- handle closing
- represent you in case of any legal problems
Financial Advisors
Depending on your financial situation, you may want to consider adding a
financial advisor to your
team - this could be an accountant, tax preparer, or financial advisor. A good advisor can
help you assess your financial status and advise you on the best strategy - in particular, taxes
and financing options. They can also advise you in investing your proceeds from the sale.
Contractors
Depending upon the amount of improvements and repairs you decide to make on the property,
you may want to hire a
general contractor or
individual contractors, such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and so on.
A general contractor will manage your improvement
or repair projects for you by hiring the necessary people to complete the project in a
timely manner. Of course, they may cost a bit more than hiring each individual contractor
yourself, but keep in mind, if your project is extensive you will have to do a lot of
extra busy work - like calling contractors on a regular basis.
If you work during the
day and don't have the time to constantly be pushing contractors to complete the job
by a specified date, or if your project is extensive and involves many different skills,
then you should seriously consider hiring a general contractor. They make sure everyone
gets the job done in a professional and timely manner.
Mortgage Brokers and Lenders
If you are a prospective buyer, then you definitely will need either a
mortgage
broker or lender. Please refer to the mortgage center
for the difference between the two if you don't already know. So, why do you need
one if you're selling?
Well, it's not you that needs the services. It's the buyer. You could have what might appear to be
the best buyer in the world for your property. However, if you're not in the 4% of lucky
people that receive cash for the sale or you can't secure a mortgage, your deal is crashing
fast.
The best thing you can have on your side is a list of brokers or lenders that you have
pre-screened (if you're also buying, then you can use the list you made for you're buying
quest), and be able to present them to buyers who have not secured a mortgage.
So how do you know if a buyer has secured a mortgage, or at least found a broker or lender?
Simple - just ask. As you are pre-screening the buyer, ask them if they are going to need a loan
to purchase the property. A true buyer will answer this question willingly.
If they need a loan, you should ask the buyer if they
are pre-approved for a loan or if they're at least pre-qualified. If not, ask them
if they have met with any mortgage brokers or lenders and which ones. At this point, if needed
you can give the buyer a pre-screened list of brokers and lenders that you have already
met with, this will make it easier on the buyer, and perhaps make you and your property
stay in their memory.
Be careful not to seem too pushy, you don't want the buyer to think that you are
prying for personal financial information. If the buyer seems apprehensive, you can tell
them that before taking the time to show them your property you want to make sure that
they are serious. Nothing is more serious than securing a mortgage. If you'd like,
you can suggest they come here and visit the buying tutorial :-)
Appraisers
As we get you prepared for determining a sales price, an
appraiser
is someone you may want to consult with while determining the fair market value of your property.
Whether or not you decide to use an appraiser, you should make sure that you have a list of
several that are qualified by the professionals on your mortgage broker and lender list, so
that you can give these contacts to the buyer for them to consider.
Inspectors
Typically, buyers will hire
inspectors to assess the
condition of the property. In many
states a home inspection is required by law. Regardless this is something that most buyers
should want to do and you should encourage the inspections. Not all inspectors are created
equal - you should talk to a few and request a sample report. Find one or two inspectors
that you can recommend to buyers, those who will provide accurate and honest detailed
reports.
You may even want to consider hiring an inspector to examine your property prior to placing it
on the market. This inspection will help ensure that you did not miss any necessary repairs or
improvements during your walk through. If you choose to do this, then provide the report
to buyers when they visit. This should help show buyers that you are not trying to hide
anything. If you needed to make repairs as a result of an inspection, include the
invoices for the repairs with the inspection report.
Insurance Agent
It is always wise, and in most cases required, to insure the property. You most likely
already have an
insurance agent
that you deal with for your current property insurance
needs. It is quite likely that a prospective buyer may not be familiar with the area.
Perhaps they currently live in another state. It would be beneficial for you to be
able to give the buyer a few names of reputable local insurance agents that can assist
the buyer. Remember, if the buyer is opening a mortgage, then they need to carry home owners
insurance on the property - otherwise the deal may not close.
Escrow Officer
Although you are not required by law to use an
escrow officer,
you may want to seriously consider
hiring one. Their specific task is to be a neutral third party, who buyers and
sellers can entrust with safekeeping of documentation and money. The escrow officer
ensures that all conditions of the sale will be met before the buyer receives transfer
of documents and you receive the proceeds. It's not over until they say so.
Title Insurance Company
Your title insurance company
is needed to verify titles and correct them if there is a problem.
They will check to make sure all titles are free of liens or charges prior to settlement. In some
states, title insurance companies will also serve as the escrow officer. As mentioned earlier,
title insurance companies, can also assist you in determining comparables (typically, free of charge),
as well as answer other relevant questions you may have.
Relocation and Moving
If the property you are selling is your primary residence, then chances are you will be
moving.
Most likely you will need to move out prior to closing (unless you negotiate a later move date in the
sale). So, if you decide that you're not going to rent a U-Haul and move yourself across country,
you will want to hire a good moving agent that will help you move your treasured belongings.
Real Estate Agent
You won't be needing one, remember you're smart, you're doing-it-yourself. Just in case you
were thinking you may not need all these people if you had an agent - guess again. If you were
working with an agent, you would still need these professionals. The only difference is that
you are going to use your experts rather than have the agent recommend their buddies.
We're going to keep the real estate
agent on the bench for this game - good going!
Time to look at one of the selling fundamentals, condition -->
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