Seller – Selling a Property

Except for real estate developers who carryout residential developments for commercial purposes, selling a home can be traumatic and an emotional drain. Having to sell your home because: the kids are all grown-up and the home becomes impossible to maintain; there is need to relocate to another country or state; or, some financial obligations that can only be met through sale of your home, can be quite difficult to accept. With such an important decision to make, you need to engage the services of a real estate professional to ensure that you get the right value for your home.

Before you decide on which agent to contact ask if they do all these:

1. Meet with the seller at his/her office or our office to assess the seller’s need and motivation.
2. Ask the seller questions about the home and themselves in a bid to provide a better service that meets the sellers need
3. Set up a meeting to preview the property.
4. Execute a second inspection to crosscheck any omitted details and to carryout internal and external measurement.
5. Encourage the seller to disclose any information that may be important for our marketing and that may be of interest to the buyer such as if there is a mortgage on the property.
6. Review all original copies of title documents as well as all relevant documents such as building permit. Duplicated copies are collected for our record.
7. Review the sellers expectations in terms of pricing and to advice accordingly based on Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report.
8. Review current Lease Agreement if there is an existing tenant in the property. A copy of the lease is collected and kept for record purposes and for prospective buyers to review.
9. Review all outstanding renovation/repair works that is required to put the property in a marketable state.
10. Obtain estimate for needed work and to encourage the seller to execute same for ease of selling.
11. Prepare and send a form to the seller detailing our marketing/listing approach and platforms for his perusal and subsequent approval
12. Attached to the form is a letter stating the details of our meeting especially the agreed price the property should be advertised. Only the minimum acceptable price (net price) is been published. We do not market asking prices. Also included in the letter is details of our professional/agency fee which is between 5% and 10% depending on the magnitude of the reserved price.
13. Request seller to make available an extra key in case of a vacant property or a contact person who will always be available to allow access for buyers to view the property.
14. Hold official meetings to discuss details and attributes of the property and the marketing format to adopt.
15. Take internal and external pictures of the property
16. Depending on the approved mode of marketing by the seller, all marketing medium including online marketing, direct mail, print media, National Dailies, Property Magazines, Flyers, ‘For Sale’ banners, and word-of-mouth, are employed.
17. Give guided tour of the property to prospective buyers and/or their agents.
18. Continually update the seller on market feedbacks as it relates to number of viewings per week and offers received.
19. Accept or counter offers received from the buyer and/or his agent.
20. Arrange a meeting where buyer has requested to meet with the seller to discuss Terms and Conditions of purchase and payment modalities.
21. A letter is prepared and sent to both parties containing details of discussions between the buyer and the seller with the agreed sale price.
22. Follow up with each party regarding the contingency or condition that must be met by each party and ensuring that the agreed terms and conditions of sale is observed.
23. Provide input on current financing activities that may affect the offer
24. In the case of a bank financing make arrangement for the bank’s appointed Estate Surveyor and Valuer to have access to value the property.
25. Provide all relevant details including copies of the title document which the Estate Surveyor and Valuer requires to carry out valuation of the property.
26. Make arrangement to have all the requirement of the bank or lender met in a timely fashion.
27. Review the contract of sale, sale agreement, and all related documents received from the buyer’s or his agent before passing it to the seller.
28. Encourage both parties to agree on an escrow account and process such that they know and perform what is expected of them.
29. Ensure that both parties sign the contract of sale, sale agreement, sale receipt, and all related documents.
30. Notify both parties on the applicable taxes and payment modalities.
31. Details of and modality for payment of the purchase price as well as the seller’s bank account details are collected and sent to the buyer via a written instruction.
32. Confirm if the seller has received value for cheque(s) received or payment.
33. Upon confirmation of receipt of payment by the owner, ensure that original copies of the title documents are retrieved from escrow account.
34. Arrange a handing over meeting/ceremony between the buyer and the seller and ensure that appropriate pictures are taken of the entire process.
35. Make arrangement for showing of the home to buyer’s family, friends, contractors, decorators, etc, where required by the buyer.
36. Letter is prepared and sent to the seller with details of payment for professional/agency fee.
37. Coordinate the change of utility account with the buyer and/or his agent where necessary.
38. Communicate with buyer 3days after family has moved in to confirm if there are no oversights.
39. Maintain loyal relationship with the seller

You can also view how to buy a property by clicking here and how to rent out a property by clicking here