Flat Fee Texas MLS Listing Service
MLS Listing Process
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1) Research your asking price and your expected selling price.
Picking your asking price shouldn't be done lightly. Your asking price tells your price the absolute most they will have to pay for your home.
You have to be careful, obviously to low of a price and you've left money on the table. Too high a price, however, and buyers won't consider you home.
Sellers with our Deluxe plan and above get a free consultation with us to help make sure you've picked the right selling price. The average buyer is looking about 15-20 homes while looking at yours. This gives them a basis of comparison, and if your property is above this price range you've set, buyers and agents may pass your home buy and move on to other more reasonably priced homes. This may cause your home to sit on the market longer than other homes in the area and as a result buyers may assume there is something wrong with your property. Our Comperative Market Analysis Report (CMA) looks at the properties in your area and helps you determine the appropriate range of asking and selling prices for your home.
2) Make sure your home helps you get the best price possible.
Curb Appeal and how the inside of your home shows are some of the most critical issues in selling a home. Buying a home is a very emotional process and while you can't do things like move walls or the whole house, you can do things to make the potential buyers fall in love with your home. If they begin to imagine living there themselves then it's easier to get them to move toward making an offer.
When it comes to the outside you get one chance to make a first impression. Keep the yard mowed and landscaping neat and trimed. Keep toys and tools put away and make sure your home is clean and the paint is in good condition (it'll cost you less to re-paint your home than you will lose in an offer price if it's peeling).
Inside, the number one issue is clutter. Go visit open houses and model homes, you will soon see that we all collect 'too much stuff'. If you're going to be moving (you are selling right), then go ahead and start packing and get a lot of the excess items in a storage room (rent one if neccesarry).
Also, clean, clean, clean. Your home can't be to clean for buyers. Get some air fresheners and place them around the house (use a non-offensive flavor like vanilla some people are alergic to flowers). To the extent you can fix everything you can to make sure they don't see a 'fixer upper'.
3) Encourage your buyers to emotionally 'move in'
As mentioned buying a home is a very emotional one and quite often logic can get in the way. If your buyers have an Agent, leave the house before the showing times are to begin. Again DO NOT BE HOME. Agents may not show the home or may have negative things to say about this later to their buyers.
If you buyers do not have an Agent or you're hosting an open house do not follow them around the house. Welcome them at the door and allow them to wander around 'moving in' and becoming attached to your home. You can let them know if they have any questions to find you and ask you, then politely tell them to feel free to wander around.
4) Make it easy for Buyers to get information on your home.
Buyers are considering many different homes, make sure yours is one of the easiest to learn about and see. A prolonged game of phone tag will result in the buyers losing interest or having a bad taste in their mouth for your home before they even see it. Change your voice mail to include details about your home (or use our Telephone Information System or our Recorded Message on a Webpage). Make sure you ask for them to give you their contact information so you can contact them when you hear the message.
5) Don't move out of your house before you sell it.
It's been shown that vacant houses are harder to sell and when they do sell they sell for less. People see a vacant home as a forgotten abandonded house. By moving out of your house, you are telling buyers that you can afford an empty house or you are highly motivated to sell. Either way they view this as a reason to offer you less money for your home.
6) Keep your motivations to yourself.
Why you're selling your home can affect your asking price, your final price, how much money you are willing to invest fixing your home and how much you will market your home.
Regardless of if you've outgrown the house, have been transferred, won the lottery, never tell the buyers or their agent why your are moving, this will be used against you in contract negotiations. If you are asked why you are selling the best reponse is that your housing needs have changed.
7) Know as much about your buyer as possible.
If a buyer seems interested in making an offer the more you can learn about why they want to buy your home the better. Have they been transferred and need a home quick? Are they moving to be close to friends and family? Have they been pre-approved for a loan? (if not refer them to our web page, tell them to go to the buyers section and we have a list of lenders who will be happy to help them out). The more you can casually find out before an offer is presented the better of a chance you have to control the negotation and get better terms.
8) Diclosure is king!
As a seller make sure that you have disclosed everything in writting about your house (ususally thru the sellers disclosure form you filled out at time of listing). The smartest sellers go out of their way to make sure they have diclosed all known defects to potential buyers in writting, that way they can't come back to you later on and sue you to fix something they didn't know about (there is a form in the Documents section to have them acknologe they received this information when they make an offer).
9) Keep your contract simple
If they are ready to write a contract download our offer form from the Documents page and give it to them (assuming they don't have an Agent, if they do then their agent will perform these steps for them) to fill out. Then since you have your home listed on an MLS system in Texas they are required to fax us the contract, we will review it for completeness and forward it to you. We will go over the contract and ask any questions you have about the terms in it.
The actual terms of the contract are up to you and your buyer but get everything in writting and do not let them move in until after the closing and funds have been transferred. If you have opted for our full representation option then we will also discuss options and give you advice on how to handle issues that come up from contract to closing plus advise you on any items we think you might have missed.
