Tips and Tidbits

Your Personal Information – When you are ready to sell and embarking on setting up your listing, you and your Realtor will discuss what (if any) things other than those materially significant to the property may be relayed to an approaching Buyer’s agent. You will likely discuss that you, as the Seller, have confidentiality with your agent unless you specifically direct them to release certain information not material to the property. So, if you are relocating and that is the reason for your move, you may want to ask your agent to go ahead and let agents know (or not). If you are getting married and combining households you may or may not want this shared. If you are really wanting to generate offers and want to let people know that, you -may- want your Realtor to put something like “Motivated Seller” in the remarks… but remember that if you do this, you are letting people know that you will likely accept less than the offer price. The gist is that your personal information is between you and your agent. Sometimes it can be helpful to ask them to share some things if it gives a clear signal that is one that you want to give such as:
* That you are either really motivated, or really relaxed about the sale (depending on your situation),
* That you are in one circumstance or another that may be generally favorable to any Buyer (& therefore that you want communicated),
* That you are putting the home on the market or BOM (back on the market) due to some circumstance not related to the condition of the property, etc.

Then again, you can choose to relay absolutely no personal information at all. Ask your Realtor what he/she thinks. You’re in the driver’s seat.

Inspections
– Talk w/your Realtor about inspections and what is allowed during a transaction. The standard contract pretty much allows for the potential Buyer to inspect the property and systems on the property during their allotted time period (often 10 business days). There is also an inspection addendum that sometimes accompanies an offer detailing more specifically what inspections the Buyer may want to employ, and that has a teensy little addition to be aware of that, if filled in, could allow/tack on a few extra days beyond what is specified in the contract for a Buyer to review of all inspection documents & reports & finish negotiating. Just be aware of this and talk with your Realtor about any affect it might or might not have on your transaction time-line should it come up.

Pricing and Negotiating – These days, in my experience, most people offer less than the asked-for price unless it is a multiple offer situation or there are other extenuating circumstances, so don’t be offended by this if you are selling. It is just a sign of the times. How much you offer as a Buyer, or how you respond to an offer as a Seller are things to discuss in depth with your Realtor. The offer ought to be based on real market value, and of course that is a mixture of recent local market data and what an arms-length Buyer is willing to pay for any particular property. Many Buyers note changing market conditions and their anticipation of market decline when offering significantly less than you are asking as a Seller. Your Realtor will be able to counsel you as a Seller on whether or not these rationale are based on any reasonable conjecture or not with regard to your specific property, it’s location, parameters, and recent local market activity. In the end, you as the Seller hold the cards, as you get to decide to either sell or not to sell given what is presented to you and what the limits of negotiation yield.

Hope this info is helpful!
Very Best,
Linda