SELLING YOUR HOME

Selling your home can feel like a very overwhelming task and is often one of the most important financial transactions you will make in your lifetime. Having a real estate professional with whom you have trust and respect will greatly reduce the stress and make the process of selling your home comfortable and smooth. It will also save you time energy and money.

Although it is not necessary to have a licensed Real Estate Professional represent you in selling your home, it is advantageous from many perspectives. From getting the most amount of money in the least amount of time for your home to greatly reducing the stress and worry of handling intricacies and potential problems that could arise, a Real Estate Professional is most often the key in having a transaction that will be successful and satisfying.

Realtors work in terms of “Agency” and it is the relationship that you as the client will share with the Real Estate Company your Realtor works for. It is an obligation for your Realtor to disclose the type of agency you will be receiving. You will be asked to sign a small standard flyer document known as “Working with a Realtor”. There is no obligation when you sign and this document explains many aspects of the real estate profession including points such as different types of agency, how your personal information must be guarded etc. and is designed to inform and protect you as the client.

Your Realtor will:

Prepare a Comparative Market Analysis of you r home and will advise you on the results that indicate the home’s current market value.
Draw up a listing contract that that will be used to list your property through the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) which is a database of all properties currently for sale that all realtors can access in order to best expose your home to as many potential buyers as possible. This will also put your property on the site known as MLS.ca which allows the general public to gain access to your property information without actually giving the exact address.
Advertise and show your home to perspective buyers and set up showings for other realtors with interested clients.
Keep you advised of showings and present all offers received.
Negotiate on your behalf the sales contract

LISTING Presentation

A realtor will come to your home to give you a listing presentation where they will explain their approach to marketing your home, their qualifications, their background and most importantly they will present to you their CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) which will provide the base for the decision regarding asking price. It will include information on the recent past sales in your area, past listings that didn’t sell and the current listings now available and their asking prices.

LISTING Contract

Now that you have selected your Realtor (or in some cases several realtors that work together) you will sign the listing contract in order for your Realtor to list you r property on the Multiple Listing Service.

This contract will contain information on;

The location of the property including its legal description
The price of the property
A list of items that will be included in the sale of the home and those not included
The expiry date of the contract and the commission amount

At this time your Realtor will also have you fill out a property disclosure statement that asks you simple questions regarding the property and will be supplied to the buyer during the sales process. Also the Realtor may take photos of your property for advertising and listing purposes and any room dimensions that may be in question. Any additional information you may have in your possession such as a survey would also be useful.

REALTOR COMMISSION FEES

Realtors work usually on a commission basis relative to the selling price of your home and only receive their payment when your home completes the sales process. The percentage can be a percentage of the total sale price or it can be a flat rate. In most circumstances now it is one rate for the first $100,000 and a lower rate for the remaining balance. These commission rates are not set by the Real Estate Boards and the rates are negotiable between you and your Real estate Professional.

SHOWINGS

Your Realtor will inform you of the upcoming showings and will ask your permission if the proposed showing is convenient for you. Realtors like to give as much notice as possible but sometimes prospective buyers are from out of town or have just driven by and want to see your property within a short time frame. All efforts should be made to make this a comfortable give and take between all parties so no one feels rushed or put off. Often the keys to your home will be secured in a locked computer box attached somewhere close to your entrance where realtors can access the keys for showings.

Realtors should also be keeping you informed off the feedback given after showings and any items that could be considered to make the property more appealing.

OFFERS

Interested buyers will have their realtor write up an offer to purchase your property and it will be presented to you by your realtor. You realtor is obligated to present to you all offers even though they may not be suitable. You may even receive more than one offer at a time and you can decide if you wish to accept one or none of those offers. You can accept, reject or make a counter offer with changes to any of the offers received.

An offer will usually include subject clauses that will need to be removed by specific dates. These are items or special conditions that need to be fulfilled before the sale will complete. For example the new buyer may want to have a Certified Property Inspection carried out before they finalize the sale. Once all of the subjects are removed and you as the seller have signed the contract it becomes a legally binding agreement.

COMPLETION

The Contract of Purchase and sale will state a closing date for the completion of the sale. This is the day that legal ownership of the home will transfer from you to the buyers.

You will need to hire a lawyer or notary before completion who will insure that all the documents and requirements for the sale have been completed.

CONGRATULATIONS! Your home has been successfully sold!