Best Practices For The Sale of Your Home

1. Interview the Agent - What is their marketing strategy for the sale of your home? Any agent will list your home on the MLS but what do they do in addition? View our marketing plan.

2. Ask About Your Agents Buyers - A reputable real estate agent will show their own listings to their qualified buyers before selling someone else's listings. So, ask your agent what their strategy is to develop a constant flow of new qualified buyers.

3. Regular Reports - Ask your agent to give you a regular report on the showings; feedback from other agents; homes that have sold in your neighborhood and an analysis of the current market.

4. Pricing Strategy - Ask your agent to support the price they are suggesting for the sale of your home; a good agent will prepare what we call a comparable market analysis of your home based on similar homes sold in the same neighborhood. Avoid agents that cannot support the price they are suggesting; these agents attempt to BUY listings by suggesting unrealistically high selling prices to the owner. These agents, shortly after taking the listing pressure the owner to lower the price.

5. Review the Listing Agreement - Review the listing agreement with your agent; make sure it accurately represents your home. Also review the MLS data with your agents, any printed materials and any website materials they use.

6. Home Repairs - Make any obvious repairs before the home goes on the market. Potential buyers will only be spending a few minutes in your home and will judge it right from the moment they arrive in front of the home. First impression and curbside appeal are

7. Offers - Require your agent to only submit written offers. Verbal offers are non-binding on the potential buyer. Your agent should also ask for a pre-qualification or pre-approval letter from the potential buyers mortgage company; this demonstrates the buyers sincerity to complete the deal.