Seller Steps

Sell your Property

So you have made a decision to sell your property. Before anything else, it is a good idea to sit down and refine your motivations and draw up a basic time frame for the selling process.

Why Sell your property?

Why do you want to sell your property? Do you intend to simply acquire a larger property, or do you plan on moving to another neighborhood, school district, city or state? You might think your intentions are clear, but it would do well to consider the implications of each decision for your lifestyle, opportunities, and finances. Being clear about your reason for selling will make it easier for Town Square Realty to establish the most appropriate choice for your specific lifestyle, financial, and real estate goals.

When Should I Sell my property?

It is important to determine your time frame for selling. If you need to sell immediately, Town Square Realty can speed up the process by giving you a complete market trend analysis and action plan to achieve all of your goals. If there is no urgent need to sell right away, you can sit down with one of our real estate professionals to carefully review the current market environment and find the most beneficial time to sell.

What Is The Market Trend?

When you work with Town Square Realty, you can be confident that you will have our knowledge, expertise and negotiating talent at work for you to succeed at the best market prices and terms. We will keep you up-to-date on what is happening in the marketplace and the price, financing, terms and conditions of competing properties. With Town Square Realty, you will know accurately how to price and when to sell your property.

How Do I Optimize My Investments?

Deciding to sell your property requires a genuine consideration of your existing financial position and future opportunities. With the support of Town Square Realty, you will be able to successfully evaluate the collective effect of these changes, estimate potential proceeds of selling your property, and plan valuable tax savings and estate planning strategies. Town Square Realty will make certain that you not only manage your finances, but use them to their fullest potential.

Why Should You Choose Town Square Realty?

You may choose to sell your property on your own. There are many outstanding reasons, however, why you should choose Town Square Realty to support you in this significant responsibility. Town Square Realty will make certain that you take full advantage of your opportunities in the current real estate market with our extensive contact networks that we have developed with our current and past clients. We will employ the most effective marketing and advertising strategies for your property. We will also guide you through the intricate paperwork involved, from the initial purchase agreement to the final documents.

What to look for in a Professional Listing Agent

The following are logical factors to keep in mind when looking for a professional listing agent:

1. Education. The most significant reason in choosing a real estate professional is their education in the real estate business. Our professionals have superior training and education, allowing them to be among the top agents and earning prestigious designations in the various fields of real estate.

2. Knowledge and Skill. You want a full-time agent who is familiar with your area and with the type of property you anticipate to sell. Does he or she employ a distinct range of marketing and advertising strategies? How tech-savvy is your agent? How many comparable properties has he or she been able to sell in the past?

3. Accessibility and Dedication. Your agent should be capable of swift and decisive action during the course of selling your property. Does your agent make it a point to keep in touch with you frequently? Can your agent easily be contacted in case of emergencies or even for the simplest questions?

4. Relationship. Does your agent take the time to listen to your goals and clarify your needs? Can your agent comprehend your unique situation and be genuinely concerned about the result of the process? Your listing agent will be your leader and partner in this vital decision, so it is important to find one with whom you can get along.

What Is Your Property Value?

Without a professional agent, most independent property sellers tend to miscalculate the value of their property. You can avoid this consequence by consulting with an experienced real estate listing agent at Town Square Realty.

Getting Ready to Sell

You can do a lot to enhance the appeal of your property and to produce a lasting impression on prospective buyers.

What To Do To Get Ready

The following are logical factors to keep in mind when listing your property for sale:

1. Curb Appeal
Keeping your landscape immaculate and adding productive touches to your yard, such as colorful annuals, will generate an instant impression on passers-by and prospective buyers.

2. Property Upkeep
Simple improvements such as window repairs, power washing, and a fresh coat of paint in the most frequently used rooms will immediately enhance the property.

3. Staging
Staging your home for sale is one of the fastest growing ways to help sell your property. A staged home sells faster and for a higher price than a non-staged home. Town Square Realty will examine the property before it is listed for sale to see how you can enhance the staging of your property.

4. Disclosures and Inspections
Town Square Realty is very accustomed with the legal processes required in disclosures and are ready to help you develop a detailed disclosure statement valuable to both you and the buyer, as well as recommend home enhancement measures before introducing your property to the market.

5. Presentation
Introducing your property to prospective buyers is a job that Town Square Realty will take care of for you. Buyers feel more at ease discussing the property with the agent, if you are not there. Moreover, Town Square Realty will know what information will be most valuable in representing your interests when speaking with potential buyers.

Accepting an Offer

Price

Price is not always the deciding factor when accepting an offer for several important reasons: the initial offer is usually not final, and there are a number of provisions and circumstances that may influence the final outcome of a price. You can trust Town Square Realty to help you thoroughly evaluate every offer without compromising your marketing position.

Negotiating

Town Square Realty takes the ethical responsibility of fairly negotiating contractual terms very seriously. It is our job to find a win-win agreement that is beneficial to all parties involved. You may even have to deal with multiple offers before approving the one you decide to be the most appropriate for you – and as your agents, Town Square Realty will ensure a thorough and factual evaluation of each offer to help you make the right choice.

Purchase Agreement and Deposit

The purchase agreement is a legal arrangement between a prospective purchaser and the property’s seller. Laws vary from state to state, but in order to be a legally, binding agreement, the purchase agreement may require consideration. This consideration and any additional deposits are to be held in the closing agent’s escrow account pending the satisfaction of conditions or contingencies in the purchase agreement.

Some important guidelines to keep in mind to help manage the process:

Maintain written accounts of everything

It will be very beneficial to write down all verbal agreements including counter-offers and addendums, and change them to written agreements to be signed by both parties. Town Square Realty will assist you in preparing all the documents for your sale and make sure that you have copies of everything.

Stay with the schedule

Once you have approved and signed your offer, you and the buyer will be given a timeline to mark every step in the progression of closing the real estate purchase agreement. Meeting the conditions on time assures a smoother flow of negotiations and also assures that each party involved is not in breach of their agreements. During the process we will keep you regularly updated so you will always be ready for the next step.

Inspection and Appraisals

Most buyers will have the property inspected by a licensed property inspector within the timeframe that was agreed upon in the purchase agreement. Some buyers will have several different inspectors inspect the property, if they wish to attain professional opinions from inspectors who specialize in a specific area (eg. roof, HVAC, structure). If the purchase agreement is conditional upon financing, then the property will be appraised by a licensed appraiser to determine the value for the lending institution via third party. This is done so that the lending institution can verify their investment in your property is accurate. A buyer of a commercial property may also have a complete environmental audit performed and/or soil test, if required by the lending institution.

The Closing Agent-Attorney

In South Carolina an attorney must be selected as the closing agent, whose job is to examine and insure clear title to real estate. After researching the complete recorded history of your property, they will certify that 1) your title is free and clear of encumbrances (eg. mortgages, leases, or restrictions, liens) by the date of closing; and 2) all new encumbrances are duly included in the title.

Contingencies

A contingency is a condition that must be met before a contract becomes legally binding. For instance, a buyer will usually include a contingency stating that their purchase agreement is binding only when there is a satisfactory home inspection report from a qualified inspector.

Before completing his or her purchase of your property, the buyer goes over every aspect of the property, as provided for by purchase agreements and any applicable addendums. These include:

  • Obtaining financing and insurance
  • Reviewing all pertinent documents, such as preliminary title reports and disclosure documents
  • Inspecting the property. The buyer has the right to determine the condition of your property by subjecting it to a wide range of inspections, such as roof, termite/pest, chimney/fireplace, property boundary survey, well, septic, pool/spa, arborist, mold, lead based paint, HVAC, etc.

Depending on the outcome of these inspections, one of two things may happen:

1. Either each milestone is successfully closed and the contingencies will be removed, bringing you one step closer to the closing; or
2. The buyer, after reviewing the property and the papers, requests a renegotiation of the terms of contract (usually the price).

How do you respond objectively and fairly to the buyer when a renegotiation is demanded, while acting in your best interests? This is when Town Square Realty can make a real difference in the outcome of the transaction. Having dealt with various property sales in the past, we guarantee our expertise and total commitment to every customer, no matter what their situation is.

Loan Approval and Appraisal

We recommend that you accept buyers who have a lender’s pre-approval, approval letter, or written loan commitment, which is a better guarantee of loan approval than a pre-qualification or no documentation from a lending institute. Expect an appraiser from the lender’s company to appraise your property and confirm that the sales price is appropriate.

Closing Day

If you have come this far, this means that it is almost time for a congratulations, but not yet. Do not forget to tie up these loose ends:

Final Walk-Through Inspection

The final inspection takes place the day before, or the day of the closing. The buyer visits the property to confirm that all is in working order, everything is the same as when the buyer last viewed the property, and that there are no extra items left behind.

Cancel Home Services and Utilities

We will provide a list of useful numbers for the termination of home services and utilities after the closing occurs.

Be Prepared

We are ready to assist you should an unforeseen glitch pop up, even at this last stage. If something at the property breaks down or the buyers’ loan does not pull through on time, there is no need to worry. We have encountered these problems before so we know how to handle them efficiently and in a stress-free manner.

Closing

The closing agent-attorney will provide all parties involved with a settlement statement, which summarizes and details the financial transactions enacted in the process. The buyer(s) will sign this statement and then you will sign as well as the closing agent-attorney, certifying its accuracy. If you are unable to attend the scheduled closing, then arrangements can be made depending on the circumstances and the notice that we receive. If you are receiving funds from the transaction, you can choose to either have the funds wired electronically to an account at your financial institution, or have a check issued to you at the closing. The seller should arrange to have all property keys and any other important information for the new purchaser at the closing, so that the purchaser may receive these items at this time.