We Work To Sell Your Home!
Selling a home is a demanding, and often times a tiring and stressful process. Do not be fooled into the simplicity of FSBO’s (For Sale By Owners). Effectively marketing and keeping a home in escrow takes experience – experience that REALTORS® are skilled at. In fact, it has been estimated that there are more than 146 large and small tasks that must be managed for a successful real estate transaction to be closed. A committed and professional REALTOR® will make the complex process of selling or purchasing real estate both simple and painless.
When interviewing potential candidates to represent you, make sure that you choose a REALTOR®, not to be confused with just a licensed real estate agent. A REALTOR® is a trained and licensed professional under the National Association of Realtors (NAR). REALTORS® must follow a strict code of ethics and are expected to maintain a higher level of knowledge through continual education classes about the process of buying and selling real estate (including all legal aspects associated with a sale of a home). So before you make your decision just remember that being a licensed real estate professional doesn’t necessarily mean “licensed REALTOR®.”
Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, ask to see their marketing plan that they will use to sell your home. Many REALTORS® do not even have a set marketing plan, which is a vital component to the success of any business. Many REALTORS® are not even advertising their listings on the internet or have little visibility online. This is simply a mistake. With over 85% of home buyers beginning their search on the internet, it is vital to have your home listed on a medium that so many people are using. An easy way to find out what a REALTORS® presence is online is to simply Google their name. Having an internet savvy REALTOR® represent you will guarantee your home will be viewed by prospective internet home buyers. The Sundin Group has not only embraced internet technology, we continually educate ourselves and attend conferences on the latest trends in internet marketing and advertising so that we can continually implement new techniques into our marketing plan.
When you sell a car, you have it detailed and remove all your personal items so that it looks brand new…right? Selling a home isn’t all that different; it is just on a larger scale. You want to make the home show as much like a model home as is possible. We recommend you do the following at a minimum:
- Thoroughly clean your home’s interior & exterior (including all windows) – preferably by professionals
- Have carpets/flooring professionally cleaned
- Repair or replace broken fixtures, items or appliances
- Replace burned out light bulbs
- REMOVE CLUTTER – this is probably the most important thing you can do! Remember “less is more” and if you can’t see it, you can’t sell it!
- De-personalize your home – You don’t want potential home buyers spending their time in your house looking through family portraits and keepsakes. You want them to spend their time looking at your home’s features.
- Stage your home like a model – The Sundin Group always assists their Sellers with this, but you can get a jump start by packing up all those knick knacks to make your home look like a new home. After all, you are competing against new homes too.
- Manicure the lawn & trim the trees and bushes
- Clean the pool/spa so that it “sparkles”
- Remove boxes and miscellaneous “junk” from closets & garage – you want them to be spacious. If they appear “crammed” it can make the home appear as if there is not enough storage space. It is best to rent a storage unit to place all unused items and boxes in. If this is something you do not wish to spend money on then stack all the boxes neatly in the garage on the far side.
- Lockup or hide spare keys, prescription medications, jewelry, bank or credit card statements and anything else of substantial value.
When it comes to selling homes, we rise above the rest! We think outside-the-box when it comes to marketing and advertising your property and offer unconventional customer service by accepting phone calls until midnight every day of the week (except for holidays). Our priority is your satisfaction and in order to guarantee this we make ourselves readily available to you at all hours. If you have questions or concerns we want to answer or address them…the moment you have them. We know that our services are unique, which is why the majority of our business is from repeat or referral business. Make sure to view our aggressive 14-Step Marketing Plan for getting your home sold! This is a complete and detailed breakdown of what we do to sell your home.
In our 14-Step Marketing Plan, you will see that the first thing we do is to run a very detailed comparative analysis (comps) on your home. This will help both of us understand where your home would be priced in your local market. It will also help show you the other homes for sale that you will be competing with. We will provide a one page summary of the comps which will allow you to view them all together. You will also be able to click into each listing to view detailed specifics about any home. To better assist you in identifying basic selling features, without having to open each individual listing, we have created a key for understanding how to read FE codes. On the one page summary of comps, each property will display the MLS number, address, FE code, square footage & price. Using the FE Code key that we have created will help you quickly (and more accurately) compare your home other comparable homes basic selling features, such as:
- Number of bedrooms
- Number of bathrooms
- If there a formal family room
- If the home has air conditioning
- If it has a formal dining room
- If it has any other rooms (such as loft, den, exercise room, sauna room, etc)
- If it has a fireplace (and if so, how many)
- If it has a pool
- If it has a spa
- If it has a tennis court(s)
- If it has horse privileges
- If it has guest quarters
- If it has acreage
- If it is also for lease
- If it is new construction
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Number of garages
In Arizona residential real estate transactions, a commission is paid by the Seller to the listing broker. The broker then will usually offer half of this commission to the REALTOR® who brings the buyer to the transaction. You will pay nothing to your REALTOR® if he/she does not get your home Sold. Your REALTOR® only gets paid when your home is Sold.
We spend a considerable amount of time AND money advertising our listings (see our 14-Step Marketing Plan), so it is in our best interest to sell your home in a timely manner. To discuss our commission fees for listing your home, please contact us. In addition to REALTOR® commission fees, there will also be fees associated with the sale of your home. Here is a breakdown of approximate fees a Seller can expect to pay.
Here are some things to keep in mind while your home is listed:
- Maintain your home’s cleanliness – IMPORTANT!
- Be flexible for showings – IMPORTANT!
- Be flexible on your asking price - MOST IMPORTANT!
- When you have been asked to leave so that a REALTOR® can show your home to his/her clients, before you leave make sure to open up all your window blinds (unless the view is your block wall), turn on lights and ceiling fans and if possible, turn on soft music to create an ambiance for the prospective home buyers. It is also a good idea to open windows or spray freshener if you have recently cooked meat or fish because vegetarians may find the smell offensive.
- Make sure brochure holders (inside and outside) are always stocked and that your home’s brochure has an accurate price (in case you just reduced your home’s price).
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If your home has a brochure holder on the outside sign post and you will be having an open house that upcoming weekend, it is always a good idea to place a yellow sticky note on those brochures with the open house date and time.
We understand that constant communication is vital in any client/REALTOR® relationship. We will keep you apprised of any feedback we receive from REALTORS® who have shown your house, as well as local housing market updates and new or changed listings within your neighborhood that could affect your home’s asking or selling price. Typically we like to evaluate all of our listings on a weekly basis to see if any price adjustments are necessary. Also, we like our Seller’s to be familiar with the entire sales process, which is why we offer a Seller Timeline for your review, as well as the documents you will use.
Now that you have reviewed the documents you will be using throughout the sales process here are some decisions you will need to make once your home has received a purchase contract.
- What purchase price would you accept?
- Should you counter the original offering price?
- How much earnest money should the Sellers offer you?
- If the Buyer has requested Seller concessions, what will you agree to?
- Is the close of escrow date okay for you?
- Removed Repairs
- If the Buyer has requested that you pay for a home warranty will you agree to this?
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If you’ve countered the Buyer’s offer, how much time will you allow them to respond?
Arizona law requires Sellers to disclose to the Buyer any material facts concerning the subject property. REALTORS® use a standardized form called a Seller Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS) which is a questionnaire that the Seller must fill out to the best of their knowledge and deliver to the Buyer for review & acceptance. Buyers have been known to successfully sue Sellers over material facts that were proven the Seller had knowledge of, but failed to disclose. Sellers must fill out the forms completely and honestly to avoid possible litigation down the road. If you have (or had) any of the following issues, make sure to disclose them along with any other items the SPDS ask of you.
- Termites, scorpions, rodents or other infestations
- Title liens or issues
- Plumbing problems
- Water leaks of any type (even if repaired)
- Mold problems or remediation
- Air conditioning and/or heating problems
- Foundation problems
- Issues with neighbors that may not be obvious
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Lead based paint hazards
Now that you and the Buyer have agreed upon a purchase price for your home, the remaining work to be done is on the behalf of the Buyers. You will, of course, need to make your home available for the inspections they wish to perform and the appraiser to assess your home’s value, but aside from this you should be scheduling movers and finalizing your new residence. You will also need to sign title documents and pay them the fees associated with the sale of your home if you will not be receiving any money back. If you are to receive proceeds from the sale of your home, the title company will automatically deduct your fees from these proceeds and issue the rest of the proceeds via check or wire transfer to your bank account, whichever you choose.
The Arizona Purchase Contract was written to protect the Buyer but does offer protection for the Seller if the Buyer fails to meet - or breaches - specific requirements, terms or deadlines set forth in the purchase contract. If a Buyer is in breach of contract, the Seller cannot automatically cancel the contract. The Seller MUST first issue a “cure period” notice to the Buyer. A cure period notice gives the Buyer 3 days to correct the potential breach. If the Buyer does not correct the breach within this timeframe, the Seller can rightfully cancel the contract and could even pursue legal action. It should be understood, however, that the cure period can be issued to a Buyer or a Seller. The same rules apply to whoever the breaching party is. Breach of contract and non-compliance by the Buyer is the only way a Seller can technically cancel an Arizona Purchase Contract.
Useful Articles For Sellers
As a Seller, What Fees Will You Have to Pay?
Critical Timeline Sellers Must Adhere To Once In Escrow
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