The Three Essential Elements When Selling Your Home
There are three essential elements in every Real Estate Sales Transaction, without these you will certainly loose time, money or both.
1. Have the right Realtor for the job.
2. Have your property priced right for your current local market.
3. Have your home in show condition at show time.
Check back soon as I break these down, take a closer look at each one and show you how they can affect your sale if you let them.
Our very own Team Leader F. William (Billy) Hineline takes on the role of Host of an exciting new internet television program called Luxury Homes of South Florida. The program has just shot their pilot episode with Luxury Realtor Lori Schacter of Illustrated Properties/ Jupiter as they featured two of the very best homes available today in Admirals Cove. Watch for this and other great episodes coming soon..
Property Taxes always check the amount of the property taxes on a property before you are locked into a contract. Listings will always give you the current amount of property tax on a property however that doesn’t mean that’s what you will be paying. If the sellers have owned the property for many years there are two factors that could change what you pay. One, the property has gone up in value and the second is if they are Homesteaded.
When you purchase the property you will be being taxed on the current value and without the aid of Homestead protection. This could add hundreds possibly even thousands of dollars to what your tax bill will be. You may get a little relief if you’re current property is Homesteaded.
If you are looking for a property you can go back to our home page and do a property search. If you are having trouble finding something or if you find a property or properties you would like to see, call us The Hineline Team is here to help. We would be honored to put our over 30 years of experience to work for you and your family.
There are many real estate companies out there that charge what they call a Transaction Fee. In most cases this fee will be hundreds of dollars charged directly to you. You want to ask very early in your conversation with your Realtor if they charge such a fee. If they say yes and you like them I would give them the option for them to pay that fee for you. If they tell you they can’t or won’t I would find another Realtor that will or better yet doesn’t charge the fee in the first place.
A Transaction Fee goes to one of two people and it’s not you. This fee is sometimes used by the Broker as his or her only compensation on the transaction and they then pay their Realtors 100% of the commission. In other cases they may tell you it is a administrative fee for the paper work and storage of the transaction documents as required by law. Some companies will charge a lessor rate of commission on the transaction to get the deal and then sneak in this fee to make up the money they gave away in the commission. There are even Brokers that share this fee with their agents. No matter how you look at it, it is simply additional profit for your agent and the Broker.
I am personally strongly against the usage of these fees .I feel that Realtors are paid for their services through the commission on the deal. When I am consulting I always tell my people to watch for this fee and it is right in my contract that Realtors on my team are not allowed to charge these fees. If your Realtors company charges this fee, get it in writing that the fee will be waved or paid by others. Others could be your agent, the Broker or the people on the other side of the transaction.
There are many things Buyers from outside the area don’t know about this market. I would like to share a little about the current market conditions as it affects buyers and give you a few helpful tips that can help you purchase your home here in the area.
First of all many Buyers come here after selling a home elsewhere. The first thing they say is “I’m paying Cash”. This in their mind gives them buying power just like back home. Here is your first bit of important information, everybody else here is also paying cash. Truth of the matter is around 48% of all transactions in this area are cash deals. Here is a helpful tip that can get you the home you want.
The first thing you must ask yourself is do I like this home or do I love this home. If you love it you must bring your A game. First thing you want to know two things, how long has the property been on the market and how much activity has there been on the property.
If the property has been on the market for a week or less and there have been a number of showings full price cash probably wouldn’t get you the property. If you love the property and you want to be in the game you should offer a couple thousand dollars over full list cash. At the very least it will keep you in the game.
On the other hand, if the property has been on the market for six months or longer you can offer under full list and let them counter. But I must warn you, homes that are in good condition and priced right are selling fast. If the property has been on the market for six months you should check this out a little closer there may be some problem you’re not seeing or it simple may be over priced.
There is other important information a good Realtor will check into for you
before you make an offer on the property that has been setting on the market. If you are in the middle of a transaction and you don’t know what to do next or if you have lost out and didn’t get a couple homes that you loved, contact me at www.thehinelineteam.com or www.fwhprogroup.com and I will give you some additional pointers.
Negotiation is a skill and the more you do it the better at it you will become. It is a game of give and take and never take it personal. Many times if not all the time here is where your deal is made or lost. Always remember this is not about you this is about what is best for your client. Never advise a client to take a deal that you know is not good for them just so you can make a commission, no matter how big that commission may be.
When you get an offer read it over a few times and be sure you understand what they are offering. You already know what you want for your clients, find the differences and now the game begins. Remember this is a serious game but to many people it is just that a game. Some people really enjoy it many times because they are really good at it. Don’t get insulted or mad at an offer and decide or advise your client not to even counter. The first offer in many cases is to test the waters, the other side also already know what they want. It is this simple the buyer wants it for free, the seller wants top dollar and somewhere in the middle is a deal, and your job is to find it. Negotiation is like an auction, it doesn’t matter where you start it only matters where you end up.
Find out all you can about the other side, know their hot buttons. This could save your deal and possibly save you some money. Let’s look at an example of what I mean,
For this example let’s say that you are the listing agent and you are selling a home that is listed at $250,000, and that market shows that it worth in the $240,000 – $250,000 range. You also know that your seller’s bottom line is $230,000. Now you get an offer from a young couple that happen to be first time buyers, their offer is $220,000.You have also learned that they are tight on their down payment and closing fees. Don’t get mad at the low offer. Don’t just counter at the seller’s $230,000 number. Your first counter could be something like $245,000 and the seller will contribute $5,000 towards the buyers closing cost. This does a few things,
The point I’m trying to make here is simply that dropping the price doesn’t always have to be the answer, know the buyers and get creative.
Negotiating Repairs
Negotiating Repairs on the property, the simple truth of the matter is a buyer will all most always over estimate the cost of repair and the seller will all most always under estimate the cost of the repair. How you want to handle this depends of the size and cost of the repair. If it is a couple small inexpensive things I would suggest that the seller just correct them. However if it is something bigger and costly you should take a different approach.
The best thing to do here is to get a few real estimates. Once you have picked the one you want to go with offer to either escrow that amount of money from the closing to cover the repair or lower the price by that amount.
One thing you never want to do is go ahead and make a repair for a buyer that you wouldn’t otherwise make. If your deal falls apart you just cost your seller some money that they didn’t need to spend. And if it was cosmetic now you’re stuck with something that was your buyers taste and it may not be the taste of your next buyer and now you have the same problem.
Another thing you never do is never let the buyer make any repairs themselves prior to them closing the property. Once again if your deal falls apart now you may be stuck with items of their taste, they may leave a project unfinished or you could be open to some legal issues.
Negotiating Time Lines is another thing you want to pay close attention to in a sales agreement. You want to keep control of your transaction and make sure that any agreement uses realistic time lines. Here are just a few suggestions.
If a time line is too short a buyer may be trying to push a seller. This could happen if a buyer doesn’t want to give a seller enough time for an Attorney Review. Or, a seller may not want to give a buyer enough time for a proper inspection.
You also want to watch if the time frame is too long. This could let a buyer tie up your property while they are still looking at other properties and they may have a out clause in the agreement that you missed protecting their deposit. A seller may use a longer time line to buy time to bring in another buyer to start a bidding war to bump up the sales price.
There are many reasons and possible benefits for a buyer or seller to play with these time lines. You need to know what range they should be in and if they are too long or too short this should be a red flag and you need to take a closure look at the agreement. But I must remind you again if you find something wrong, don’t get mad, don’t quit, counter the offer. A good Negotiator will always put a few things in an agreement that they are willing to give up. This is a good place to do this and it is your job and the job of your clients Attorney to catch these things.
Negotiating Tips