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If You're Using an Agent
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If the broker has a prospect waiting in the wings for property like yours, arrangements for the first showing may be made as soon as you sign the listing. In areas where there is a comprehensive Multiple Listing Service, you can expect to hear from other brokers soon after your properly priced house goes on the market.
Advance Notice
Agents always try to arrange appointments or leave phone messages that they will be coming by around a certain time. If they are setting up several houses for the buyer, they might say, “We’ll be over between two and three o’clock,” rather than promising to FIGURE 8.1 Checklist for Selling on Your Own
Retain a lawyer who specializes in real estate.
Visit open houses in your neighborhood for three weeks.
Clip classified ads for houses in your neighborhood.
Phone agents for information on ads you clipped.
Interview at least three local brokers (see Chapter 3). Be frank about “not wanting to list yet.”
Polish your home to show it at its best (see Chapter 7).
Ask your lawyer for a blank copy of a typical purchase offer.
Prepare fact sheets on your property.
Prepare a lawn sign.
Place your classified ad. Buyers need to know neighborhood, style of house, number of rooms and bedrooms, and price or price range (and baths and garages, if more than one). Keep the ad short.
Never answer “How much would you take?” directly.
Ask serious prospects to bring you a credit report.
When you receive an oral offer you like, ask your lawyer to prepare a contract acceptable to both parties.
Follow the buyer’s mortgage application process, and check at least once a week—or have your lawyer do so—to see how it’s going.
ring the bell at 2:30 PM. If you have arranged for lockbox ease in showing your home, you’ll need only vacate for that period.
Don’t hold out for too much advance notice. You could be eliminating one of the most promising prospects, the transferred employee who is in town for a few hours, needs to find a place today, and wants to come right over. Try to say yes. After all, it will take the salesperson half an hour to drive over, and you can accomplish a great number of last-minute spiff-ups in the interim. Make the house as freely available as possible.
Even if you have left a key with the listing office or have consented to a lockbox so that the house can be shown while you are at work, most agents will still phone ahead to see if anyone is at home. It is customary for them at least to leave a message on your voicemail or answering machine. To prepare for these visits, you’ll have to see that the place is tidy before you leave each day. In the event someone does enter, you should find a business card left behind, ideally with the time of the visit noted on it.
No Advance Notice
Even with a broker’s sign out front, people may simply knock on your door asking if they may see the house. Tell them pleasantly that it is being shown only by the office whose telephone number is on the sign outside. Do not admit any strangers; you retained an agent to avoid just such situations. Chances are slim that random inquirers are really qualified to buy. If, on the other hand, they are good prospects, they should receive professional treatment from the beginning. A slight difficulty in getting into the house will only make it more desirable.
Once in a while, an agent may ring your doorbell without phoning in advance. It’s not uncommon to get a cell phone call from an agent who is sitting in the car right in front of your house, asking permission to show waiting clients through.
If possible, welcome them. The broker knows what the clients can afford and what they seek; if the agent thinks it’s worth the trouble, it probably is. You can gain a few minutes to tidy up by suggesting that they inspect the exterior first, or having them wait in the car a bit longer.
Prospects who enter a house this way are already half sold. They are grateful for your cooperation, and the sense of discovery and unplanned adventure in such a showing often results in an offer. |
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