So you’ve decided to sell Your Home……

There are many steps to ensure a stress-free easy sale of your existing home. With the help of an expert, like Aaron Morrow, it can be as easy as buying groceries. I will alleviate many of the stresses that are associated with listing and selling your home for you. However, there are a few things that I recommend you do before deciding to list your home with me. I will walk you through the steps involved in the preparation for the sale, and then what happens after the contract is accepted.

Preparing your home for the market…..

Unfortunately, we are not in the type of market where you can through a sign out front and have a contract within a matter of days. So you must prepare and enhance your home for the market. When you contact me I will come out and go over several things with you, I will show you what items need to be moved, what needs to be straightened, what repairs are needed and which are not, what you can do to add value to your home and even what music to play while your home is being shown. Sometimes, it is as simple as planting some fresh flowers in the garden and sprucing up the walls with a fresh coat of paint, but it takes a knowledgeable REALTOR to be able to help in deciding where your money is best spent. After our initial evaluation I will begin preparing the documents needed for your home as you complete the recommendations. We will meet again to complete the documents and take pictures of the interior and exterior of the home. I will take several extra so you have plenty of memories!! We will then fill in some paperwork on the details of your home as we would like them to be in the local MLS in the North Texas area.

Once you are listed….

At this point I will work diligently to get your home on the MLS and about 7 websites as well, including Realtor.com, morrowsrealestate.com, intowndallas.com, craigslist.com, coldwellbanker.com. cbapex.com, cbdallas.com, and a personalized website created for just your home. Once that is complete, I will get the necessary documents from you including the Survey and affidavit, Sellers Disclosure, Mortgage Info Letter, and others. I will also begin the marketing like an ad in the Dallas Morning News. I will also start getting the full color flyers ready for delivery within 24 hours. Just Listed postcards will go out with your address on it to a targeted marketing area. I have an extensive marketing plan that will be shown to you on our first meeting. From this point forward you will get an update from me weekly letting you know how many showings, what the feedback responses were, what marketing has been done that week, and an update on any market changes in your area.

Once there is a Contract…..

I will present to you in a prompt fashion, any and all offers that come through to me and bring you an updated Seller’s Net Sheet, showing what your approximate net will be from the offer on the table. You will also receive the latest Comparable Market Analysis at the time of the contract so that you can make a well informed decision of what you would like to do. There are several options when a contract comes through; accept the offer with the terms that the potential buyer has offered, Counter-Offer the contract with acceptable terms that you are comfortable with, or I will send a letter for request for Buyer to Re-Submit new offer. If there are multiple contracts, you will be able to review all of the contracts and decide which has the most acceptable terms. Once the contract has been negotiated and accepted there will be an amount of Earnest money (good faith money) $500-1000 in most cases, deposited with the title company of choice. You will receive a check for Option Money from the buyer, which is negotiable, generally between $100-150. The option period is a time when the buyer has their inspectors and engineers come through the home and look for problems that might deter them from the purchase. If they decide during the option period that they do not want the home, the option money will be yours to keep and the home will be promptly released and put back on to the market. Once the option period is over, the contract is then pending and is only subject to termination by non-approval from the third party financing addendum. I will continue at this point to follow up with the buyer’s agent and prepare all necessary documents and schedule for the closing of escrow through the title company.

You are ready for closing….

The title company will call me and schedule an acceptable time and date for your closing of your home. One day, in most cases, before you close we will receive what is called a HUD – 1 preliminary settlement statement. This will show you what you will be netting from the sale and all of the details for the financial side of the transaction. If you have any questions about the HUD-1 you will want to have them answered by your attorney or your mortgage broker prior to closing. At the closing of the Seller’s side of the transaction you will sign several documents, which takes around 30-45 minutes. After closing, you will go home and prepare for your move. Generally you will need to turn over your keys at the time of closing and funding, unless we have set up in your contract for a Seller’s Temporary Residential Lease Addendum. This allows the seller to stay in the home for a specified amount of time with a negotiated amount of money payable to the buyer. Basically at that point, you are renting the home back from the new owner until you are able to move out.

Moving…..

I will give you plenty of contacts during the moving process for people that can help make your move much less stressful. With the Coldwell Banker Concierge program you will have access to a list of contractors and contacts that you will need. After all of your belongings are out of the house it is time to clean up in preparation for the new owner. Courtesy is to leave the home in the condition you would want to find your new home in. This includes touching up the paint in the places where pictures may have been hanging, knicks in the wall from the movers, dirt on wall behind where sofa may have been, and others. You will also need to vacuum the home and lock all doors before leaving. I will then collect your keys, garage door openers, documentation on the home, etc. before meeting with the buyer’s agent to hand over the home to them.

Congratulations!! You are moved and have sold your home.
All of this may sound like a lot of work and believe me there are items and things that are not listed in this brief outline. I take on most of the stress, filing of documents, and generally looking out for your best interest. I take my Texas Real Estate Commission Code of Ethics very seriously and will also work my hardest to get your home sold and make it an easy process……. Please feel free to call me or fill out the information input screen at the bottom of this page for more details or questions regarding the Selling Process….