Seller's guide

I will meet with you at your residence and will have you give me a tour of your home - be sure to point out features, upgrades, and updates along the way. I also want to know the age of all mechanicals as well as the roof.

We will go over the comparable sales and listings using like properties in your immediate neighborhood and any surrounding neighborhoods that have comparable homes. I will share with you my suggested pricing based on this information. I will tell you more about myself and Corcoran Ferester Realty.

We will then agree upon a listing price as well as any work you may need to do to put the home on the market. I will give you suggestions for staging your home to prepare for photographs and showings. On rare occasions, we will bring in a stager to assist you. We also will ask for a survey if you have one or any inspection reports done within the past four years.

Next, I will send you the listing agreement along with accompanying addenda and the seller’s disclosure. This is normally sent through DocuSign. These forms are extremely important and must be filled out accurately. I will send an accompanying email pointing out various aspects in the agreement in case you have questions.

Once you have signed the listing agreement and prepared your home to sell, I will have our professional photographer come and take pictures. I will be able to give you at least two days notice and will accompany them to make sure everything is ready. Photographs are the first look a buyer has of your home so it is imperative that everything is just right. They usually need at least two hours in most homes to complete the session.

Now the work begins! I will market your home to the Ferester agents along with other agents in the MLS system and potential buyers through various mediums including Corcoran.com and their national syndication partners. The Corcoran site has an expansive reach and is available in 13 different languages and several different currencies.

Once I receive the photographs, I will prepare the listing in MLS and send it to you for review before making it live. I will also make a color brochure for hand outs in your home and create a notebook for the home with other pertinent information for the buyers and their agents to review while in the home.

A sign will be installed on your property unless you prefer not to have one. We will also place a keybox on the door called a “Supra” that only license holders can gain access to. These boxes document each agent who enters the home. The key box will also prevent agent from opening the box at a set time in the evening and re-open at a set time in the morning.

We are now ready to publish the home in MLS. We usually list in a “coming soon” status, to build anticipation prior to going “active.” Coming soon allows for realtors to see the listing although no appointments can be made until the listing is active. We also like to plan an open house immediately after listing on a weekend to let as many prospective buyers as possible to see the home.

We use a showing service to make appointments on your home. You tell us if you want to confirm the appointments by text or phone call. The showing company will contact you to set up the appointment by text or phone call. I will also receive a notification of the showing and will follow up with each agent to get feedback after each showing. You will be able to access your account to see feedback when it is received. It automatically notifies the agent three times to give feedback if not received upon first request.

At this stage, we will have one or more offers and are ready to analyze each offer carefully taking into consideration all aspects such as price, timing, financing, and other important parts of the offer/offers. If we have multiple offers, we will prepare a spreadsheet for you highlighting the critical parts to consider. Together we will either select one offer to pursue or ask all buyers to present their best and final offer by a certain deadline.

Once a contract has been verbally agreed to, we will inform the buyer’s agent to make any agreed upon changes and send back to me to review. Once reviewed and approved, you will
DocuSign the finalized contract.

EXECUTED DATE OF CONTRACT:
This date sets the timeline for all other dates including a time of 3 days to open title and have the buyer deposit their earnest money and option fee. The option period will begin the following day and end at the agreed upon amount of days. The option period gives the buyer the unrestricted right to terminate the contract for any reason. This means if the inspection report shows massive issues, many times the buyer will opt out of the contract only losing their option fee (usually a couple hundred dollars).

Inspections are attended by the buyer and their inspector who are licensed by the state of Texas. The sellers are expected to leave their home when the buyers are having their inspections. This is done during the option period.

After the inspection, the buyer’s agent will meet with their buyer and make a list of items they want the seller to address or give an allowance at closing to fix. Most often, they send the entire inspection report, or at least a part of it that shows exactly where the items are that need repairing. These repairs or allowances must be agreed upon prior to the 5 pm deadline on the last day of the option. If they are not agreed to or the option is not extended, the buyer will need to terminate the offer or be liable to move forward without any repairs.

Appraisals are most often part of a mortgage companies approval process but can be waved on rare occasions by the mortgage company. The appraisal must come in at sales price or the buyer will have to pay the difference. However, during initial negotiations on the contract, an appraisal waiver addendum can be used. There are three boxes that can be checked -
1- waiving the appraisal which means the buyer will make up
any difference in sales price and appraisal value.
2- A partial waiver where buyer will set a price that they will agree to pay, lower than sales price.
3- the appraisal must come in at or above sales price or the buyer will have the right to negate the contract. One thing we do at our company is to try to expedite the appraisal, because the contract states that it can take up to 3 days prior to closing for the appraisal to be completed. This can be a major last-minute problem for any contract.

In some cases, when the property has a homeowners association, the buyer or the mortgage company may require delivery of the documents. It is negotiable whether buyer or seller pay for this. The same is true of any transfer fees. There is a timeline for delivery in the contract that must be followed.

As long as the appraisal is done and approved by underwriting, the main thing left is for the buyer to get final approval and receive the closing docs for review three days prior to the closing date. It is also the responsibility of the seller to complete all repairs and have paid invoices delivered to the buyer prior to the final walk through, usually done within 24 hours prior to closing. Any unpaid invoices should be put on the closing statement and paid at closing. A copy of the closing statement is most often available at least the day prior to closing. I will have a copy as well as you, the seller, and can answer any questions you may have.

It is common practice for the buyer and seller to close separately. All parties in the contract must bring picture identification to the closing for the title company closer to be able to notarize all legal documents.

This form is something I like to have from you, the seller to deliver to the buyer a few days prior to closing. It will have utility companies, mailbox numbers, pool and lawn companies, and any other information you deem helpful to the new owners. You will also need to cancel all of your utilities, etc. for the day after closing. After closing you will also need to cancel your home insurance.

Once all of the papers are signed, you will relinquish all keys, garage door openers, alarm codes, and warranties to the new owner. Taxes and homeowner association dues are prorated at closing. Most homeowner association fees are paid in advance, therefore, the buyer will pay you for the remainder of the year where they will be the new owners. On the other hand, taxes are paid in arrears, therefore you will be responsible at closing to credit the buyer with your share of the year’s taxes. This can sometimes be very difficult to get exact, unless the closing is late in the calendar year and the certified taxes are out. If not, they have to be estimated, but you will sign a paper stating that you agree to resolve any inequities once certified bills have come out to the buyer. It also behoves you to check on the taxes once paid, because sometimes it is the buyer who owes the seller taxes. I will help you if this happens.

The buyer will not be able to have possession of the home until it “funds”. In other words, the funds from the buyer and/or the mortgage company must be at the title company. Once funded, you will receive your equity in the form of a wire or certified check. I prefer wire as being a safer method to receive your funds so you must bring wiring instructions for your bank and the title company will wire your funds directly into your account. If the closing occurs late in the day, the wire to you may not go out until the next business day, but the buyer has fulfilled their obligations so the the file is considered funded.