Sellers

Don’t sell a home without one. Besides helping you find the buyer, a Real Estate Agent assists you with every aspect of your homeselling experience. From marketing to open houses, contracts to disclosures, appraisals to inspections, questions and concerns, our sales professionals are experts in the industry and are eager to help you every step of the way. 

Do some research. Simply chatting with your neighbors can teach you a fair amount about the heat of the local market. Also, read your local newspaper's real estate section and talk to real estate agents you meet at open houses. Use Comparable Houses to Identify Market Value and set Your List Price. The best source of pricing information comes from houses directly comparable to your own. In the real estate industry, a "comparable," or "comp," is a house with similar features, preferably located near yours. A Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices sales professional can provide you with a competitive Comparable Market Analysis of your home. 

Before putting your house on the market, make it look as attractive as possible -- buyers will pay thousands of dollars more for a house they like the look of. Usually you don't need to do a major remodel, although a fresh coat of paint can brighten your home's prospects considerably. 

Your Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices sales professional can assist you with this. The buyer will probably shoulder the main paperwork burden in this transaction -- preparing the purchase contract. However, in many states, the seller is responsible for filling out a disclosure form, telling buyers what they know about the property's physical condition. 

Many home sellers find open houses a useful tool. They're certainly good for bringing in the crowds. Some of the visitors will merely be curious neighbors. Welcome them, too -- they may mention your house to their househunting friends. Others will be genuinely interested buyers, including some who were reticent about making an individual appointment. With any luck, one or more prospective buyers will present a written offer to buy your house. 

Here's where your real estate agent can play an important role, meeting with the agents who present offers and helping you decide which offer is the strongest. It won't necessarily be the one for the most money! A high bid with shaky financing, or one made contingent on the buyer selling his or her house first, may actually drop to the bottom of your pile. Consider a counteroffer. If none of the offers you receive are acceptable, you can counteroffer, suggesting changes in terms or even a higher price. 

After counteroffers have gone back and forth between you and the buyer, and you've both signed off to indicate your acceptance, you're technically "in contract" to sell your house. At that point, you're legally bound to sell your house, and can't change your mind without potentially facing a lawsuit. (The exception is if you included conditions or "contingencies" in the contract, such as the buyer furnishing you with proof of his or her financing, and these conditions aren't met.) 

The signed purchase contract will include a closing date, usually several weeks in the future. During this time, the buyer will line up financing, inspections, insurance, and more. As the seller, your duties will include:

• Making your house available for inspection. 
• Negotiating with the buyer over repair issues that come up, and moving out your possessions. 
• You probably won't meet with the buyer on the closing date. Usually the two of you sign various documents separately, in the office of your escrow sales professional. 

Once the closing occurs, the buyer has the right to full possession of the house. If you can't be out by that date, you may be able to negotiate a short-term rental agreement with the buyer. 

Assuming you make a profit on your sale, you might have to pay capital gains tax. The IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/ can tell you more. 

The place to begin is to find a licensed Real Estate Agent to assist you with your real estate sale. Choose an agent that gives you a proposal of the services that will be provided to achieve your desired goal. An important step in your real estate sale is to find a lender. A local lender will specialize in loans for properties in your local area. Your Real Estate Agent can give you some recommendations for a local lender to work with. A lender will review your credit, work history and funds to close escrow. The lender, after determining your credit worthiness, will provide you a loan approval letter. A loan letter should accompany any real estate contract. Loan approval will give you a negotiating advantage in working with sellers. 

There is no charge for a Comprehensive/Comparable Market Analysis as this is a necessary tool not only for you to know more about the market in your area, but to prepare us to help you with what is possibly one of the largest financial decisions you can make. Be aware that the CMA suggestive price will be based solely on the most current data available and that after meeting with you and touring your home we can get a more definitive price established. 

Yes, Real Estate Agent are capable of representing both the buyer and the seller at the same time, however this is not the norm. The possibility of representing both sides of a transaction is quite small. The national average is probably only about a 2%-3% chance. If there is a possibility that this may occur all parties to the transaction must agree to the Real Estate Agent representing both sides. Since a Real Estate Agent's first fiduciary responsibility is to his/her client, the Real Estate Agent would have to work in your best interest. If you feel the most comfortable with another agent representing the other side, then Real Estate Agent can easily refer that client to another agent within our firm. 

At Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties, we offer our agents the tools; training, support, and technology to best exceed the needs of buyers and sellers. It is our mission to build on the American Dream and we look forward to helping you along the way.

Yes! Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties works hand-in-hand with the finest loan officers in the industry to support you. 

There is a mortgage for everyone in today's financing environment. Through the One-Stop-Shop at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Drysdale Properties, our agents and our mortgage partners can help with credit improvement and counseling to find the best mortgage loan for you. If your credit is not perfect, if there are blemishes on past credit history, our professionals can help you get on track to obtain an affordable mortgage loan so you may realize the American Dream of Home Ownership. 

Our sales associates are encouraged to take advantage of Premier Transaction Services. SkySlope, our paperless transaction system, is a process by which each inspection, coordination, etc. is "logged" and verified for the agent as well as the client. It's our "risk management" for you and provides a seamless transaction. 

Select a real estate agent to advise and assist you in preparing a contract. Preview the properties available and select the property that best fits your lifestyle and needs. Your agent will assist you in preparing a real estate contract, which is a legal agreement between the buyer and seller. The buyer will be requested to give an earnest money down payment of typically 1% of the purchase price. The contract gives the buyer the opportunity to request title insurance, escrow fees, inspections, repairs and a home warranty, a 1-year service plan. Also, the buyer can request the seller to assist with the buyer's loan and closing costs. The contract is fully accepted when the buyer and seller mutually agree and sign the contract and counter offers. The seller can entertain all offers until the buyer and seller agrees evidenced by their signatures of acceptance. 

Buyers have the opportunity to pay to have a Home Inspection completed on the home they are purchasing. When the report reveals that there is work to be completed, the buyer can prepare a "Request for Repairs" listing the repairs to be completed by the seller before the close of escrow. If the seller refuses to make the repairs, the buyer has a time period to give written notification to the seller that they no longer want to purchase the property and select to cancel escrow. The purchase contract gives the buyer the opportunity to approve the inspections, disclosures and unknown material matters. When there is an issue that cannot be agreed upon between buyer and seller, the buyer has outlined time periods to notify the seller and if the seller chooses to disagree, the buyer can cancel the transaction. 

Yes, Contact our Relocation Department. They are skilled and licensed professionals ready to help. Our Relocation department does an excellent job of matching up clients with suitable Real Estate Agent all across the US. Our Relocation Department acts as your Real Estate Concierge to "hook-you-up" with all of your real estate requests. 

There is a selection of loan types from 100% financing to a variety of down payment programs. Consult your lender for the best loan program that fits your needs. Each loan includes loan costs that cover the loan processing, credit report, appraisal and prepaid items. 

Buyers frequently ask sellers to help with closing costs and this is becoming a common practice. Sellers can help with closing costs as long as it meets the criteria of the lender, which varies from transaction to transaction.