Anyone in the process of Selling or anyone that has recently sold a home knows that it's a lot of work. With a competitive real estate market where single family home prices in Boulder county are averaging $711,596.00 (per BARA Local Market Update in May,) one needs to have his/her home in great shape to command the most money. So even before listing a home it's a good idea to meet with a local real estate professional to get educated and identify the next steps in the selling process. A local real estate professional will know what buyers in the area are looking for and what things will make buyers think twice about buying a property.
Some quick reference points specifically about the property's appearance that might come up when first meeting with your local agent: Eliminate clutter in the home to make it show better, staging, eliminating objections, general maintenance, working through unfinished landscaping projects and so much more.
I am going to skip a few steps (see the seller road map below) but want to talk about what happens now that the property is listed and active. Your home is going to be welcoming a lot of guests who might be potential buyers and the occasional nosy neighbor. Your home will likely be held open on a weekend or two by your real estate agent to attract buyers.
Do you know what all this means? A lot of stress. You are home and about to start dinner when you are notified that someone wants to see your home between 5pm and 6pm which means you are about to be displaced for an hour. If you have kids and/or pets then all of a sudden you and the kids and the pets need to find a place to go for an hour. More stress.
I'm not going to spend anymore time stressing you out about the selling process but I want to just talk about a recent story I heard. My new neighbors and I were talking about their recent home selling experience. They were selling a home nearby and buying a new home. The home they lived in was listed by an agent they didn't know but was a referral from the home builder. They said the agent never once had an open house and was not from the area. All of a sudden some time past and their new home was about to be move in ready. The builder started asking if they were going to be able to close on time and it was not looking good. They couldn't buy the new home until their other home was sold. With deadlines quickly approaching and no active buyer leads they talked to their listing agent and agreed to part ways. They listed their home with a local agent they knew who had one open house and had a contract in place that very weekend. I don't know all the factors involved but they said the buyer/seller sphere the local agent had was a big reason the home went under contract so fast.
On a similar note I love a good circle of real estate business relationships. I recently heard about a mortgage lender that required everything be uploaded into the "portal." Insert the scary music. The "portal" da da dahhhh, was for some reason not keeping all the forms that the buyer was uploading. They kept getting notified that they need to download the same forms again and again to the portal. Also the lender processor needed verification of employment from the buyers work. No biggie right? Seems simple enough until the buyer's work started getting call after call from different processors all looking for work verification. Even after it was received by the lender the processors kept calling looking for work verification. All of a sudden there is another portal which needed different information reviewed and signed off on. By the end of all the portals, passwords, uploads and downloads the buyer was so fed up they just demanded to drop off the required documents at the lenders office or fax them like the good old days. The lender was hesitant to receive the documents that way but agreed to accept them via email. Eventually everything was ironed out and the successful closing happened. One funny part about this story is the buyer never to this day has met the lender. One of the biggest transactions any of us will ever make was in this case funded by someone the buyer never met. Not even at the closing.
I want to clear the air a little. Using an out of town real estate professional is not always a bad move and I believe competition is healthy. Many of our cities are close together and some agents are competent in multiple cities so their services are very much welcome. As for the lending portion I know we live in a virtual world but the "portal" should make life easier and not harder. If the portal is difficult to understand, isn't providing clear instructions, and does not tell you the difference between what is needed and what has already been received then it's not making life easy. It's my opinion that having a lender that has been referred to you from the circle, or one you have worked with before is key to making the stress a little more manageable concerning the upcoming paper chase needed to buy a property. Buying and Selling can be stressful so do it with people you trust because there is nothing worse then feeling all alone during the process. Those involved should care about your transaction and be willing to get it done for you with urgency. Those professionals should be open to hearing your concerns and willing to aide you when things feel a little dark.
Now that I have stressed you out, it's time to drop into your local candy or ice cream shop for a yummy treat and surround yourself with community.
