A Home Selling Checklist

By Steve Gillman - 2006

The following home selling checklist is long. In fact, it is long enough that I broke it into two pages to make the loading time faster. If you know your computer well, you should be able to select and print the following list.

Preparing Your Home for Sale

____Make a plan for selling your home.

____Have a friend "inspect" your home and note every possible problem.

____Do your own thorough walk-through inspection, taking notes.

____Make a list of repairs that need to be made.

____Make a list of things that need to be cleaned.

____Make the repairs.

____Get the cleaning done.

____Prepare written information about your home for buyers.

____Buy purchase offer forms and other necessary forms.

____Call several closing companies and choose one.

____Make a list of possible improvements (see Chapter 5).

____Determine how much various improvements will increase the value (get help).

____Determine the cost of the various improvements.

____Choose cost effective improvements and do them.

____Make all the small and cheap improvements you can.

____Clean up the neighborhood if necessary.

____

Putting a Price on It

____Collect information on homes that have recently sold in your neighborhood.

____Or let real estate agent do this for you.

____Use the information to determine what your home should sell for (see Chapter 2).

____Find out how close to asking price homes are selling for.

____Set a price over market value, according to the local asking/selling price spread.

____Decide if you want to offer seller financing of any sort (see Chapter 7).

____

Choosing a Real Estate Agent

____Scan real estate ads to find active agents that are selling homes like yours.

____Write down several of them, along with their phone numbers.

____Call them and ask the questions below (see Chapter 4).

____How much experience do you have?

____What kind of experience do you have?

____Have you sold many homes like mine?

____Can you give me a couple examples?

____Why should I list my home with you?

____What will you do to market my home?

____Do you show your own listings very often?

____Do you attend your own closings?

____How much is the commission?

____What is included in your service?

____Does your broker or you control advertising of my Home?

____How close to asking price are your listings selling for?

____What is your average time to sell a home?

____How many listings do you currently have?

____How many buyers are you currently working with?

____How long is your typical listing agreement?

____What if I am not satisfied?

____How many homes per year do you sell?

____How will you determine what price I should ask?

____Are you a full time agent?

____

Signing a Listing Contract

____Make the listing for three months or less.

____Have some "out" if you are not satisfied with the agent.

____Have the entire listing agreement explained until you understand it.

____Decide if you want open houses and let the agent know.

____Tell the agent you want the price of your home in all ads.

____

Marketing Your Home

____Take lots of photos of your home, inside and out.

____Figure out what your typical buyer is like (old, young, single, family).

____Create a marketing plan, or let your agent handle it.

____Decide what your "sales pitch" will be, and write it down.

____Tell your kids what to say when buyers call.

____Make a list of likely questions, and keep it by the phone, with the answers.

____Create a marketing package to send to callers.

____Practice writing ads that sell benefits instead of features.

____Have several ads ready.

____Decide where you will advertise.

____Get a sign for the yard, with more than a phone number on it.

____Put smaller "arrow signs" at the corners of larger streets.

____Put an information box or tube on the sign, with informational handouts in it.

____Get a stack of handouts from your agent, to restock the box.

____Place ads in the newspaper classified section.

____Place ads online.

____Consider placing ads in local real estate magazines or guides.

____If you get little response, try rewriting ads.

____If you still get little response, determine if price is the issue, and drop it.

____Take notes when prospects make comments - use to redesign your strategy.

____Have a map of the area for buyers, showing stores, parks, libraries, etc.

____

Talking to a Buyer

____Describe your home to the buyer.

____Ask if he is interested.

____Has he been pre-approved for a loan?

____When would he like to see the home?

____Set a showing time and get a name and phone number.

____If you're providing financing help, ask how much he has for a down payment.

____If you are providing financing help, ask him to bring a credit report.

____

Getting Ready to Show the Home

____Have the house clean.

____Send the kids away.

____Have information ready, with copies for the buyer.

____Have a purchase agreement form ready to fill out.

____Make the house smell good.

____Turn plenty of lights on.

____Have the house at a comfortable temperature.

____Walk up to the house and into it with objective eyes, looking for problems.

____

This home selling checklist continues with "Showing Your Home"...

The book continues here: Checklist for Selling a House - The second half of the home selling checklist.

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