1. Making the Decision to Sell

Selling a home is both an emotional experience and a financial challenge. In most situations, selling a home requires a major affirmative decision of the family to start the process. That process can be easy or complicated depending upon timing, knowledge, strategies, or even a little luck.

There are seven primary reasons why a home owner offers a property for sale:

  1. Moving up to a larger home.
  2. Moving down (empty nester).
  3. Financial concerns.
  4. Divorce.
  5. Health concerns or death.
  6. Alternative investment opportunities
  7. Corporate relocation

These are several methods of selling or eliminating the ownership obligations of a home:

  1. Offer the home "For Sale By Owner."
  2. Engage the services of a real estate broker.
  3. Convey the property by gift or will.
  4. Assign ownership to a third party (corporation or trustee).
  5. Dispose of by property settlement or other agreement.
  6. Governmental or institutional foreclosure.
  7. Deed in lieu of foreclosure.

The home owner has every opportunity to pursue the first choice above. Many have done so successfully. Many others have found the assistance of a real estate professional to be beneficial. Before either is attempted, however, the homeowner must become informed about the selling process.

Selling a home is like running a corporation with a variety of important responsibilities. Components of a successful selling process include knowledge of a number of factors such as:

  1. Pricing strategies.
  2. Marketing and advertising.
  3. Confirming financial qualification of buyer.
  4. Property inspections and possible repairs.
  5. Disclosure of known property defects.
  6. Home warranty program options.
  7. Seller payment of buyer expenses.
  8. Knowledge of seller closing expenses.
  9. Provision of possible real estate commissions.
  10. Owner title problems.
  11. Mortgage payoff obligations.
  12. Closing and possession dates.
  13. Survey and boundary line concerns
  14. Post closing problems.
  15. Termite and termite damage certification.
  16. Environmental concerns.

A Win-Win Situation. With an understanding of the above components, the selling process may be easier, the owner's position better protected, a higher price may be realized, and contracts can be negotiated in the seller's interests. No sale, however, can be made unless both buyer and seller can reasonably agree to terms and conditions. The appearance that one party may be disadvantaged does not produce a win-win situation.

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