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​​The TIME Team

​Meeting the Client

Sale Yourself: It may not be the most important factor to introduce what you can do as an agent at first as it is to introduce yourself as a person. In order to do this it is important to get to know the people and their interests in life. Determine what you might have in common and establish a relationship conducive of working together in what might be one of the most important financial decisions in your client’s life.

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Sale your Credentials and Expertise: Let your prospective client know of all that you have in the way of tools to execute a successful sale. Let them know what you will do as an agent.

• ​​​​Introduce past experiences and successes with the methods you have learned that have been effective in the past. 
  
• Let your client know the value you have. Show your website and all the tools you will be using to market their property.
  
• Use references or personal recommendations from others you have worked with.
  
• List the things you will be able to do to make their property ready to sell. 
  
• Evaluate the condition of their property and make recommendations to them to improve the ability to maximize its value. 
• If the client does not have the ability to improve the curb appeal of their property or make the interior of their home more ‘showable’, let them know what you can do to maximize the appeal of their home and property.
  

Establish Agency: Use the Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement & Agency Disclosure form to secure a relationship with the seller. Under an exclusive right-to-sell agreement, the listing firm is offered compensation in the event of a sale regardless of who procured the eventual purchaser.

• Note: You can also use the Exclusive Agency Listing. This might be used if the property is a FSBO (for Sale by Owner). Under an exclusive agency agreement, the seller only offers the listing firm compensation if the purchaser is procured through the firm's efforts or the efforts of other real estate firms. This means that in certain situations the listing firm may not receive compensation if the property is sold. In the exclusive agency agreement, the listing firm or another firm working with the listing firm must procure the purchaser in order to have a claim on compensation.
  

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Seller Disclosures on the Property: After establishing agency it is a good time to go over what the owners know about their property. Any improvements, repairs or lot issues can be disclosed to inform buyers about the property’s history. This is done on the 'Seller's Property Condition Disclosure' available in the forms selection on the MLS website.​

Do a Market Analysis: Search for sold properties in the area and establish a market value of the property. The easiest way to do this is using the Comparative Market Analysis tools on the Multiple Listing Service.

What Next?

List the Property on the Multiple (MLS) Listing Service: Use the Listing Input Form on your computer to list all the attributes of the property and to describe the setting in which you convey the terms of the sale. This usually originates by going into the ‘new listings’ section of the MLS website.

• At this point you can list as many bits of information on the property that you can gather from previous listing of the property or by using information from tax records.
  
• Save the property as an ‘unfinished listing’ on the Multiple Listing Service and print as a PDF file to get a hard copy of the form. Once you meet with your client and go over the details on the form, you update the information on the MLS input form on your computer to finalize and publish the listing so that it may now be accessed by internet users.
  
• Attach any files in the ‘edit listing’ section on the Multiple LS under 'Listing Documents’ that might be informative details that might be helpful for buyers. They may include legal documents, covenants, codes and restrictions, plat maps as well as a copy of the 'Seller Disclosure' which contains pertinent information about the home and homeowner association details.
  

Inform Your Broker: Fill out the Listing Folder Checklist so that your broker can assign reference numbers to your listing and set up a Dropbox folder. Use this folder to downloaded documents once they are either in process or completed.

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Yard Signs, Tours, Media and Brochures: Marketing the property is key to getting the exposure for your client and to fully utilize the power of the resources available to you.

• Place a yard sign on the property (if approved by the owner in the agency form). Use informative riders if necessary to inform those who drive by of special information such a ‘Shown by Appointment Only, Priced Reduced, Agent Name or Phone Number.
  
• Take photographs (or have them taken) of the property that best shows the attributes that may help in the sale. They may include the interior, exterior and views the property may have. These can be uploaded to the MLS web site. If a tour is involved, a vendor can be assigned in ‘edit listing’ section of the MLS.
  
• Third party vendors and additional ‘search engines’ can be utilized to promote the property. Pricing and property information can be input that is searchable by the public. Examples of these resources may include KSL Classifieds and Craigslist.
  
• Brochures can be designed to promote the property and can be placed inside for prospective buyers and agents. Yard information boxes can placed to accommodate those who pass by the property and want information on the property.
  

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Inform Your Contacts: Just Listed Cards, Email, Text Messages and Social Media are the best way to get you listing exposed to the market place.

• The best place to start is to inform neighbors that the property is available for sale. This is a great way to promote yourself for possible leads either with leads or new clients that are interested in marketing their property.
  
• Email other agents in your office, contacts that may be searching for property and friends and family that may have interest in the property. You may want to get a contact list from the property owner if they would like to share their news to them.
  
• Texting former clients and contacts is a great way to inform them of your property so that they can generated leads for you.
  
• Both the homeowner and agent may utilize their social media outlets to inform friends of their property for sale. This is a great way to reach hundreds with just one post linking to the MLS.
  

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Answer Your Phone and Text Messages: Make sure to answer your phone or return calls promptly. Also answer text messages as soon as possible.

• Nothing is more irritating to other agents or prospective buyers than having a hard time contacting or finding out information your property or scheduling appoints to view the property. If you can’t answer, try to have a back up contact to answer if you are going to be out of town or in meetings for an extended period of time.
  

Each property is different and requires special attention to market effectively. If you have concerns or questions to more fully get exposure to your listing contact your broker for additional ideas.

What Happens When You receive an Offer?​

Buying and selling a home are complex undertakings and in most cases, an overwhelming experience. A potential buyer of your home who wants to make an offer to purchase the home will ask is or her real estate agent (or an attorney) to prepare a written offer to the seller, outlining several specifics, such as the purchase price, time to close escrow, contingencies for inspections or loan approval, place of escrow, amount of the deposit, amount and interest rate of the loan if financing is needed.  Once this is done, the offer is then submitted to the seller’s real estate agent or attorney. The seller rejects the offer, accepts the offer, or submits a counter offer to the buyer.

If the price for the purchase and sale of the real property has been agreed to as well as the contingencies, etc., that are in the written contract, signed and dated by the seller and the buyer, the situation is then known as the “parties being in contract”.

What Happens Next?  

At this point, typically the real estate agent representing the buyer sets up an escrow with an escrow company to handle all the paperwork. The selling agent sends any deposit check to the seller’s real estate agent (called the “listing agent”) for deposit into the escrow account. (The deposit is mostly used as a show of good faith between parties.) The buyer proceeds to finalize any financing needed to complete the purchase of the home. 

Depending on the specifics in the purchase agreement, both the selling agent and the buyer may also contact third party experts (i.e., pest inspectors, home inspectors, surveyors, licensed contractors, roofers, and even engineers) to take an in-depth, unbiased look at the overall structural condition of the home prior to purchase. These experts submit reports to the buyer.   If there are property defects or repair issues/requests, the buyer typically will ask the seller to make the repairs at his cost or, alternatively, credit the costs in the purchase price.  In this situation, an “addendum” to the purchase agreement is then signed by the seller and the buyer.

At the same time, the residential seller is required to give the home buyer “Seller Property Condition Disclosure” (Seller Disclosure).  The statement discloses any details on the present condition of the home, defects and major repairs, putting the buyer on notice of any material facts that might affect the desirability or the purchase price. Likewise, statutory disclosures such as the need for smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, water heater straps and the like are also presented to all sides by the listing agent. The Seller Disclosure can be complicated and confusing, so the seller will want to make sure to understand every word in it.  A reputable real estate agent/attorney can guide you through the process.

In some states, the selling agent typically orders a natural hazard report (NHD) for the neighborhood where the property is located. This report advises the buyer of various natural hazards in the neighborhood, including earthquake faults, flood zones, high fire zones, landslide areas and the like.

More paperwork

Throughout the time period when the parties are “in contract” until close of escrow (signing of documents to transfer title of the property), the real estate agents are exchanging documents and disclosures for their clients to review, read, understand, sign and date concerning the property to be purchased. The buyer and seller receive estimated closing costs and distributions amounts that each will pay and receive from the sale from the escrow company. The buyer, if he or she is financing the property, will also receive from the lender proposed loan documents and disclosures as well as an appraisal of the property.

Once the parties are satisfied that all known problems with the property have been uncovered and the costs for any repairs been addressed, the financing secured by the buyer, all written contingency requirements are then waived by the buyer and the parties sign paperwork at escrow to close the sale. The paperwork typically signed by the buyer at escrow’s close will be loan documents, a promissory note and a mortgage (trust deed) to be recorded on the property. The buyer also signs the final escrow instructions and receives paperwork for such. The seller signs the deed transferring legal title to the property to the buyer and the final escrow instructions.

The buyer and seller also receive the final closing statement showing what each will pay into or receive from the transaction from the escrow company and all monies that escrow paid out to in the transaction. Such payments would the real estate commissions, lien payments, and third party expert bills.

Read more: http://real-estate-law.freeadvice.com/real-estate-law/buy_sell_a_home/buyer_price_seller.htm#ixzz3itNm84W0 
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Checklist for Listing Agents

By Dave Barton - Time Real Estate and Development and FREE ADVICE®