BUY MY HOUSE?
We have our house cleaned and neat and ready to impress. It is for sale, with a sign in the front yard and we have it in the Multiple Listing Service as well. We have completed the Property Disclosure form, signed it, and made some copies. This afternoon we have an appointment scheduled with our first lookers. WHAT IF THEY WANT TO BUY IT? What do we do then?
This is simple.
There are only two types of people and circumstances you will have to deal with. Don’t imagine a menu of possibilities. Two types. One type involves a real estate agent. The other does not.
In the situation where the buyer has an agent, the agent will do the paperwork, you don’t have to. That is the good news. The bad news is that you are insulated from the buyer by that agent. You are trying to get a meeting of the minds without a meeting of the eyes. The buyers will make offers concerning the purchase of your home. You will be expected to accept, reject, or counter those offers. It is beyond the scope of this article to deal with the forms and paperwork involved, but accepting or rejecting are no-brainers and counter-offers are not that difficult.
Bear in mind that the decisions are up to you. The legwork is up to the agent for the buyer. One of the important things I tell all my sellers id that they should always look at the last page of an offer where it asks that they respond to the offer by a certain time. Some buyers like to put a short time line on their offer. Sometimes that puts extra stress on the seller. See an earlier article titled “You want an answer by WHEN?” Sometimes the reason behind it is valid, sometimes it is not. Just remember that you are in control, and don’t be intimidated.
You need to take your time and make counter-offers until you are happy with the deal.
Even more simple.
The second of the two is the lone wolf, the John Doe, the unrepresented. You have a blank contract form. I call it a contract form, because there is no offer and counter-offer when it is the two principals involved. You both know what you are asking for your house. The buyer knows how much he is willing to pay.
Just sit down at the kitchen table and fill in the blanks so that it is in writing. Really, there are three items. How much money? When will it close? Does the refrigerator stay? When you agree on the terms, and you put them in writing, it becomes a contract. Make each of you a copy and let the buyer take the original to his mortgage lender.
From this point, most of the effort belongs to the underwriters, appraisers, and inspectors, but you are no longer in the driver’s seat, and you need to do your level best to accommodate the scheduling of these guys.
The most important point is that when someone is ready to buy your house, the best thing you can do is to LET IT HAPPEN. Don’t try to make it happen. It’s either you and an agent with an offer, or you and a buyer who wants to sit down and work it out. Don’t worry, be happy.
Ingredients I give to my customers ASAP
- Property Condition Disclosure
- Disclosure Exemption (if they haven’t lived there in 3 yrs)
- Lead Based Paint Disclosure (if built 1978 or earlier)
- Non-Realtor blank purchase agreement
- Example of correctly completed Agency Agreement
- Example of correctly completed Compensation Agreement
- Blank Realtor’s Counter Offer form
- Blank Status Update form so they can keep me advised
- Some of my business cards for their friends…
Click HERE to put my house on the MLS !
Broker Don Martin, founder and CEO of Martin Properties, besides helping hundreds of FSBOs save thousands of dollars, also delivers seminars, keynotes and motivational messages to real estate and sales professionals. His 30+ years of experience in sales, marketing, real estate, promotion, management and technology has empowered thousands to expand their knowledge and achieve their goals. Connect with Martin Properties on Facebook, TheReasonableRealtor.com, MLS-TODAY.com or Amazon.com.
