Seller Checklist for the North Houston Home Seller

Selling a home can seem daunting, but an organized list of tasks always seem to set anxious minds at ease. Below, we’ve listed 7 of the biggest tasks you will encounter when you decide to you sell your North Houston home.

Hire a Realtor
Choosing a knowledgeable real estate agent is essential to enjoying a smooth real estate transaction. Successful agents make client satisfaction their top priority and often put their client’s needs before their own.

Understand the paperwork involved
Your North Houston Realtor will help you understand everything from the listing agreement and the disclosure statement to the sales agreement and the settlement statement. Because selling a home requires quite a bit of paperwork, it helps to know what to expect and be prepared to understand what you receive.

Set the list price
Your Realtor will have researched what comparable properties in your neighborhood have sold for, and will present a market analysis to you to help you set your price. Your price should be based on the sales data within the analysis. Whether you’re dealing with an estate in Klein, waterfront property in Conroe, or land for sale in Magnolia, this same data may be used by your buyers when negotiating an offer. Remember: the quickest way to sell your house is to price it properly!

Get the home ready for buyers
Maximize your property’s “curb appeal” by cleaning the interior (and keeping it clean), staging your house, mowing the yard, trimming the shrubs, and keeping your gardens neat and healthy. Buyers look for homes that appear clean and well maintained, so take a walk around your home and assess it from the buyer’s point of view.

Establish the marketing plan
Next, you and your Realtor will decide when you should list your home. When that date has been set, your agent will prepare the MLS listing. Be sure to ask your real estate agent where within the North Houston area they plan on advertising and how they plan to establish a schedule of open houses.

Reach a deal with a buyer
The buyer that decides to buy your home will make an offer that your agent will present to you. Once you receive the offer, your options are:
1. Accept the offer as-is, signing it without changes.
2. Make a counter-offer by changing any of the terms and suggesting your own.
3. Reject the offer, indicating that some or all of the terms are not acceptable.
If the offered price is less than desirable, consider the offer as a whole.

Ask your North Houston Realtor if any of the terms counterbalance the lower price (i.e. fast closing, no contingencies, buyer paying their own closing costs, etc.). Be prepared to split the difference if you and the buyer are close to reaching an agreement and be objective about the cost of holding out. If you are paying $1,000 per month to keep the property and the offer is $2,000 below your asking price, selling might make more sense rather than risking a longer sale.

Closing
The buyer will have the right to do a walk thru the day of the closing. This is to make sure they are satisfied with the home’s condition. If everything looks good, the final step to sign the paperwork at closing, transferring the title into the buyer’s name.