- SellForSure University Home Page
- Module 1: Introduction
- Module 2: Sell By Owner, or With Agent?
- Module 3: Working with an Agent
- Why You Should Use a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your House
- Drawbacks to Using an Agent
- Real Estate Agent Designations
- How to Choose a Real Estate Agent
- How NOT to Choose a Real Estate Agent
- How to Interview a Real Estate Agent
- Questions to Ask your Real Estate Agent
- Dual Agency
- Check an Agent's Work
- Communicating with your Real Estate Agent
- How a Real Estate Agent gets Paid
- Discount and Flat Fee Brokers
- Real Estate Listing Agreements
- Your Real Estate Agent's Job in a Nutshell
- Module 4: Valuing and Pricing your Home
- Today's Real Estate Buyers are Savvy and Empowered
- Real Estate Values and Pricing
- What Matters and What Doesn't in Pricing your Home
- Every Home is Unique
- Three Major Factors affecting Real Estate Values
- Online Real Estate Price Evaluations
- Real Estate CMA or Comparative Market Analysis
- Real Estate Appraisal
- Realtor Property Report (RPR)
- Which Real Estate Valuation should I Trust
- The Real Estate Auction Sales Model
- Overpricing Your Home for Sale
- How to Maximize your Home Sale Price
- The Virtue of Underpricing your Home
- Selling your home with little or no equity
- Module 5: Preparing Your Home for Sale
- Inspecting your Home Prior to Selling It
- Preparing a Full Disclosure Package for Home Buyers
- Contents of a Real Estate Disclosure Package
- Making Repairs to your Home prior to Selling It
- Required Retrofits of your Home
- As-Is Real Estate Sales
- Selling as a Certified Pre-Owned Home
- Preparing your Home for Sale
- Enhance your Home's Curb Appeal
- Home Staging
- The Cost of Preparing your Home for Sale
- Module 6: On the Market
- When to List your Home for Sale
- Living in a Home vs. Selling One
- Getting the Word out about your Home
- Showings and Open Houses
- When Buyers are In the House
- Make your home Available, but make Yourself Scarce for Showings
- Offers and Negotiations
- Selling a Home that is Tenant Occupied
- Selling your Home in a Tough Market
- Recognizing the Wrong Price for your Home
- Real Estate Price Adjustment Strategy
- How to Sell a Home and then Buy Another
- Moving after Selling your Home
- The Residential Purchase Agreement
- What Happens when you get an Offer on your Home
- Negotiating the Sale of your Home
- Top Negotiation Tactics to use when Selling your Home
- The Buyer's Due Diligence
- The Real Estate Closing Timeline
- Delays in the Home Sale Process
- The Buyer's Appraisal in the Purchase Process
- Real Estate Tax Information for Home Sellers
- 1031 Tax-Deferred Exchange
- Module 8: SellForSure System Walkthrough
- Goals of the SellForSure System
- The SellForSure Home Sale System Guarantees
- Traditional Real Estate Marketing Methods
- Active Real Estate Marketing
- Free Home Inspection and Termite Inspection
- SellForSure Pre-Sale Services
- The SellForSure Web Portal Status System
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 1
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 2
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 3
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 4
- SellForSure Preparation Phase 5
- Launching your Home on the Market
- SellForSure System Listing Syndication
- How to Manage Showings on your Home
- Real Estate Open House Events
- The Perfect Home Sale Schedule
- While your Home is on the Market
- The Two Week Review Cycle
- What to Expect Once your Home is Under Contract
- Closing the Sale of your Home
- Module 9: The Realty World Advantage
Of primary consideration for sellers is how much it costs to sell a home. If you’re like most people, you will probably invest several thousand dollars in getting your home ready for sale. The bulk of your costs, however, will be incurred upon the closing the sale of your home, and not before. You may be spending some money while your home is on the market, for example a house cleaner and landscaper to keep your home looking its best, but these too will be comparatively small.
The good news is that the largest of these expenses are not out of pocket, but rather are usually paid from the proceeds of the sale. They include paying off your loan for any existing mortgage(s) or liens, and your real estate agent’s commission. Additional costs include the seller’s share of title and escrow fees, and, in some cases, any concessions granted to the buyer.
Unlike the cost of preparing your home for sale, these final expenses are very easy to calculate. Your escrow company can order a loan payoff amount from your lender. Your real estate agent fee will probably be a percentage of the sales price. You can work with an accountant to figure out if you’ll have any taxes to pay. Your buyer may ask for concessions, but if you’ve prepared your home well and negotiated the sale skillfully, you won’t have to make any significant, costly concessions.
This means that before you sign a purchase agreement, you should know with relative precision how much money you’ll walk away with at closing. Your escrow officer can for example show you an estimated settlement statement based on a proposed sale price, terms, and closing date. If you want to evaluate scenarios ahead of time, you may find it helpful to run the numbers through a spreadsheet. We have prepared an Excel spreadsheet called the Seller’s Estimated Net, which can be downloaded from the Resources section of the SellForSure web site.