I've Decided to Sell...Now What?
A: Price It. Prepare It. Market It. Show It. Negotiate It. Go Into Contract. Prepare Board Package. Close.
If you decide not to employ a professional real estate agent to handle your next real estate transaction and you are unfamiliar with this process, then you really should read this post to educate yourself before you put your property on the market.
NOTE: It is very hard to maximize your profit by selling on your own, due to the fact that your listing will not be included in the MLS system and the brokerage community. Most qualified homebuyers work with buyer brokers, and if there is no incentive for the broker, then that homebuyer will not see your property!
Now that this is out of the way, the first thing you need to do is PRICE your property. To do this, you need to find out what the last sold comparable units were in your building, and in surrounding buildings. Use your building last sold's as the more accurate guide and then price yours based on similarities/differences of yours to that one; i.e. Renovations, Views, Light, Condition, etc..Your monthly charges should also affect your asking price; lower charges = higher asking price. DO NOT OVERPRICE! Its better to UNDERPRICE the market, bring in a lot of activity, and hope for a bidding war!
PREPARE IT.Once your price is set, you need to get your apartment ready for showing. Paint, Clean, & Remove Big Furniture to make your apartment as spacious as possible. Put away your personal pictures. Always show the apartment when you get the most natural sunlight and put up some plants in the corners to liven the place up a bit. It helps!
MARKET IT. The most important place to market your property is on the NY Times website and Sunday edition print. It will cost about $150 or so for a 5 line ad in Sunday's paper, and about $125 for 2 weeks of online exposure. Be sure to mention the Open-House you plan to run for the coming Sunday! This is a must as any other newspaper or online website just wont bring in the qualified traffic that the NY Times will.
SHOW IT. Set up a Sunday Open House between the hours of 12:00 and 3:00PM, and put out some snacks and showsheets with your property's information, pictures and contact info. As people arrive, greet them and then leave them to browse. No one likes to be followed around as they look at an apartment they might buy. After they spend 5 minutes looking around, very politely, tell them of the building amenities and then subtly stick in the best points of your apartment; i.e. the southern exposure, the renovated kitchen, the Bosch appliances, etc..
NEGOTIATE IT. If priced right, you should receive an offer within 5-7% of your asking price within 3-4 weeks. If you don't, then you overpriced it and should strongly consider lowering your price, unless you are in no rush to sell. If an offer is too low, tell them you have "NO RESPONSE" to that offer. If the offer isn't too low, meet them halfway and see what their response is. Be sure to pre-qualify the buyer and check into their salary and liquid assets after closing costs! In the end, you should know what your lowest selling price is.
GO INTO CONTRACT. As offers start to come in, you should be contacting your real estate attorney, who will prepare a contract of sale, building financials, and offering plan. Once you accept an offer, have your attorney send all documents to the buyer's attorney for review. You should expect a signed contract and 10% deposit sent back to your attorney within 5 business days. If 5 business days past and you have nothing, then your attorney should start pressing the issue to find out why.
BOARD PACKAGE. When you prepare a board package be sure all information requested is provided, and all financial numbers are backed up by hard copies. For co-ops, its always best to type up the package and triple check that everything is in order. Bank documents usually take the longest to get to complete a board package.
CLOSE. Assuming board approval, the attorneys will co-ordinate a closing date that is convienent for both buyer and seller and lending institution. Usually this is 3-7 business days after board approval.
Good Luck!
Comments (2)
How does a seller "pre-qualify" a buyer if they are not using a listing broker?
Posted by Stan Fink | February 7, 2006 3:40 PM
Stan,
Depends on the toughness of your coop board. If its a condo board just make sure the buyer has enough liquid assets to cover closing costs and a salary that would seem enough to a lenidng institution.
For average coop boards, they like to see 1 YR MAINT + MORTGAGE costs in liquid assets AFTER closing costs. A salary that covers a debt to income ratio of 33% or so should be looked for (Nothing higher). Ask the buyer to submit a REBNY Financial Analysis Form that shows their current assets, debts, and income. Also ask for a pre-qualification letter from their lending bank by contacting their mortgage brokers. Ideally, the building address and loan amount should be included in this letter.
For tougher coops, they might look for 2 YR's MAINT + MORTGAGE costs in liquid assets AFTER closing costs. Also, be sure their salary meetsthe requirements of the board. Ask the managing agent of your building for this info. Also get the Financial Analysis Form & pre-qualification letter that I mentioned above before accepting any offer if your board is known to be tough.
Does this help? Any other more specific question?
Noah
Posted by UrbanDigs | February 8, 2006 7:05 PM