Seller Order of Events From Listing to Closing:
Appointment with Seller & Agent.
Prepare Comparative Market Value Analysis (CMA). Print it out & put it in the file.
All Active & Contract Listings must have a completed file in the office.
Sign Exclusive Listing Agreement, Agency Disclosure Form, & Lead Paint Disclosure Form (if necessary). Print it out & put it in the file.
Get all information on property, including correct taxes (from the Receiver of Taxes), legal square footage (from the Assessor), Septic Plan from the Dept. of Health (if applicable-For Westcheseter County: https://health.westchestergov.com/foil-request), Certificates of Occupancy (from the Building Department), & Survey (if available), etc. Print them out & put into the file.
Help Seller with staging advice & decluttering advice. De-personalize.
Take photos-note that the facade photo is most important-should have full sun on the facade & a cloudless blue sky in the background.
List property on MLS, upload photos, Exclusive Agreement (private exposure), & Lead Paint Disclosure (public exposure). Double-check that all pages of all forms are uploaded properly.
Prepare office file with all paperwork (See GLR File requirements page).
Install For Sale sign & lockbox if possible.
Marketing events including Broker Open House, Public Open House, Postcards to the neighborhood, Flyers to the local agents, etc.
POH Ideas: Post your OH on the MLS, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, & Instagram. Consider boosting the post on GLR’s page on FB. If you can’t host it, find another GLR agent to host it instead. Be sure to get the looker’s name & cell phone & email address. Consider taking a photo of their driver’s license with your phone for the homeowner’s security. Extra strategy: Make flyers & door-knock the street in the morning before the OH & invite the neighbors to come for a private, exclusive viewing for an hour before the POH starts (look for listings in the neighborhood). Don’t host POH in bad weather or on holidays or Super Bowl Sunday, etc.
Adjustments to sales strategy, including: price, commission to buyer’s agent, incentives, condition, etc.
Receive offer with pre-approval letter. All offers must be in writing. Print it out & put it in the file. Make sure the pre-approval letter is in the exact amount of the offer. Ask the buyer’s agent for permission to speak with the buyer’s mortgage broker & confirm that the buyer is well qualified. Listing Agents can do this if the buyer is working with themselves, with another GLR agent, or with another broker.
Negotiate.
Receive Acceptable Offer. Sellers are permitted to accept more than 1 offer at a time. Accepted Offers are not binding, however it is customary for a Seller to reimburse a Buyer for their inspection costs if the Seller accepts a higher offer & goes into Contract with that higher offer. Sellers & their attorneys can send out 2 Contracts to 2 different Buyers if the attorney agrees to do this, however the Seller can only sign 1 Contract to sell. Sellers can accept another higher offer from a different buyer even if they already have a Buyer Signed Contract, as long as the Seller has not signed that Contract yet. The Seller’s attorney should not deposit the earnest money check until the Seller has signed the Contract. Once the Seller signs the Contract & the earnest money check clears, the Seller can no longer enter into a negotiation or Contract with a different Buyer.
Prepare Memorandum of Agreement & distribute to all the parties. Get Buyer’s side information first from Buyer’s agent. Must include Broker’s & Agent’s Unique ID#. Memorandum should be on Listing Broker’s letterhead.
Schedule buyer’s inspection (if necessary).
Seller’s attorney writes Contract & sends to Buyer’s attorney. Buyers sign Contract & write Earnest Money Check & Buyer’s attorney sends to Seller’s attorney. Sellers sign Contract.
Contracts fully executed.
Change MLS status to: Contract. Print it out & put it in the file.
Schedule Bank appraisal.
Receive Buyer’s Commitment Letter.
Underwriting.
Schedule Closing.
Send Commission Invoice to Seller’s Attorney.
Seller should contact all utilities including: Electric, Cable, Oil/Propane, etc. to transfer billing as of the date of the Closing. You do not want these utilities turned off on the date of the Closing. Sometimes the Buyer & the Seller can get on the phone together with the utility & transfer the ownership. It’s a good idea to get a final reading of any meters during the final walk-through. Take a photo of the meter reading with your cell phone. Make sure you can read the numbers.
Go to Closing, get any additional paperwork signed (if necessary), pick up commission check, bring to office. Bring HUD Document & put it in the file so you can send it to the buyer after January 1 for their taxes.
Change MLS status to: Sold.
Bring completed file to office & get paid!