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First time home seller seeks advice/resources

mabeldingeldine

8 years ago

I'd appreciate advice and good resources for a first time home seller. We are getting ready to list our much loved home to enable us to relocate closer to my MIL.

Our home is a well-maintained 1870s cape with an ell with an ell with a barn, often referred to as a New Englander. We've owned it 15 years and completed a lot of deferred maintenance, including replacing a deck, siding, roof some windows, a bathroom reno, HW floor refinish, converted unheated space to a laundry/mudroom, and painted throughout.

We recently purchased a foreclosure with a terrific realtor, and are thinking we will use her to sell our home. She was incredible when working through a very difficult and protracted sale, and comes very highly recommended as a sales agent from several friends. What do I need to know when we discuss contracts, etc.

Featured Answer

elpaso1

8 years ago

Ask if she uses a professional photograher,virtual tours, Avg number of days on market in your area, comps of active listiings, what things she suggests that you do to have your home show ready, if your house has any bad smells (people often become nose blind to their own home).

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Comments (6)

User
8 years ago
I think the best advice is for you to read over many threads here and also search here. After doing that you will be better able to have specific questions or concerns addressed.
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This was after the contract was signed. but they refused so we had to pay for it ( by adding to the purchase price). That's when we found out it needed a new leech bed, Which apparently the seller is okay with paying for. I would be very leery of what else wasn't disclosed. You did have a home inspector? And you do have a good RE lawyer? I would also like to add, this was a "flip" house. They purchased it last year " sheriffs deed" and have done quite a bit of work to it. So far, It has passed everything else and we are supposed to close in two days. I hope the inspector looked very closely at the house because this is not sounding good. They signed a non-disclosure statement, which appears to be "typical" with flip homes. They knew nothing of the septic as they told us, BULL PUCKY! They knew but were playing dumb which is why they dragged their feet on having it inspected and now are dragging their feet on having it replaced. In fact, They didnt even mention it had a septic other than the original realtor listing. I only know about the 2nd septic by walking the property and finding the exposed lids, this also wasn't disclosed. They knew of the second septic unless they're total morons. Again, what are they hiding? I did have something similar in my second home but the homeowners did replace the septic before we moved in. We would not have moved in if it hadn't been replaced.
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rrah
8 years ago
Does she normally work in the area your home is located? Is she a member of the MLS used by other agents in your town? If the answer is no to either question, I would use a different agent.
mabeldingeldine thanked rrah
cpartist
8 years ago
One thing concerns me. You said, "We are getting ready to list our much loved home".

It's wonderful that your home was much loved but now that you're selling, you have to look at it dispassionately. Think of it as a business property.

Ask your agent what needs to be done to stage it for sale. If she/he says nothing, maybe that's not the best agent for you. I knew how to stage a house and yet, my agent still had some advice for me on what to move, put away, etc.
mabeldingeldine thanked cpartist
mabeldingeldine
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the advice, all. Our realtor is local to us and knows the area well, and is one of the most successful agents around. We had a great experience with her when purchasing the foreclosed home we bought last year. She was quick to solve problems, offer advice and ow wine as needed, and basically made the sale happen despite Fanny Mae's best efforts to make it too difficult.

We've spoken briefly with her RE our home, and she has already made some suggestions. She knows what we are capable of after following our reno of the aforementioned forelosure.

We are madly de-cluttering, and will be deep-cleaning every room in addition to engaging a housekeeper to help us keep the place spotless. I will share her suggestions here.

Mostly I am wondering how the contract will work. We are in Maine, if that matters. I purchased our current home through a first-time homebuyers program which had a very specific process. Our foreclosure again was purchased through a specific process with our agent acting as a buyers agent. We've never sold a home before, and are just looking for some guidelines about the process.
juddgirl2
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I don't have any advice but will be following with interest as we are getting ready to hire an agent to sell our home, and I can't resist - if your agent offers "advice and wine as needed" then she's a keeper :)

I have a feeling a lot of wine will be involved in my home sale!

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