Here is a list of frequent questions sellers ask, or should ask about selling their home. This list is to help you consider what you should give thought to before you put your home on the market.
Read each question and think carefully about the answer given your home-selling or home-buying situation. If you are unable to answer any question, you can ask me for the answer. I have many of the answers regarding technology, the market conditions, what you should and should not do during a real estate transactions, what you control and don’t control, and the steps in the buying and selling process. I usually go over most or all of these during a consultation with my buyers and sellers.
Buyer Questions
Who should I talk to before going out and looking for homes?
Why am I thinking about buying a home?
What are the steps to buying a home?
What do I need in a home?
What is happening with interest rates?
What four things should I look at when comparing homes?
In the location that interests me, is there a buyer market or a sellers market going on right now?
What kinds of technology can a good Real Estate Agent use to best help me in buying a home?
Do I expect an agent to help me analyze the market, assist with negotiations, and assist me with pricing?
How will my agent stay in communication with me?
Have I told my agent everything he/she needs to know to make it easier in the home buying transaction?
What have I neglected to mention?
What do all sellers want? (Knowing this will better enable me to make an appropriate offer)
Given the current real estate market, what would be the best offer to make on a home that I like?
How might the seller react if my offer is too low?
Do I have a good database to keeps names, telephone numbers and email addresses of people I need to consult during the homebuying process?
Do I have a good cell phone that will store this information as well as take photos and allow me to send the photos to my laptop or desktop?
What other tools should I use in the home hunting process? (Map, flashlight, measuring device, meter to check electrical outlets, screw driver, digital camera)
What websites can I go to to find useful and up to date information about the local market and the homebuying process?
What do I require in a home?
What kind of neighborhood do I want to live in?
What is the average amount of days homes are on the market in the neighborhoods I am interested in?
Are schools an issue? Do I know the school ratings for the home I like?
What kinds of features would I like to have?
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being awful and 10 being terrific, what one thing would my home have to have to be a 10?
How about a 10+?
How about a 10++?
What am I able to afford?
Do I have a preapproval letter in writing from my lender?
Why should I have that?
What is PITI?
What is PMI, and why should I avoid it?
What is a prepayment penalty and why should I avoid it?
What are other creative ways to buy a home without going through a lender?
What are the tax benefits of home ownership?
What is deductible?
What are the benefits off owning a home?
What are the benefits of owning investment property?
What are the benefits of owning a second home?
What disclosures should I get from the seller?
What is the difference between getting pre-qualified and pre-approved for mortgage financing?
What is my credit score and what does that mean when out shopping for homes?
What lender can offer me the best mortgage loan package?
What three lenders would I like to do business with?
Why should I have a home inspection?
Where can I find a good home inspector?
What goes on during an inspection?
What does the inspector look for?
Should I be present during the home inspection?
What should I know about home inspectors?
What are the four kinds of home inspections I may need to have?
What happens after I sign a sales contract on a home I want?
How can I get out of a deal once I have signed the sales contract?
Seller Questions
What has got me to start thinking about selling my home?
What is my home’s price range?
How did I determine this?
What do sellers want when they sell their home?
What does market value mean to me?
What happens if I price my home above market value?
What happens if I price my home below market value?
What is the best pricing strategy for my home?
What is the benefit of pricing my home at a level that creates an auction like environment? (This would be a good time to visit an auction)
What can I tell buyers I liked most about living here and what I have liked least about living here?
Is there anything I need to tell buyers that materially affect the value of the property? What is it?
Is there anything in the neighborhood that may materially affect the value of my home?
What is my timeframe for selling the home?
What is my backup plan if my home does not sell within my desired time frame?
What should I do before I put my home on the market?
How can I stage my home so that it attracts the best buyers?
What could I pack away in the garage to thin out the rooms in the home?
Do I need to put a fresh coat of paint on the walls?
Since neutral is the best color for the walls when trying to sell, what neutral color should I paint the walls prior to putting my home on the market?
What would give the home more appearance of space and light?
What is deferred maintenance?
What repairs have I put off or neglected to make?
Since the buyer will probably want a home inspection, who pays for this?
When does an inspection occur?
After my offer comes back from the seller accepted, how many days do I have in which to get a general home inspection done?
What are four possible kinds of home inspections?
How much time do I have to respond to the home inspection after I receive the inspection report?
What should I know about Home Inspectors?
Where do buyers come from?
There are four main groups of buyers: first time homebuyers, moving up buyers, relocation buyers and investors. What group would be most interested in my home?
What should a good marketing plan have to attract this group of buyers?
What is the most effective way to advertise?
What are possible marketing strategies for your home? (Discuss this with your Realtor since this should be a team effort)
Why would my home attract that type of buyer?
On a scale of 1 to 10, what one thing would have to happen to make the sale of my home a 10?
How about a 10+?
How about a 10++?
Why are these things important to me?
In a shifting marketplace, what do I control I the sale of my home?
What don’t I control?
After I receive an offer from a buyer, what are my options?
What would be the best business approach to dealing with an offer which is not quite what I was asking for?
What are the Realtor’s responsibilities in selling the home?
What are my responsibilities in selling my home?
What should I not do during the transaction?
Who do I know, who might be interested in buying my home?
Will the agent show my home enough?
Will the agent advertise my home enough?
How will the agent advertise my home?
What is my agents internet marketing plan?
What other things can my agent do with technology to market and sell my home?
How will the agent stay in communication with me?
What makes for the best marketing plan?
Do I know what the Multiple Listing Service is and how it can help me sell my home?
What makes one agent’s marketing plan better than another’s?
What time frame do I have in which I need to sell this home and move into the next?
What should I expect to pay at closing?
What will the buyer expect me to pay at closing?
What is my agent’s unique selling proposition USB?
That is, what makes him stand out from the rest?
What technology tools should an agent have to help me sell my home faster and with the least amount of inconvenience?
How will the real estate agent stay in touch with me during the marketing and sale of my home?
What is more important to me, the net or the list price?
What will I be expected to pay at closing?
What does the buyer typically pay and what does the seller typically pay during a transaction?
What items in a sales contract are not negotiable?
What item do I want to leave with the home and what items do I want to take?
Why should I offer a buyer a one year home warranty plan?