A real estate sale, whether buying or selling, is no joke! You might ask yourself, “Can it be done without a Realtor®?” Or, “Is it wise to do it alone?”
If you are ready to sell your home, congratulations—that is half the battle. I’m sure you have visited my website, StephenBurchard.com, or downloaded a step-by-step guide on preparing your home to sell. Bravo!
Do you have a buyer lined up? Terrific! You may be wondering why you would even need a Realtor®. You’ve already done everything, right?
Wrong!
If you want the real estate sale to go smoothly with fewer hiccups or stress, you must do much more. Consider working with a real estate agent even if you already have a buyer who wants to purchase your home.
Finding a buyer is only one part of selling a home in California. There are several parts to a home sale, including the offer, terms, contingencies, and, finally, the closing.
Offer
A written offer is required, and it must comply with all state and local laws. The buyer’s earnest money deposit must be kept in escrow with a third party, such as the title company, to keep it safe throughout the home sale process.
Terms
The terms of the sale are a significant part of the contract. They cover what stays with the house and what you want to take when you move. That sounds pretty simple, but have you looked at everything in your home? Do you want to take your grandmother’s mirror or the chandelier you and your beloved spent so much time picking out? Other items, such as appliances, will need to be detailed in the paperwork as items conveyed with the house when purchased. Realtors® do this daily and have the paperwork you need. We make it look easy because we do it every day.
Other terms must be considered. How is this sale being financed? Will the lender require an appraisal? A Realtor® knows all the right questions to ask and has all the correct forms to provide. Your Realtor® will ensure that the terms of sale and contingencies are clearly outlined
Contingencies
Another part of the contract covers contingencies. If these contingencies are met or released, the purchase will go through. There can be multiple contingencies. The more common ones are inspections and selling disclosures, also known as the condition of the property. Approving the condition of property disclosure is essential to minimizing potential future lawsuit exposure.
Appraisal contingencies are also part of the loan because a property’s value has to be verified for the loan to be approved. A loan contingency provides that the lender must do their due diligence to approve the buyer’s ability to repay the property loan.
There can also be other contingencies depending on the property and the buyer.
Closing
Finally, we have the closing phase, which includes wiring instructions, deposits, title reports, contracts, escrows, and more. There is a lot involved!
All parties must complete all the paperwork, review it, sign it, and open escrow. A good Realtor® can easily accomplish this task since we are so familiar with the process. Your agent may also have digital ways to sign documents to save you time and travel. It sounds simple, but there is a considerable amount of paperwork when you close a home, especially in California.
If anything is missed or completed incorrectly, it could cause issues or delays with the sale. A real estate agent will help you coordinate all the escrow and closing process logistics. Then, we make sure nothing is missing. We help coordinate the signing for all parties to ensure everything goes smoothly. Finally, we provide information to escrow about the buyer and seller, loan information, warranties, and reports required by California.
In conclusion, there is a lot more to a real estate sale than finding a buyer. The state of California requires a ton of forms, which alone are a lot to navigate. Escrow can help with some of it, but they can’t help with everything.
A good Realtor® makes this all look easy, but trust me, there is much work going on in the background you don’t see.
If you have any questions about the real estate sale process, I’m happy to answer them. Click here to schedule a call with me: Stephen Burchard, The Desert Bowtie Realtor®, taking the (k)nots out of real estate.
