INFORMEDSELLER’S GUIDE

EASING YOUR HOME SELLING PROCESS WITH PREPARATION

AND KNOWLEDGE

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Just by getting your hands on this book, you have given yourself a leg up against other sellers in a competitive market!

Hello!

I’m Justin Cox; Realtor, Founder of Boise Family Homes, and Partner at Amherst Madison Legacy Real Estate.

My intention here is the same as it is for all my published materials: to make the client or customer as informed as possible. When it comes to your transaction, nothing helps smooth the process and ease fear more than preparation and knowledge.

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Contact a Realtor

Yes, even before you decide to sell. A Realtor can help you with that decision by getting you an accurate price opinion on your home, helping you understand the timeline involved, and the marketability of your property. There is no online resource as powerful as a personal, professional expert.

Decide on, and commit

To your timeline. Everyone thinks it’s price, but WHEN you want to sell is the most individually important decision you will make, as it will influence every subsequent decision.

Listing Price

Use your agent’s price opinion to help you decide on a listing price, and sign a representation agreement with your agent. This allows the agent to truly begin working on your behalf.

Decisions

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions. After Listing Agent, Timeline, and Listing Price you thought you were done, right? Not even close. I’ll cover *some* of the multitude of decisions you will need to make after the (14) step summary…

Your Pre-Photography to-do list

It’s not listing day that matters, it’s picture day! Your Boise Family Homes agent will help you create that “to-do” list, and recommend professionals to help you such as landscapers, handymen, and professional staging.

Picture Day!

Our photographers are of highest professional caliber, and your agent will be there to help that day, so you don’t need to be.

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Pre-Listing Marketing

If you agreed with your agent in step #4 that unlisted marketing is a good idea, they will start generating “buzz” for your property during the Coming Soon period. Your agent is using this time to develop the online and printed pieces they will use to market your property. Hopefully the brokerage word-of-mouth is generating some interest, and you have time to prepare for a busy showing schedule.

Listing Day!

Your property “goes live” on the IMLS, and all the syndicated sites that work with Amherst Madison Legacy, including sites like Zillow and Trulia. Depending on the level of market activity in your price range, you can expect showing activity almost immediately.

Showings, and… offers

Your agent analyzes the data regarding showings, views, contacts of all types, and feedback on your property. If a recommended course of action appears, they will present it to you.

Negotiations

Offer Analysis and then a rejection, acceptance, or counter-offer. You have a measure of control, but it is an unnerving process that puts a premium on experience.

Acceptance

When both parties come to an agreement, the Buyer’s agent opens title and escrow by depositing the Earnest Money, and we are considered “Under Contract.”

Get ready to Move!

If the Buyer has a lender involved, the transaction will usually take 32-40 days from acceptance. During this period, the Buyer will have a home inspection, and possibly request some repairs. A pre-listing inspection can prevent some of these requests, and your agent can help you negotiate with the buyer regarding repairs.

Document Signing.

Ominously referred to as “The Closing Table”, this is simply a meeting where you sign all related documents that the Title company prepares on your behalf.

Fund and Record

Usually within a day or two of document signing, the lender pays the remaining balance, and the change in deed is recorded. You receive the funds from the sale, and keys are released by the Title company.

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Important Seller Decisions

• Listing Agent

• Staging or No?

• Showing Availability

• Listing/Selling Price

• Pre-listing inspection

• Minor Repairs?

• Moving Timeline

• Scheduling Photography

• Include Home Warranty?

• Types of Financing?

• Willingness to Negotiate?

• Are you also buying?

Experience and Negotiations

Among other things, a Realtor knows how untrue the following is: “I can always price it high and come down if it doesn’t sell.” You can lose money, time, or both because of inexperience with pricing, staging, marketing, and then the actual selling of your property. I didn’t even mention paperwork.

Marketing Advantages

Network(s). Every Realtor will have a personal network of potential buyers to tap, and a group of agents they work with at their brokerage with the same. These alone could sell your home.

Professional Marketing Resources. Statistics tell us that in 2016, 2-5% of buyers find their home from a sign, and another 6% found their home in a print ad. The rest were direct mail marketing, or overwhelmingly online. Just by using the IMLS, a Realtor will leverage your listing and reach 10-20 times the number of legitimate buyers for your property.

Personal Representation

A Realtor is simply your agent in all things real estate, acting purely on your behalf. They should be full of information, not hold back on advice or bad news, and helping you avoid the multiple, unpredictable pitfalls. Highly overlooked in choosing a Realtor is the fact that it is a trust relationship, so make sure you seek a good personality fit.

Before you sign a contract with an agent, you are entitled to understand the law regarding Agency in Idaho. I have included a copy of the Agency Disclosure Brochure at the end of this guide, as well as the Seller’s Representation Agreement for your review.

Don’t go it Alone!

For Sale By Owner is a big mistake. Most of those that try are trying to avoid Realtor commissions, which seems to make sense but ends up being a far more expensive choice, and here’s why:

Realistic Price Opinion

A “CMA” or Comparative Price Analysis is the simplest form of price opinion. Some are fully automated, such as Zillow’s Zestimate, some are partially automated with an agent finding “comps”, and some are manually done completely by the agent. A Price Opinion is formed using all available data, including a CMA. Guessing by what your neighbor’s house sold for last year is a very poor substitute, and what you save in commission % you could easily give away in equity.

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BOISE FAMILY HOMES DOES IT BETTERWe have to

There are over 9000 real estate licensees in the Treasure Valley, and if we want your business we MUST stand out. I just explained what all Realtors should be doing for you, here is why I should be your Realtor.

Accurate Price Opinions and Strategy

A CMA is a good place to start, but our agents go much further. Our tools include public records searches, appraiser style analysis, and attention to detail. We consider an accurate price opinion to be tantamount to providing value for our clients.

Professional Contacts and Network

I like to say that I am only an expert in one thing, finding the expert. I have assembled a team full of Lenders, Title, Escrow, Handymen, Painters, Cleaners, and Landscapers to help you with the process from preparing, all the way through closing. Not only that, but I maintain a network of potential buyers and buyer’s agents that makes it *possible* that we sell your home before listing it.

Professional Marketing Package

I’ll customize a package for your home, based on what buyers are looking for in homes like yours. We provide distinct, high quality marketing in all forms, from printed to online. This list can include: property flyers, “just listed” postcard mailers, open house postcard mailers, social media blasts, virtual tours, 3D tours, floorplan layout generation. I will go into more detail during the Marketing and Pricing Presentation.

Online Syndication

Syndication is the online equivalent of a personal network. Amherst Madison pays thousands of dollars to “syndicate” their listings to over 20,000 online search portals (including BoiseFamilyHomes.com, Realtor.com, Zillow, and other big-name search sites). These portals are refreshed with a listings data and photography on average four times per day, and reach hundreds of thousands of potential buyers.

Professional Photography

It seems like everything today revolves around a high-resolution photograph. Boise Family Homes’ partnership with Amherst Madison provides many advantages, not the least of which is the photographer list. The list of photographers approved by Amherst Madison has been thoroughly vetted, and contains only the absolute best photographers available. I have included some of their work, not photoshopped. The goal is for Buyers to fall in love with the property before seeing it in person.

We call it “Personal Professionalism”

We will use every drop of experience, education, hard work, and craftiness in your best interest, and we’ll do it in a professional way. But it’s also a personal relationship, all about trust, and we do take your home sale personally.

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Before any Realtor can accurately price your home, I am a strong believer that they need to physically see the property, so that’s usually where we start. I would love if you would show me around, point out the things you love, the oddities that only a homeowner would know, and tell me some of the history to the place.

The subject of the meeting dictates that the Realtor do a lot of talking, but we’ve tried to organize everything into a quick PowerPoint presentation, specifically so there is more time for us to listen. Don’t be intimidated, it just covers a few important topics I am sure you were going to ask about anyway. PowerPoint topics include:

PRICING AND MARKETING STRATEGY MEETING

Introductions

A Personal Introduction, and the Listing Team. There will also be an introduction to Amherst Madison Legacy Real Estate.

The Breakdown

A breakdown of my commission.

Pricing

Pricing for Maximum Profit.

The Overview

An overview of the Marketing Plan, customizable for your home.

The Review

Review the automated CMA I ran before seeing the home, as a starting price point.

Representation Contracts

Introduce the Representation Contracts, eliminating surprises when it is time to sign

Listing Paperwork

Introduce other paperwork required for your listing

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Get Organized

Before our meeting, organize your thoughts and questions. If our presentation doesn’t cover it, make sure to ask!

It’s also extremely helpful if you can gather any paperwork you may have on the purchase or mainte-nance of the home.

Your Marketing

You can help me write compelling verbiage for your marketing with a list of your favorite 10 things about the home.

If you are also buying a home with us, or considering it, think about the 10 things you don’t like in the home (or why you are moving…).

A LITTLE ‘HOME’ WORK FOR YOU

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AGENCY DISCLOSURE BROCHUREA Consumer Guide to Understanding Agency Relationships in Real Estate Transactions

This informational brochure is published by the Idaho Real Estate Commission.

If you have any questions about the information in this brochure, contact:

Idaho Real Estate Commission

(208) 334-3285, TRS (800) 377-3529; irec.idaho.gov

Right now you are a Customer

Effective July 1st, 2016

Idaho law says a real estate brokerage and its licensees owe the following “Customer” duties to all consumers in real estate transactions:

• Perform necessary and customary acts to assist you in the purchase or sale of real estate;

• Perform these acts with honesty, good faith, reasonable skill and care;

• Properly account for money or property you place in the care and responsibility of the brokerage; and

• Disclose “adverse material facts” which the licensee knows or reasonably should have known. These are facts that would significantly affect the desirability or value of the property to a reasonable person, or facts establishing a reasonable belief that one of the parties cannot, or does not intend to, complete obligations under the contract.

If you are a Customer, a real estate licensee is not required to promote your best interests or keep your bargaining information confidential. If you use the services of a licensee and brokerage without a written Representation (Agency) Agreement, you will remain a Customer throughout the transaction.

A Compensation Agreement is a written contract that requires you to pay a fee for a specific service provided by a brokerage, and it is not the same as a Representation Agreement. If you sign a Compensation Agreement, you are still a Customer, but the brokerage and its licensees owe one additional duty:

• Be available to receive and present written offers and counter-offers to you or from you.

You may become a Client

If you want a licensee and brokerage to promote your best interests in a transaction, you can become a “Client” by signing a Buyer or Seller Representation (Agency) Agreement. A brokerage and its licensees will owe you the following Client duties, which are greater than the duties owed to a Customer:

• Perform the terms of the written agreement;

• Exercise reasonable skill and care;

• Promote your best interests in good faith, honesty, and fair dealing;

• Maintain the confidentiality of your information, including bargaining information, even after the representation has ended;

• Properly account for money or property you place in the care and responsibility of the brokerage;

• Find a property for you or a buyer for your property, and assist you in negotiating an acceptable price and other terms and conditions for the transaction;

• Disclose all “adverse material facts” which the licensee knows or reasonably should have known, as defined above; and

• Be available to receive and present written offers and counter-offers to you or from you.

The above Customer or Client duties are required by law, and a licensee cannot agree with you to modify or eliminate any of them.

A “Sold” price of property is not confidential client information, for either buyers or sellers, and may be disclosed by a licensee.

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“Agency” is a term used in Idaho law that describes the relationships between a license and the parties to a real estate transaction.

Agency Representation (Single Agency)

Under “Agency Representation” (sometimes referred to as “Single Agency”), you are a Client and the licensee is your Agent who represents you, and only you, in your real estate transaction. The entire brokerage is obligated to promote your best interests. No licensee in the brokerage is allowed to represent the other party to the transaction.

If you are a seller, your Agent will seek a buyer to purchase your property at a price and under terms and conditions acceptable to you, and assist with your negotiations. If you request it in writing, your Agent will seek reasonable proof of a prospective purchaser’s financial ability to complete your transaction.

If you are a buyer, your Agent will seek a property for you to purchase at an acceptable price and terms, and assist with your negotiations. Your Agent will also advise you to consult with appropriate professionals, such as inspectors, attorneys, and tax advisors. If disclosed to all parties in writing, a brokerage may also represent other buyers who wish to make offers on the same property you are interested in purchasing.

Limited Dual Agency

“Limited Dual Agency” means the brokerage and its licensees represent both the buyer and the seller as Clients in the same transaction. The brokerage must have both the buyer’s and seller’s consent to represent both parties under Limited Dual Agency. You might choose Limited Dual Agency because you want to purchase a property listed by the same brokerage, or because the same brokerage knows of a buyer for your property. There are two kinds of Limited Dual Agency:

Without Assigned Agents: The brokerage and its licensees are Agents for both Clients equally and cannot advocate on behalf of one client over the other. None of the licensees at the brokerage can disclose confidential client information about either Client. The brokerage must otherwise promote the non-conflicting interests of both Clients; perform the terms of the Buyer and Seller

Representation Agreements with skill and care, and other duties required by law.

With Assigned Agents: The Designated Broker may assign individual licensees within the brokerage (“Assigned Agents”) to act solely on behalf of each Client. An assigned Agent has a duty to promote the Client’s best interests, even if your interests conflict with the interests of the other Client, including negotiating a price. An Assigned Agent must maintain the Client’s confidential information. The Designated Broker is always a Limited Dual Agent for both Clients and ensures the Assigned Agents fulfill their duties to their respective clients.

What to Look For in Any Written Agreement with a Brokerage

A Buyer or Seller Representation Agreement or Compensation Agreement should answer these questions:

• How will the brokerage get paid?

• When will this agreement expire?

• What happens to this agreement when a transaction is completed?

• Can I cancel this agreement, and if so, how?

• Can I work with other brokerages during the time of my agreement?

• What happens if I buy or sell on my own?

• Under an Agency Representation Agreement, am I willing to allow the brokerage to represent both the other party and me in a real estate transaction?

Real Estate Licensees are not Inspectors

Unless you and a licensee agree in writing, a brokerage and its licensees are not required to conduct an independent inspection of a property or verify the accuracy or completeness of any statements or representations made regarding a property. To learn about the condition of a property, you should obtain the advice of an appropriate professional, such as a home inspector, engineer or surveyor.

If you have any questions about the information in this brochure, contact:

Idaho Real Estate Commission

(208) 334-3285, TRS (800) 377-3529; irec.idaho.gov9

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If you sign a Representation Agreement or Compensation Agreement with a licensee, the contract is actually between you and the licensee’s brokerage. The Designated Broker is the only person authorized to modify or cancel a brokerage contract.

The licensee who gave you this brochure is licensed with:

Name of Brokerage:_______________________________________________ Phone: ________________

RECEIPT ACKNOWLEDGED

By signing below, you acknowledge only that a licensee gave you a copy of this Agency Disclosure Brochure.

This document is not a contract, and signing it does not obligate you to anything.

Printed Name/Signature: _______________________________________________ Date: ____________

Printed Name/Signature: _______________________________________________ Date: ____________

If you have any questions about the information in this brochure, contact:

Idaho Real Estate Commission

(208) 334-3285, TRS (800) 377-3529; irec.idaho.gov10

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