Pamela Lynn Bartlett

Guidance, Correspondence, Relationships

Pamela Lynn Bartlett - 630.495.2888

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Welcome to My Real Estate Family Where Clients Are First - Always.

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Home and Property Sellers

 

Are you thinking about selling property?  There are many things you must consider to make wise, informed decisions and a few will be briefly highlighted here.  Our job is to guide you while working in your best interests and in accordance with our agency relationship.  Our goal is to make this as easy and enjoyable as possible.  Then help you proceed with your new plans.

Competition:  Agents and buyers know properly priced homes on the market usually won't be available for very long.  So if they are to be successful and have a glimmer of hope in buying a properly priced house, they'd better hurry, and not only that, they'd better come in with a higher-than-average offer because other buyers will be looking at it too, and possibly making competing offers. 

Showcase It!  Let's assume we've done our homework, determined a fair market price, and are ready to get the ball rolling to sell your property.  What's next?  Anytime anyone is selling something, there's considerable work that goes into the process before the first people come to check it out.  This is true for real estate as well as the sale running at the local department store.  You need to SHOWCASE IT and SHOW IT OFF!   Once we list your property for sale, we'll review our suggestions and instructions to showcase your property for maximum results.  Keep in mind, some people have trouble visualizing how something can look.  So it's best to stage your property properly from the beginning.

Timing and Market Conditions:  In Consumer's Ed way back in high school we learned about the laws of supply and demand.  Real estate is supply and demand in real life and it does have an impact on your bottom line.  We'll review this in detail when we meet.

Tell the World!: Everything is ready. It's time to tell the world it's for sale.  We're here and you're somewhere in this big universe reading our  web page about selling.  

Things you really should need to know...

1.  All offers must be presented to you, unless you direct your agent, in writing, otherwise.  A buyers agent may ask for proof, a written  acknowledgement, the buyers offer was presented to you for your  consideration, especially if the buyers agent cannot personally present the buyers offer.  This is the fair and honest thing to do so all parties are assured in writing everything was done properly, should any questions arise later on. 

There are a variety of ways to present your offers and it's YOUR CHOICE how you want the offers presented.  

IN PERSON - One option is to schedule a meeting with you, your listing agent, and the buyers agent so they may personally present the buyers offer to you.  Of course, you'll be able to ask the buyers agent to leave you and your listing agent alone to privately discuss the offer and decide what you want to do - accept, counter, or reject the price and/or any of the terms.  

THROUGH YOUR AGENT ONLY - Again, your choice - if you don't want to meet with the other agent, another option is the buyers agent can deliver or fax the offer to the listing agents office for presentation to the seller.   There is now a form you should sign for this option because the buyers agent has a right to request it before delivering the buyers offer to the listing agent.

A TELEPHONE PRESENTATION - with your agent only, or a conference call with your agent and the buyers agent presenting the offer.  Used a lot for out of area sellers, but there are circumstances where this would be better/easier/quicker for all parties (i.e. executives on very tight schedules, nearly impossible to get all sellers together at once for offer  presentation, those working odd-hours, etc.).  

FAX PRESENTATION - where the offer is submitted to you via fax and you can call your agent to discuss. 

Regardless which way you choose to go, you will always have the right to talk privately with only your agent  so you can freely discuss the offer, review your options, then make your decisions.  

Often times once the initial presentation has been made, other negotiations are handled by phone and fax until either all issues have been agreed to by all parties or the offer is cancelled because the parties cannot reach an agreement on price/terms.

2.  To truly know you've received the highest and best offer for your property it needs to be exposed to the greatest number of potential buyers - the best ways,  is through the MLS, and through great internet exposure---like ours. 

If your property wasn't entered into the MLS prior to you accepting an offer from a buyer, how do you know another agent from another company doesn't have a equally or better qualified buyer, willing to pay a higher price than what has been offered?  

You won't know unless your property is exposed to the greatest pool of potential buyers - those working with all agents through the MLS (part of the purpose for the MLS any way).  

The more people that know about a property, the more excitement it creates, the more activity (showings) it can produce, the greater your odds for creating more interest from all agents and prospective buyers, increasing your odds for receiving one or more offers, resulting in a sale for the highest price and best terms.  Isn't that what you really want?  Highest price, best terms - then make sure it gets the MLS exposure it deserves.  

FYI:  Our MLS rules give an agent 72 hours from signing your listing agreement to get your listing entered into the MLS system, otherwise they can be fined.  It's your agents responsibility to make sure this gets done on time.  The quicker it gets in,  the better for you.  Unless you instruct your listing agent, in writing, to withhold your listing from the MLS, until a certain date before releasing it to the MLS, your listing must be submitted in accordance with our MLS rules - 72 hours at the most.  

You can easily double check to make sure this has been done too in a couple of ways.  1.  Simply call another office, ask for property information for your address.  They'll be able to pull it up on the MLS system - if it's there.  2.  Ask your agent to send you a copy of it on the third day - either by email (a listing from the MLS will have the copyright info of the MLS at the bottom if it's legit) or hand delivered along with your colored property flyers for distribution during showings.

Getting a listing into the MLS as soon as possible truly is working for the clients best interest-with very few exceptions.  Isn't this what you'd expect your agent to do on your behalf.

When You're Interviewing Prospective Agents to Represent You, these questions are much more important than the number of listings/sales and "extra credentials" they claim. You will be with this agent perhaps for quite a while to come.  Ask yourself these questions---

Where is their real focus during their presentation - on you, your needs, your goals, and how they're going to help you succeed (staging the property for sale, tours, open houses, internet marketing, Talking House, Sellers Home Feedback, etc.). Have they presented you with all your options for a smooth sale-from before it's listed until after the closing?  Or has their focus been on them, their endless "credentials", their many transactions, how savvy they may be during negotiations, etc.?  

Have they shown you how organized they are to stay on top of the details necessary to close - their checklist/system?  Do they have a follow up system for showings?  Feedback to you?   Were you impressed by their marketing materials?  How do they plan to showcase your property?  Would other agents and buyers be impressed?  Or was it a copy of a copy of a copy...hard to read, unimpressive, not professional?  

Do you think their marketing plan and pricing is realistic?  Did they prove to you in black and white how they arrived at the price they suggest?  What if you sign with them and you're not happy?  Do they offer an Easy Exit from the listing agreement?  What steps would be involved to cancel a listing agreement-would they have to get someone's permission or can they just cancel the listing agreement themselves?

While it's nice to hear someone is available 24/7/365, in reality is that realistic?  Personally, we know we have to sleep practically every night, not to mention grocery shopping, meal preparations, spending time with our family so they don't think we're imaginary, church, etc. to name a few.  We are people and have families too.  Time management is key.  Most agents incorporate systems (internet marketing, email, phone messaging, pagers, cell phones, etc.) to aid in communication and to help service our sellers and buyers because we actually don't work 24/7/365 - our systems do.  One important element of this is a direct phone number to your agent - whether it's an office number, a cell phone number, etc. so calls won't be misdirected or lost.

Our feeling is this: most importantly - do you feel comfortable with the agent?  What was your gut instinct?  It's important to listen to that little inner voice.  First impression - quickly - which do you think is/will be more important to them: adding your sale to their list of stats or keeping your best interests first and foremost at the heart of the process and transaction?  Are they passionate about their job and representing your needs and goals above everything else?   Their presentation really will "tell you" which is ultimately more important to them - regardless what they say.  Listen and carefully observe what they show you.  It will tell you what you need to know.

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