It’s important to me to deliver an exceptional home selling experience to each client. Below is a list of services I provide
•Research and review recent sales with you to help you price your home. Determining “Fair Market Value” is not an exact science. My job, as an experienced agent, is also to estimate the quarterly increase in home values in your community and the surrounding communities. There are several matters we will need to discuss prior to listing, e.g., Buyer escalation clauses, appraisal value, home inspection addenda, multiple offers, settlement and possession needs, etc.
•List your home for sale on the Multiple Listing Service (MRED). This opens your home to the buyer/clients of more than 10,000 licensed Realtors in the Chicagoland area.
•Provide and install a professional for sale sign and strategically located directional signs..
•Provide and install an electronic key box (“lockbox”) for greater security. The value of a lockbox is that: (1) only licensed Realtors can enter your home and (2) the name, date & time of all Realtors who do enter your home are automatically recorded electronically.
•Measure your home and gather information for ads and feature sheets. At the listing presentation I will provide you with an amenities form to complete (or we can complete it together) so that you can note some of the things you like about your home. These are things that caused you to buy the home. They are also things that will most assuredly appeal to prospective buyers.
•Advertise your home on our office e-mail bulletin to real estate agents. I like to do this prior to entering the listing in the MLS so that interest and expectation is generated among realtors prior to the day your listing is entered in the Multiple Listing service.
•Take interior and exterior photos of your home (for inclusion in your home’s “feature Sheet” and also for inclusion in the MLS and Realtor.com
•Prepare and deliver detailed feature sheets: including color photo(s) of your home, detailed and accurate description of your home’s amenities, and all legal documents that must be presented to prospective buyers prior to contract offer. If you have a copy of your home’s Plat (survey) and “model layout” is available, I would like to include those documents as well.
•More and more home buyers are turning to the Internet to research homes for sale. Recent surveys indicate that as many as 80% of potential buyers will utilize the Internet in their search for a home. As a home seller, it's critically important that your home is easy for home buyers to find. I will place an advertisement for your home on the following websites to increase exposure to potential buyers.
•Internet advertising, including interior/exterior photos, on many web sites, including, but not limited to REALTOR.COM. bairdwarner.com, craigslist.com, homes.com, remax.com, coldwellbanker.com, weichert.com, century21.com, homesdatabase.com, justlisted.com, etc.
•Internet advertising, including interior and exterior photos, on MRED (the MLS service accessible to all Illinois and Chicagoland Realtors). That is approximately 40,000 Realtors+ (working with “ready, willing and able” buyers) who will be advised that your home is for sale.
•Internet advertising on the my office website www.bairdwarner.com and www.victorlopez.bairdwarner.com
•Prepare and e-mail a "Just Listed" message to hundreds of local REALTORS and/or "Open House" Invitations
•Prepare and distribute a "Just Listed" flyer to all local real estate offices (TBD - if advisable)
•Advertise your home in the Chicago Tribune Sunday Real Estate Section and on the Chicago Tribune Real Estate Web page
•Conduct “Broker Opens” for agents to preview your home (TBD - if advisable). In this rigorous market, this should be performed later in the marketing process.
•Conduct public “Open Houses” (with your permission but recommended). An Open House should be performed immediately after listing your home in the MLS. I will discuss the value of this during Listing Presentation. I also try to have a reputable lender present at the Open House to qualify buyers and assist them with different loan options for purchasing your home.
•Answer all inquiries about your home from other REALTORS within 2 hours or less.
•Answer all inquiries from potential buyers within 1 hour or less.
•Qualify potential buyers whenever possible. If a prospective buyer is represented by another realtor, this won’t be necessary because Realtors pre-qualify their client-buyers before showing them homes.
•Conduct showings of your home with potential buyers
•Fully cooperate with buyer's agents and offer a competitive commission to them
•Follow up on all showings by other REALTORS and report the results to you
•Negotiate with the buyer's agent or un-represented buyer to ensure you receive the best possible price and terms for your home.
•Fully explain the terms and conditions of all offers to you and help you choose among competing offers. It’s important to be able to properly evaluate competing offers and buyer’s lender letters. And, all lenders & loan officers are not equal. Generally, if anything is going to go wrong in the sale of a home it will be the buyer’s financing.
•Assist appraisers in properly appraising your home. Depending on the ultimate sales price your home receives, it may be advisable for me to assist the appraiser by providing him/her with suitable comparables to ensure your home appraises for the sales price. I’ve never had a listing not appraise for the sales price because I go the extra mile to make certain we price the home correctly and that, in the event of multiple offers and a higher sold price than list price, that the appraiser is offered suitable comparables to demonstrate that the appraised value should equal the sold price.
•Monitor the buyer’s home inspection and be present to answer questions.
•Provide you with copies of all documents that form the parts of the sales agreement and ensure that all contractual documents are provided to: the settlement attorney’s office, my brokerage office and the buyer’s lender
•Assist you in negotiating the terms of the buyer’s home inspection addendum. (i.e., discuss with your which items on the addendum must be corrected (per the main contract) vs. other items that do not need to be corrected… and the potential ramifications if you choose not to repair/replace certain items identified on the buyer’s home inspection addendum.
•Assist you in selecting professionals (plumbers, electricians, termite inspectors, handymen, roofers, HVAC inspectors, etc.) to complete the home inspection addendum items prior to settlement.
•Monitor & obtain final removal of conditions & contingencies from the buyer per the terms of the contract (i.e., obtain and provide to the buyer any home owner’s association and/or condo association packets as required in the sales contract)
•Monitor the buyer’s loan as it is processed in underwriting
•Provide you with copies of all documents that form the parts of the sales agreement and ensure that all contractual documents are provided to:
•Convey & monitor payoff of your first trust and other final instructions to the settlement attorney’s office.
•Monitor the activities of the Settlement company to ensure the necessary documentation and reviews are being performed (e.g., title work, tax adjustments, receipt of buyer’s loan documentation, assessments and adjustments, preparation of an accurate HUD-1 Settlement Statement)
•Ensure that the buyer has fulfilled their obligations to you before releasing keys
•Handle all details concerning possession of the property with the buyer's agent. (This may also involve preparing and negotiating Pre-Occupancy Agreements, Post-Occupancy Agreements and Decorator/Limited Access Agreements.)
•Provide you with a checklist of things to do between contract ratification & settlement (e.g., a moving checklist, utility shutoff, etc.)
•Conduct a “dry-run” final walk-thru prior to the buyer’s final walk-thru inspection to ensure all systems are in proper working order and that all items on the Home Inspection Addendum have been complied with.
•Attend your Settlement -- monitor the proceeding and assist you in negotiating any last minute walk-thru items and/or concerns the buyer may have.