How to Sell a House

If you've listened to some of our previous episodes and wondered what the different real estate terms mentioned in them meant, use this episode as your dictionary. Whether you're just embarking on the home-selling process or have been into it for a while, it's important you know these 16 (+more) terms. 

Loren, Cassidy, and Chris have compiled a list of the most commonly used real estate and home selling terms and explained them in detail for this episode. Starting with listing price, down payment, and the different kinds of fees, including escrow and mortgage fees, etc.

A few of the many terms to look out for:

• Listing price: The price that initially hits the market.
• Closing costs: The fees associated with buying or selling a house. These include your escrow fees, mortgage fees, appraisal, legal fees, association fees, and other commission fees.
• Commission: A fee paid to a real estate agent for their services.
• Escrow: The neutral third party in the transaction that hands over the grant deed to the new buyer and the money to the seller.
• Deed or grant deed: The piece of paper that shows who owns a home.
• Seller’s market: A term that we use to classify how hot the market is.
• Downpayment: The cash amount that the buyers are bringing to the table; the part that they're not getting a loan for.
• Counteroffer: It is a response to the offer written and this is typically generated by the seller.
• Earnest money: Your initial deposit. 
• Appraisal: An estimate of the property's fair market value.
• Contingencies: A condition that has to be met before you get to the next part of the transaction.
• Due diligence: The timeframe in which the buyers have to go through all of the inspections. 
• Rent back: A timeframe that the buyer agrees to let you stay in the property after it closes.
• + more!

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If you’re thinking about selling your home you likely have a ton of questions. Well, let’s get them answered!

In today’s FAQ episode of How To Sell A House, Chris, Cassidy, and Loren answer the most popular questions about the home selling process. Though almost all of these have been addressed in separate episodes of the podcast, this will recap everything and provide a starting point for your planning, preparation, and promotion for the sale.

Questions to look out for:

• What are the most important things to do before selling your house? (Pricing, preparation, promotion)
• How can you make your house more appealing to potential buyers?
• What should you do if you’re having trouble selling your house?
• Is it easy for people to call and get an appointment to see your house?
• How much money will you get from selling your house?
• Can you sell your house without a real estate agent or broker?
• Are you prepared to negotiate all the different things you will need to negotiate?

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Ever heard of iBuyers? These are real estate companies that use algorithms and technology to buy and resell homes quickly. Sounds like a lot less hassle, doesn’t it? 

One of the biggest reason people may choose to sell to an iBuyer is convenience. Yet, there are many things you must know before deciding to work with iBuyers.

Tune in to today’s episode as Loren, Chris, and Cassidy explain everything they know about iBuyers and how to decide if you should be selling your house to them.

Points to look out for:

• What are the pros and cons of selling to an iBuyer?
• Pros include convenience, no need for repairs, etc.
• Cons include not being able to negotiate the price.
• Get feedback from a professional agent
• Selling to an iBuyer is not always going to land you the best price.
• Sellers should research all available options before looking at the iBuyer route, and also have a conversation with a trusted realtor in their area.

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You've done so much work to make your house perfect and sale ready; and yet, you aren't landing interested buyers. What is it that's keeping buyers from making an offer?

Is it the looks, or is it the price? Or does it have something to do with the market? Or is it all of the reasons combined?

Find out in this episode of the How To Sell A House podcast with Cassidy, Chris, and Loren. Listen up as they share the top 5 reasons your house is still on the market waiting to be sold despite you having done so much to land it to the right buyer! 

Points to look out for:

• Price your home correctly: any home will sell for the right price
• Don't be there during the showings.
• People have different opinions on things, so be aware of that. For instance, some buyers would not want to be around power lines, but some would be okay with that.
• Make a list of the positives and negatives of your property and price accordingly.
• Professional photos make all the difference in the world.
• It is important to assess the market conditions when you're trying to sell your house. Have an idea about your competition and be prepared to compete with them.

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The process of selling a house can be daunting; from understanding how the market operates to managing the expectations of potential buyers. But if you’re willing to put in some work, there are a number of ways to sell your home quickly and for more money. And the first is knowing the most common mistakes made by sellers and doing the work to avoid them yourself.

In this episode, Loren, Chris, and Cassidy reveal the mistakes they’ve seen many sellers make. Save yourself a lot of time, money, and effort with your home sale – tune in!

What you’ll learn:

• The number one mistake when selling their house: not preparing it properly. This involves cleaning, maintaining, repairing, fixing, and all the other things that go behind making your house sale ready.
• The second mistake sellers make when selling your house: pricing the house too high. There are three pricing strategies you can adopt: Price your home right at the market, and you'll get the normal amount of buyers coming and have normal competition, Price it a bit lower than the competition, and you’ll create a feeding frenzy. Everybody would then see it as a deal, and may even end up driving the price up, or Overpricing, which is definitely not the way to go, especially in recent times as the buyers become savvier.
• The third mistake sellers make is not making their house available for showings as much as possible.
• The fourth mistake is not investing in an agent. A good agent will make sure you disclose things that you need to disclose and catch problems before they become a problem.
• The fifth mistake people make when selling their house is not considering their financial situation. Not considering the broader financial situation: the closing costs, concessions, fees, etc.

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What can you do if you’re “underwater” with your home or cannot afford to sell it for whatever reason? 

An underwater mortgage situation is when your home purchase loan has a higher principal than what it’ll sell for. There are different ways to go about it, depending on whether or not you can still afford the payments. In this episode, Loren, Chris, and Cassidy explain adjustable-rate mortgages, short sales, and rentals to help you get an idea of the options you have in every situation, no matter how bad it is.

What you’ll learn:

• What does it mean to be underwater with your home?
• What can you do if you can’t afford to sell your house?
• Think if you can rent it and how much you can ask as rent. If you decide to rent your home out, make sure the numbers make sense.
• Refinance your mortgage. Having a conversation with your lender about refinancing can help you get into a better spot.
• Look at a potential short sale. Negotiate with the lender to take less than what's owed on the home because it makes sense for them to do it based on the situation. Remember, the only real reason to do a short sale is if it’s the only option.
• Talk to a professional about it before deciding on what to do.

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Selling your home with the tenant still living there can be complicated. 

There are a few factors to take into consideration. On top of the challenge of asking your tenant to leave during the showings (It’s best if they’re not there), you’re also faced with cleaning and arranging your house to make it look good to new buyers. What about if the tenant doesn’t want to leave?

In this episode of the How To Sell A House podcast, Loren, Chris, and Cassidy are discussing those challenges and how to counter them with effective planning!

What you’ll learn:

• If you have a smaller window of time to show the home, you’ll most likely not be able to show it to all prospective buyers.
• Why some tenants are motivated to make your home selling tough.
• If your tenant doesn’t move out happily, you might want to ask them to vacate. But if they’ve lived there for longer than a year, you’ll have to give them a 60-day notice to vacate the property.
• Sit down and have a conversation with your tenant about your intention to sell the property.

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The process of selling your home can be very time-consuming and stressful, especially if you’re trying to sell it at the same time as you are buying a new home. However, if you plan ahead and execute a strategic process, it doesn’t have to be that difficult. There are a few ways people generally buy and sell simultaneously, which include:

>> Selling the house first and then buying the house right after. This rent-back method allows sellers to stay in their homes for some time even after the sale.

>> The contingent method, where you would sell your house and close it contingent, and buy the next home contingent upon that sale. 

>> Buying the house you want and then coming back and selling your house

In this episode of the How To Sell A House podcast, Loren, Chris, and Cassidy explore efficient ways on how to buy and sell a house at the same time.

What you’ll learn:

• What does contingent mean in real estate? Depending on certain circumstances, when a house is listed as contingent, it means that an offer has been accepted. But before the deal is complete, some additional criteria must be met. 
• How to buy and sell a house during the same timeframe at the same time.
• Rent back method: Renting your house back from the person who bought it from you.
• Buy your home contingent if you’d like more security.
• The last is buying a home before selling one; this is often done by taking a bridge loan.
• What’s going on with the free-rent-back deals?
• What is a contingent offer? 

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With a range of different prices and housing markets in different places, how do you make sure you get the best price for your house? 

Chris, Cassidy, and Loren take you through some helpful tips on how to get the most value for your home when selling in a changing market, starting with estimating how much your house is actually worth. And here’s the thing, it doesn’t involve using Zestimate or other websites to determine the price. You’ll hear actionable tips on how to sell your house fast and get the highest possible price for it. Whether you plan to sell soon or perhaps in a few years, now is a perfect time to start thinking about it. The sooner you begin preparing, the easier it will be when the time comes.

What you’ll learn:

• How do you know what your house is worth?
• Look at the “comps” (real estate comparables) in the neighborhood
• Try to find your floor plan. Try to find houses that are in your direct area that are similar to your house and see how much they're selling for and how long it's taking them to sell.
• Do your research and hit up your agent.
• Stage your home to make it look its best.
• Be patient and stay positive throughout the process.
• How to get the best price for your home (BEST tip): Work with an agent that has their pulse on the market working with buyers and sellers, following the market, and knowing what's actually going on.

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The thing you’ve been looking for is finally here…you’ve got an offer (or multiple offers) on your home. Now you need to figure out if is this the best offer for you. So how do you pick an offer? 

Let’s take a look at some strategies to help you make this choice wisely in this episode of How To Sell A House with Chris, Cassidy, and Loren. They explain how they put together a spreadsheet of important terms when they receive multiple offers for the same property, looking at the timeline of escrow closing, contingency periods or due diligence periods, buyers’ financing, their mode of buying the house, and more. Stay tuned to learn all about it!

What you’ll learn:

• What are the most important points to look at in your contract?
• How is an FHA offer different from a conventional offer?
• What if you get an offer below your list price?
• Don’t waste your first offer. Even if it’s low. Consider the other benefits and try to leverage it.
• What happens if the buyer walks away from the deal? 
• When you sell but also have to buy, have an agent that writes really good offers.
• What are the most important contingencies to look at?

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