4. List your home with a real estate agent and office. To get the most exposure for your home in the marketplace, you will need to list your home with a real estate agent and office. The agent will then list your home on the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), where hundreds or thousands of agents have access to your listing. These agents also will have access, at your home, to a lock box with a key. This gives them access to your home, so they can show it to their buyers. All MLSs as members of the National Association of Realtors will also list their homes on the Internet at www.realtor.com. Here both agents and the public can search for homes in any community throughout the United States. Your agent also will put a for sale sign on your property. Additional marketing options may be available through your agent and office.
5. Determine a realistic listing price. One of the more difficult decisions to make is to determine a realistic listing price. This should be done objectively by comparing your home with recent sales of homes that are comparable to yours, and then make adjustments for differences in condition, features, and amenities. Comparing recently sold homes is called a Comparable Market Analysis (CMA). Your agent has access to sales information via the MLS to put together a CMA. Your listing price should be based on sales facts of homes sold and not on your emotional attachment.
6. Disclosures Requirements. When you as an owner sell your home, you are required by California real estate law to provide a variety of disclosures. Some disclosures are specific requirements such as Smoke Detectors, Water Heater Strapping, Lead Based Paint, Natural Hazards Disclosure report, and others. Another type of disclosure is the Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) and usually a Supplemental report. In these, you describe both the current condition of your property and changes you have made such as improvements and existing problems as well as area and neighborhood information. You are to disclose what are called “material facts”. These are facts that might influence a buyer’s decision to buy or not buy your property. In essence, you are selling your property “as disclosed”. The title company will issue a preliminary title report for the buyer to review. It will describe the current legal conditions affecting title such as easements and liens against the property. (continued - page 3) (back to page 1) (Printer Version - pdf)