Selling Your Grand Rapids MN Area Home

STEP 1 : CHOOSE A LISTING AGENT

A listing agent represents you and has a fiduciary responsibility to look out for your best interest.

WHY HIRE CENTURY 21 LAND OF LAKES TO REPRESENT YOU IN YOUR HOME SELLING PROCESS?

EXPERIENCE
CENTURY 21 LAND OF LAKES HAS BEEN SELLING REAL ESTATE FOR OVER 40 YEARS IN THE GRAND RAPIDS MN AREA. We have 8 full time agents that live and work in the Itasca county area. 4 of the agents have their brokers license. Our agents work hard for our clients to achieve their desired outcome and our testimonials and quality service awards back that up. Our agents have a large data base of buyers that may be a fit for your property.

Step 2 : FIND OUT WHAT YOUR HOME IS WORTH

A sellers greatest mistake is often overpricing their home. Keep your price in line with homes that have sold that have similar features to your home and that have been identified in a comparative market analysis report prepared by one of our agents. Consider whether your market is hot, cold, or neutral and price according to the market. Pricing your home competitively, at the start will create more activity among brokers and buyers and lead to a more successful sale.

STEP 3: GET YOUR HOME READY TO SELL

Prepare your home for sale by cleaning and decluttering it and improving the curb appeal. You may ask what is decluttering, it is a process that in which you would go through your home and pack up and put away in storage anything that you do not use on daily basis. If you have a large amount of items in a room like tables, desks, nick knacks, chairs along with other items this makes that room appear smaller than it is and that will be the impression the buyer takes home with them. You may want to consider hiring a professional  to stage your home for showings to maximize the most dollars you will get for your home. You can also ask your real estate agent to help you with this. As we walk through your property we will discuss minor repairs, curb appeal tips and making your property feel welcoming to potential buyers.

Make any necessary repairs to the home that need to be done.

Remember you only get one chance – and sometimes only a few seconds to make a great impression. So make it count.

STEP 4: MARKETING YOUR HOME

You and your agent should identify the selling points of your home and choose the best advertising words to sell it. Understanding where buyers come from allows us as your agent to market your property competitively. Creating excitement in the market place through consistent and aggressive marketing efforts and integrating online and offline efforts is key to a successful sale. Our maximum exposure marketing plan includes: Comprehensive Internet marketing through our web site www.c21lakes.com  and www.Century21.com  national web site, realtor.com, zillow.com, trulia.com, yahoo.com, homes.com and another 200 real estate websites. We are also members of the North Star MLS which includes a large portion of the state of Minnesota including the Minneapolis area. This puts our listings in front of all those brokerages and agents.

Also we do public open houses, broker tours and office tours so all our agents have been in your home so they know the key aspects of your home to market it to their buyers. We do just listed cards, real estate guide books, newspaper ads and much more.

STEP 5: SIGN LISTING AGREEMENT AND FILL OUT DISCLOSURES

You will sign a listing agreement with our agency and fill out the property disclosure about your property. All homes in the US are subject to filling out the disclosure statements including a lead based paint disclosure.

STEP 6: SHOW YOUR HOME

You’ll get more showings if you let the agent put up a lock box to show your property rather than force them to pick up a key. Showing request will have a 24 hour notice but not all buyers will honor that. It is your option whether to accommodate a short notice showing. Only the real estate agent will have access to the lock box codes.

STEP 7: RECEIVE PURCHASE OFFERS AND NEGOTIATE

Be prepared to receive offers that may offend you. Remember its just the start of negotiation. Make a counter offer and see if the buyer will increase their offer. Everything is negotiable in the purchase agreement. Buyers may ask you to pay some of their closing costs. Focus on the bottom line you are willing to accept.

STEP 8: COOPERATE WITH THE HOME INSPECTION

Now get ready for the home inspection. Ask your agent to walk you through what will be looked at in the home inspection and if there is anything they see that may be brought up in the inspection that could be taken care of a head of time. Make sure the attic access is clear to enter for the inspection. The home inspection will usually take 3 hours or so. If anything is brought up after the home inspection that will be negotiated between the buyer and seller before proceeding with the purchase.

STEP 9: OPEN ESCROW AND ORDER TITLE WORK

After the home inspection contingency has been removed your agent will send all the necessary paperwork to the title company so they can start on title work and start to prepare the closing documents.

Step 10: SCHEDULE THE APPRAISER APPOINTMENT

Make sure your home is neat and clean and looks good on the outside when the appraiser comes. It will take the appraiser maybe an hour to look at the home and take pictures inside and out as well as measurements of the home and rooms.

STEP 11: SIGN THE TITLE AND ESCROW DOCUMENTS

You are now ready to go to the closing to sign your documents. You may sign your closing documents a head of time or at the day of closing. The buyer will sign their documents first and after they are finished signing it will be your turn to sign the deed and other escrow documents. Once all parties have signed the title company will disperse the money to the parties and keys exchanged and the property is sold. You will need your drivers license when you attend the closing.