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What Happens Next, Now that You’ve Listed Your Home.
Just wanted to give you an idea of what happens next, now that you’ve listed your home with me:
The first thing I have to do, is paperwork (or more accurately computer data entry work). I upload the listing contract and the required office documents into the office database and the MARIS (Multi List System or MLS). In both, I identify the home as being in “withheld” status. That means I can tell other agents who work for Coldwell Banker Realty – Gundaker (CBG) about the home, but I can’t tell agents who work for other brokers about it yet, nor can I tell the general public about it. Neither you or I can put a sign in the yard, put it on facebook or other social media, send out a postcard with Just Listed or anything else while it is in withheld status. In the MLS, it does not show to agents outside my company and it will not be sent out to Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Realtor.com or any other online marketing site.
While I’m uploading the information, I am telling other agents in CBG about it though.
I also submit the home warranty information with seller coverage (which costs an extra $65). With the home warranty, if anything in the home breaks while it’s listed, check to see if the home warranty will cover it. While it won’t cover roofs, siding, windows, structural issues, etc, it WILL cover electrical problems, a stove or dishwasher not working, a plumbing issue, etc. Note that you do have to pay a service fee of $100 when the technician comes out, so if the item that’s broken is cheaper to fix than that, I wouldn’t use the program, but if it could potentially be more, definitely use it. (if you aren’t sure if an item would be covered, call me) Note that I am not putting the home warranty in my marketing comments, as I reserve it for a negotiating point later. Some buyers may ask for it when they make an offer on the home, but others won’t. If it isn’t already agreed to in the initial contract, when we get to the building inspection period, we can often negotiate giving the buyer a home warranty for a year after closing, rather than fixing items up front. NOTE – if we never negotiate to give the buyer a home warranty, I cancel the warranty after closing and you never pay for it, even if you used it (I know that sounds like a poor business practice, but that’s how the system works and the head sales rep for the home warranty company in our area has told me that.
At this point, if you haven’t already done so, you should be getting the municipal and fire department inspections done (and any other inspections that are the seller’s responsibility). It’s much easier to do repairs before the home goes on the market, than it is to block time out of showings for contractors to work on the home, and you aren’t in the time crunch that you will be in once we have an accepted contract.
While I’m getting things ready on my end, I’m waiting for you to tell me that the home is ready to be shown. Once you tell me the home is ready, I schedule the photographer to come take the pictures. It typically takes 2-3 days after you tell me it’s ready to get the photographer out.
I do my best to be there when the photographer is there. If neither you or I can be there, then I have to get a key from you to put in a lockbox on the home for the photographer to use to get in to take the pictures.
After the pictures are taken, I put the sign in the yard (if allowed) and the Supra lockbox that the Realtors will use to get the key for the front door when they are showing the home on the home. If you have already filled out the disclosures for me, I will typically have copies of those I put in the home along with sign in sheets. If I don’t have all the disclosures, I will bring those back later. The disclosures will also be uploaded on line so the agents can review them before the showings. If I have not already measured the rooms in the home and written down any “particulars” that I need for the MARIS data, I will do that while I’m there as well.
This is the point, where I need 2 sets of keys for the home (one goes in the Supra the other either goes in an “other lockbox” for inspectors to use, or I keep it with me) and any disclosures you haven’t already given me, along with verifying the showing instructions with you. PLEASE, make sure you test the keys and they work before you give them to me!
Typically, I get the photographs back later that evening or the next morning. At that point, I upload the pictures and the disclosures to the MARIS database. Then I triple check the data I’ve put in MARIS.
After that I put the showing instructions in Showing Time, which allows the Realtors to schedule showings online. If you have requested notification of showings, I will typically send you a “test” showing via email or text (or both), so you see what they will look like. If you want to approve the showings before they are scheduled, this is the program that you will use to do so. You WILL NOT need to download anything, just open the test or email and follow the instruction to confirm the showing or ask that it be rescheduled.
Once I’m certain everything is correct, unless you have told me otherwise, the home will be put in coming soon status (if you don’t want showings to start right away) or put in ACTIVE status. Once the home is in Coming Soon or Active status, agents can start scheduling the home for showings (but showings cannot happen until after it is in ACTIVE).
When the home is being shown, you SHOULD NOT be there. If you are accidentally there when someone comes to show it, just excuse yourself and leave. The agents will record the showing when they open the lockbox and they should also record the showing by signing in. Occasionally, someone will forget to sign in. Just know that the Supra lockbox sends me a message when it’s opened, so I know when someone is has gotten the key out of it. Sometimes I chose not to have a sign in sheet. When I do this, I still know who came and when, but agents can’t look at the sign in sheet to gauge interest in the property by other buyers.
I wish I could tell you how many showings it will take before we get an offer, but I have no way of knowing that, or how long it will take to get a showing period. What I can tell you, is if we aren’t getting any showings or getting any offers after a week, we are probably listed at too high a price point. If that appears to be the case, I will be checking the stats to see if other similar homes in your area are getting shown or getting offers. If it appears that they are, then we will have a discussion on price.
Once we get an offer, I will review it before I contact you, to ensure that it is valid and that all the required docs are there. As needed, I will be talking to the buyer’s Realtor and asking any question to clarify what’s in the offer, before I call you to tell you I have it. At that point, depending on our conversation, I will email you the contract and discuss it with you over the phone or meet with you to present the offer and discuss it. Once I know how you wish to respond to the offer (you can accept, decline or counter), I will do up the appropriate paperwork for you to sign, then send your reply to the buyer’s Realtor.
Please keep in mind that once an offer has been made, everything has a timeline with a deadline that has to be met. If we miss a deadline, to put it bluntly, you will lose something of importance, so it is very important that you get back with me fairly quickly if I contact you about something between a contract offer being made and closing on the home.
Once we have an accepted offer, I will process the contract (more paperwork/computer work), then I will create a checklist for you of what needs to be done by what deadline and who is responsible for doing it. Once I send you that list, PLEASE, put the items you are responsible for on your calendar and review it every day so you know if there is anything that you need to get done (and know that I will bug you if I don’t get something and it looks like we’re going to miss a deadline).
Closings typically take place at the US Title office inside my office (421 S Kirkwood Rd, near the Magic House). Christina McDaniel and her team will be handling your paperwork and will be sending you a form in docusign to fill out giving them basic information about you and about the home (it will go to one of you to fill out and sign, then to their spouse to sign). Please complete the form and send it back to US Title right away. US Title will also need paid receipts and lien waivers for any work done by a contractor on the home within the past 12 months, so start collecting right away.
The buyers will typically get their building inspection scheduled fairly quickly (they have 10 days to do it in unless we negotiated something else in the contract). From the point we receive the copy of their building inspection report and their list of what they would like us to take care of, we will have 10 days to negotiate the building inspection with the buyers.
After the building inspection is negotiated and any necessary repairs dealt with, it will seem like NOTHING is happening on our end. That’s OK. The buyer’s side is focusing on getting the loan approved and ensuring the title is clear. Your focus should be on packing and moving.
That’s a quick summary of what to expect next. I will keep you in the loop as things come up, but just know that keeping everything on track to closing is my job and I take it very seriously.
If you have questions about anything, call me, text me, email me. If I’m with someone, I may not be able to answer right away, but I’ll get back with you as quickly as I can.
