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Seller Representation FAQs
If you have other questions, or would like additional clarification, feel free to e-mail or call us at 972-402-8888. We will be happy to answer any questions you have.Back to TopWhat is the difference between the Standard and Buyer Agent Marketing plans?The Buyer Agent Marketing plan contains all of the services in the Standard plan, plus the following key benefits:
Back to TopWhat is a Competitive Market Analysis?A Competitive Market Analysis is a technique used by REALTORS and licensed appraisers to estimate market value based on comparable (similar) properties that have recently sold, are currently listed for sale, as well as those that failed to sell. This technique works particularly well when a number of homes in your neighborhood that are substantially similar to yours in size (lot size and interior square footage), configuration (number of bedrooms, baths, garage spaces, swimming pool, etc.) and construction (upgrades) have sold within the past six months. Armed with the sold prices per square foot of the comparable homes, any adjustments that may be appropriate to the subject property (i.e. square footage, upgrades, etc.) are then factored in and an estimated sales price (usually expressed as an estimated low and high sales price range) is produced! Note: A REALTOR-generated Competitive Market Analysis should NOT be substituted for the advice of a licensed appraiser. Back to TopHow will you schedule showings of my home?The way in which showings of your home are conducted depend on which plan you choose. If you sign up for our Standard Service, any listing inquiry calls we get from prospective buyers (from our yard sign, listing flyers, newspaper/magazine ads, REALTOR.com, etc.) will be routed to the DISCOUNT-REALTOR® who listed your property! Your DISCOUNT-REALTOR will then answer any questions the prospective buyer has about your property over the phone. If the prospective buyer is interested in seeing your property, your DISCOUNT-REALTOR will contact you via one of the phone numbers you provided us at the time the listing to arrange a mutually convenient time for you to show your property! If you sign up for our Buyer Agent Marketing Service, listing inquiry calls we get from prospective buyers are handled in a similar manner. However, rather than showing your property yourself, our DISCOUNT-REALTOR will conduct the showing for you! As another key benefit of this service, other REALTORS who represent prospective buyers may show your property as well! We provide you with an electronic lockbox that hangs on your front door and stores a spare key to your home. In addition, we communicate your showing instructions (i.e. appointment required, one-hour notice, security codes, etc.) to the same familiar showing service used by thousands of REALTORS in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area! The net benefit of the Buyer Agent Marketing Plan is that you don't have to be home during showings! Back to TopWhat does your yard sign look like?We have invested a lot of time and money to create what we think is the most attractive, effective and flexible yard sign on the market! Notice that the property description inserts can be replaced and stacked specifically for your home! We also attach a weather-resistant brochure box for storing listing information flyers and your REALTOR'S business cards! And, it is manufactured by the #1 real estate yard sign company in America!
Back to TopWhat type of listing flyers do you provide?One of the most important, but oftentimes overlooked advertising mediums is the listing flyer. Our flyer is professionally-designed and organized to display as much information about each room as possible. Why? As a general rule, the more property features listed, the higher the justified sales price! With our service, we will prepare and provide you with an initial set of 35 color listing flyers printed on white paper. Electronic copies are also available. These flyers are intended to be displayed inside your home and in the yard sign brochure box. Back to TopHow important is it to put a For Sale sign in my yard?It is VERY important! Statistics show that approximately ONE-THIRD of homes are sold as a result of somebody seeing a REALTOR'S yard sign! We have invested a lot of time and money into our yard signs to ensure they are very attractive and effective! If you have a very good reason why you cannot place a yard sign in the yard (i.e. homeowner's association rule, privacy issues, etc.), let us know and we will take that under consideration. Back to TopWhat can I exclude from the sale of my home?As a general rule, things that are not attached to your property (loose personal possessions and non-built-in furniture and appliances) may be removed. Custom window treatments are typically considered a part of the home, but under certain circumstances, can be excluded. A partial list of items that are typically included in the sale of a home are: window treatments; ceiling fans; built-in kitchen equipment; fireplace screens and artificial logs; heating and air conditioning equipment; satellite dish system and controls; security and fire protection systems; plumbing and lighting fixtures; garage door openers and controls; pool equipment and maintenance accessories. Recent case law seems to support this. When in doubt, ask one of our REALTORS or your attorney. Back to TopI want to market my property to Buyer Agents. How much commission should I offer them?The commission you offer Buyer Agents is negotiable, but we require that it be competitive. Naturally, you want to offer enough commission to attract agents without needlessly giving away too much of your equity. We want the same thing for you. As a general rule, a commission offering in the range of 1.5% to 3% of the final sales price is usually reasonable. Ultimately, however, the demand for homes in your area, and the Buyer Agent commissions being offered, determine how competitive your commission offering should be. One of our REALTORS will be happy to provide you with guidelines that are appropriate for your property. Back to TopWhat is an electronic lockbox?An electronic lockbox is a box that typically hangs on your front door knob and holds a spare key to your home. Access to the box is electronically controlled to limit access to only those people who possess an active electronic keycard. It is also usually programmed to only allow access to the box during certain times of day. Typically, the local Board of REALTORS is the body that grants and monitors access and use of the electronic keycards. In addition to storing a spare key to your home, the lockbox also records the entry date, time, and ID of the keycard that entered your home, which is handy for security reasons. Back to TopWhat is a "showing service"?A showing service is a third party REALTORS call to set up appointments to show your property. At the time a listing is taken, the listing agent discusses and documents your showing instructions and records the name and phone number of the showing service used to provide showing instructions into the REALTORS' Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The listing agent then communicates the showing appointment type (i.e. appointment required, one-hour notice, courtesy call, etc.), enter/exit instructions (electronic lockbox, security in and out codes, pet information, etc.), and any special information that may be required to the showing service. When a REALTOR calls the showing service to set up an appointment to see the property, after properly authenticating their identity, the showing service then contacts the seller for authorization (as may be required). Once the showing appointment has been authorized, the showing service passes the showing instructions on to the calling REALTOR and records the showing date and time, and showing REALTOR'S information in their database. Finally, the showing information is made available to the listing agent. What is a Contract "Terms Sheet"?A contract terms sheet, commonly known as a Letter of Intent, is a non-binding document that allows a seller and prospective buyer to document the proposed terms of sale in which they are prepared to agree to in a subsequent legally binding contract. Once the proposed terms of sale are documented in a contract terms sheet, an attorney, or other authorized person, may then uses the proposed terms of sale to complete a legally binding sales contract. In the real estate industry, a state-level "Real Estate Commission" (e.g. Texas Real Estate Commission - TREC), typically comprised of attorneys and experienced real estate brokers, creates fill-in-the-blank style ("promulgated") real estate sales contract forms and addendums that licensed and trained real estate agents may use to create legally binding sales contracts - providing they stay within the limits prescribed by law. When used, a contract terms sheet allows sellers and prospective buyers to focus on the proposed terms of sale and not the legally-binding contract forms and addendums. That's what a REALTOR is trained and licensed to do! Back to TopWhat is my home's "legal" description?Unlike postal addresses, whose street names and zip codes oftentimes change, a legal description is permanently recorded in your local (typically county) property records office. Although the format of legal descriptions are not consistent throughout the U.S., perhaps the most common format is the lot, block, track (subdivision) system. With this system, the lot number, block number, and subdivision name referenced in a particular volume and page number in the local property records office are used to reference the property. Highly irregularly shaped parcels of land, and some areas of the country use a metes and bounds measurement as the legal description for a property. With this method, a surveyor's precise measurements, originating from the earth's latitude and longitude coordinates, and using well-known and/or previously established landmarks, are used to define the property's location within the legal 'section' and 'township' in which it belongs. These legal descriptions may be obtained from the deed to your property, your tax statements, or through your local property records office. Back to Top |
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