Seattle Real Estate
Services

• An understanding of your needs.
• A willingness to work with you until your needs are fulfilled.
• A sense of professionalism.
• Someone who is dedicated to their profession.
• A familiarity with the area in which you have an interest.
• A familiarity with the price range in which you have an interest.
• Strong references from previous buyers.

Questions to ask a prospective Agent

• Are you a full time agent?
• Are you familiar with the area in which we want to look?
• How many home sales did you participate in last year?
• What is the average sold price of the homes you sold last year?
• Do you normally work with sellers or buyers?
• How many buyers are you presently working with? How many sellers?
• What 3 buyers that you have worked with can you give me as references?
• How long have you been in Real Estate?
• Where do you feel your strengths lie?

Where to find an Agent
 

• Be aware: If you search for homes first and contact the Agent who has a particular property listed, that Agent will absolutely represent the seller–not you.
• Search newspaper and homes magazines ads for Agents who advertise that they have experience in and offer Buyer Representation.
• Or, if you would like, we can also assist you in locating an Agent, whether it is in your own town or across the country in most areas of the U.S. and Canada. Click here.

The majority of home sellers take on the task with an ally: a Real Estate Agent. They feel that it is better to entrust the sale of their biggest investment to a professional, rather than attempting to learn about selling a house in a trial and error method. In addition, many people would rather use an Agent due to the complexities of modern Real Estate transactions since they usually incorporate legal and financial attributes, which takes them well beyond more simple transactions, such as the sale of an automobile.

Some of the other advantages of working with Agents that home sellers will list include: access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) so that large numbers of buyers will have access to the seller’s property, the fact that the Agent absorbs all of the cost of advertising and marketing, and the screening that will be done of potential buyers by Agents. In addition, the Agent handles the lion’s share of the details of negotiation.

Deciding whether to use an Agent or not has a great deal to do with what you feel the level of your capabilities are. If you feel fully confident that you can handle all of the details, then you may well want to attempt selling your house on your own. If not, you most likely will want to use an Agent and leave the details to them.

So how do you choose an Agent who will be effective? What is important to know about an Agent to determine whether you feel they will do a good job? The following questions should be asked of any prospective Real Estate Agent in order to assess their capabilities and philosophies.

What to look for in an Agent:

• A sense of professionalism.
• A full time Agent who is committed to the profession (and who will be committed to getting your house sold!).
• A familiarity with the area in which your home is located.
• A familiarity with the price range in which your house will be listed.
• Evidence of advertising and marketing ability.
• References from previous sellers.

Questions to ask a prospective Agent:

• Are you a full time Agent?
• Are you an MLS (Multiple Listing Service) Member?
• How familiar are you with the area where our home is located?
• How did you arrive at the suggested listing price for our home?
• What is your specific marketing plan for our house?
• How do you plan on keeping us informed of the progress of the sale of our home?

There are probably few things in life that are as exciting–or as nerve- racking–as the search for a house. All the good emotions and the bad emotions seem to converge when the house hunting begins. Don’t worry, this is a normal reaction, and is found in seasoned home buyers as well as those who are looking for their first home. One of the first decisions you need to make is whether you want to do your house hunting on your own, or by using an Agent. If you decide to go it on your own, you will be able to see (and buy) those houses that are For Sale by Owner (known as FSBO’s). Depending on your area and the overall market, this will be around 20% or so of the total homes available (the other 80% are the “listed” properties–being sold through an Agent. Those homes you can’t buy–or even see–on your own).
With an organized house buying plan, you can minimize a great deal of the emotional impact. By determining your buying power, your wants and needs, and having an organized search plan, your chances of a stress-free experience are much better.

• Once the decision to buy a home has been made, take the time to prepare before you go on your home search. For example, much of the information on this Web Site should be very familiar to you before you go looking for homes. Yes, it is very tempting to rush out and actually look at houses, but to do so without full preparation can be both disastrous and expensive. If you review the (checklist) you will find that “house hunting” is about halfway down the list.
• Get your financial house in order first! We can’t stress this enough–it will save you an enormous amount of time, aggravation and heartache.
• Determine what your budget will comfortably allow and stick to it. Don’t spend yourself into a “house poor” situation.
• Get pre-approved for a mortgage. This will not only give you a clear idea of how much a lender will approve for you, it will make your home buying process a great deal easier (and save a lot of time later).
• Get familiar with the different housing types available to narrow your search.
• Determine your minimum requirements as well as any desired additional features–your needs and wants – Take note of any items that you don’t want in a house. Determine the desired location (schools, work, public transportation, etc.)
• Familiarize yourself with the mortgage process.
• Choose an Agent that you feel comfortable with and who understands your needs. Be completely aware of the (agency link) issue. If you look for houses before you have your own Agent, you may not have the representation you want.
• If you don’t already have an Agent screening homes for you, you can check listings and prices throughout the U.S. on our interactive map.
• As you are looking, use a (scorecard) to compare homes. A scorecard is a great tool when it comes time for comparisons (and for remembering which home had which features!)
• Get familiar with the inspection process–especially the personal inspection aspect, so that you can weed out unacceptable houses quickly.
• Maintain your perspective–and your cool! You may find an acceptable house on the first day–or the tenth. The important thing is to get the home that is best for you!

Along with location and condition, the pricing of a house is a major component of the reasons why a house will–or will not–sell quickly. Although the pricing should not be dealt with lightly, some sellers have a tendency to put too much emphasis on the price and not enough on the condition, ending up with a house that is overpriced for its current condition and the overall market. Even if you find an unaware buyer that appears willing to pay the high price, when the buyer applies for a mortgage, the chances are good that the lender’s appraisal will force the price back down to market value.

It’s important to get it right the first time

Care and time should be taken when establishing the original listing price for several reasons:

• If the house is overpriced, it won’t sell. If it doesn’t sell and sits on the market the listing quickly becomes stale.
• If you overprice the house with the intention of reducing the price later just to “see what the market will bear”, when the price of the house is lowered, it signals to buyers that it was (and still may be) overpriced.
• If the house is underpriced, it most likely will sell quickly–to the detriment of your net proceeds.

Some factors that affect the price of a home

• Location: You can’t get away from this one. If your house is located in a desirable area that is in demand, you will be able to get a higher price than you can for the same house in a less desirable area.
• Condition: A house that has been better maintained and shows better will always sell for more than one that has had deferred (neglected) maintenance and needs work.
• Desirable amenities: If a house has amenities that are currently popular in the marketplace, it will bring a higher price.

Methods of setting the price

• CMA (Comparable Market Analysis):
  A comparison of similar properties in the same general area that compares actual sold prices. A Real Estate Agent can generate a CMA, or in many cases you can do it on your own.
• Traditional Appraisal:
  An estimated valuation is placed specifically on your house by a professional appraiser. An appraisal will take into account location, condition and sale prices of comparable properties in the neighborhood.