Service Options for Homesellers

There are basically two service options for home sellers to choose when they decide to sell their home. The first is traditional, full-service representation, while the other is for home sellers to select one or some of the many fee-for-service options which are available with Matson Real Estate & Mortgage. A summary of these options is as follows:

• FULL-SERVICE REPRESENTATION

  Under traditional, full-service representation, the Realtor provides all of the services for the home seller. An explanation of these services is summarized in four steps in the 'Tips for Home Sellers' tab. The normal compensation for this service is a percentage of the home's sale price. At Matson Real Estate & Mortgage, we are a small, independent broker that has flexibility in the compensation packages we charge. We can offer you all of the same marketing exposure for your home as the larger brokers, without the overhead of the larger brokers. This allows us to offer compensation rates which are generally very competitive with most other brokerages, without sacrificing you the customer, any of the tools needed to sell your home. Under full-service representation, the home seller pays nothing to Matson Real Estate until the home is sold. A check for the compensation is taken out of the seller's proceeds at closing, making it convenient and worry-free for the home seller.

  Please feel free to contact Matson Real Estate & Mortgage for a free in-home consultation and market analysis, even if you are just entertaining the thought of selling your home. You can contact Matson Real Estate & Mortgage at 612-839-7355 or at gmatson@matsonrealestate.comgmatson@matsonrealestate.com. We would welcome the opportunity to offer you our thoughts on the sale of your home along with a proposal which would include our marketing and compensation plan.

• FEE-FOR-SERVICE OPTIONS

  Some home sellers have the desire to participate in some or all of the home-sale process themselves. For these customers, Matson Real Estate & Mortgage offers programs that allow home sellers to pay for services as they use them. Some of the services that are offered include:

  • Complete MLS and internet exposure
  • For Sale Yard Sign w/ brochure box
  • Color Brochures
  • Purchase Agreement Consultation
  • Sale-To-Close Facilitation
  • Professional ad writing and placement
  • Updated Market Analysis's
  • Legal Forms
  • *Previewing of Competitive Listings
  • *Open Houses

  *Charged on a per hour basis

  For more information on some of these offerings, contact Matson Real Estate at 612-839-7355 or at gmatson@matsonrealestate.com.

• STEP 3 - NEGOTIATING THE OFFER

  This third steps starts when there is a valid purchase agreement written up for the property for sale. The basic part of this step is to make sure that the offer is written up correctly and documented on all of the necessary forms which are approved for a real estate transaction in the Sate of Minnesota. As I like to say, its up to the Realtors to make sure all of the I's are dotted and the t's are crossed. Most of the time, before this can be accomplished, there is a negotiation process between the buyer and the seller. The key to any negotiation is knowing your areas of leverage and weaknesses that you bring to the negotiation and prioritizing the importance of each, in relation to that of the buyer for your home. Depending upon the situation of the home seller, there can be many factors to this agreement that end up being more important than just the price offered for the house. The more flexible a home seller can be in some of these areas (closing date, possession timeframe, inspections, etc.) generally, the larger the dollar amount a seller can command for his/her home.

  This is an important job of a Realtor that often goes unnoticed in a transaction. Many home sellers have a strong personal attachment to their home, and rightfully so. Unfortunately, there are times where this attachment can get in the way of the realization that a reasonable offer has been put in front of them. An experienced Realtor will recognize this, and without being the "pushy" salesman, convince the seller that there is a reasonable offer to work with that is not worth jeopardizing. An average Realtor sells about 30 homes per year. It is their job to be involved in the negotiation process and a benefit for the home seller to draw upon the experience of a seasoned Realtor to know what is a reasonable offer and what isn't, based on the current market conditions.

  As important as all of the other steps in selling a home are, the ultimate level of trust and comfort with the Realtor you are working with is most important at this point in the transaction. There is a fine line between accepting or working with a legitimate offer for your home and jeopardizing an offer for your home by rejecting it or making a counteroffer. Although no Realtor can read the mind of others to know what will happen, an experienced and trustworthy Realtor will have a history of experiences to draw upon and have an idea, based on all of the circumstances involved, what is in the best interest of a home seller.

  Purchase agreements can also contain contingencies in them, which can involve a number of issues. The most common contingencies involve the buyers to conduct a home inspection or a contingency for the buyer's home to sell. Buyers of townhomes and condominiums also have a ten day contingency to review all of the by-laws and rules and regulations of the association or community the seller's unit is a part of. During any of these contingency periods or other potential contingencies that could be requested, there often are additional issues which need to be negotiated between both the buyer and the seller. Again, the benefit of an experienced Realtor can be critical to help home sellers look at the "big picture" involved with getting their home sold and not focus too much on any potential items that can arise during these contingency periods. Accomplishing this, while at the same time, maximizing the amount that a home seller takes away from the sale of their home, is the ultimate job of any Realtor.

• STEP 4 - SALE TO CLOSE FACILITATION

  This is the part of the home sale process where, as I like to say, the "behind the scenes" activities take place. Many homes sell with very few snags in the period between the offer acceptance and the actual closing. In many cases, when these snags do occur, the home sellers are still oblivious to the situation, as should be the case. It is our job as Realtors to deal with some of the many issues that can arise during this process. After all, that is what we are being paid to do. A home seller should only be brought into the situation if it is absolutely necessary.

  Most of the glitches that occur during this process involve title defects, or the home seller not having clear title to the property. In many cases, this involves an item or two that may need to be cleared up with the county the home is in. In other cases, it can involve the need for additional documentation, such as copies of divorce decrees or the need for signatures of divorced spouses allowing for their release of their interest in the property.

  There are wide array of other possible items that might need to be cleared up during this part of the transaction. If the buyer of the home will be obtaining a mortgage to pay for it, the lender will require an appraisal of the property to determine its value and that it is worth what the buyer is paying for it. A home not appraising for what is sells for or an appraiser that requires repairs or work orders to be completed before closing are two common items that can occur in this process. Again, the experience and tools of a seasoned Realtor are invaluable when these circumstances arise.

  It's hard to summarize every glitch that can occur at this part of the transaction. But, it is not uncommon for glitches to occur. Many home sellers are never made aware of these glitches, as they are usually corrected by their Realtor and the closing company they are using. It is important to know, that for those who may be looking to sell their home on their own, the deal is not done once a purchase agreement is agreed to. This is not to scare away potential home sellers, just to make them aware that its possible for these situations to occur and with a good Realtor, most home sellers are never made aware of these unless its absolutely necessary.

• CONCLUSION

  To summarize, there are a lot of items involved with selling your home. As I started out this section, I mentioned that many home sellers think the only job of their Realtor is that of finding a buyer for their house. And in some ways, that is true. Without a buyer, the home won't sell. The way I like to put it is that it is the Realtor's job to put the house in a position to succeed, by doing the homework to establish a reasonable price range, without setting unrealistic expectations for a home seller. From there, all of the other steps involved with selling a home should come into play.

  At Matson Real Estate & Mortgage, although we prefer to offer our home sellers traditional, full-service representation, we also understand that in today's market, some home sellers are looking to participate in the process themselves. For those home sellers, we offer some fee-for-service options, which will allow home sellers to pick and choose what parts of the process they would like assistance with and what parts they would like to do themselves. By clicking on the 'Service Options for Home Sellers' tab, you can find more information about these options.