Home Selling Steps

1 – Listing Appointment

The first step toward putting your house up for sale is to meet with the McNabs at your home. What we call the "listing appointment." 

Prior to the listing appointment the McNabs will do a detailed investigation into your property. This will include looking into recent sales and current homes for sale in your neighborhood. With this information we will produce a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) for you.

The first thing we will do at the listing appointment is tour your home so we can become familiar with its special and unique features. This also gives you the opportunity to point out any upgrades & special amenities of the home that might be missed by others.

You will then need to come up with an asking price. We will give you our professional opinion, the decisions in the asking and acceptance price of your home is always yours.

After review of your home we will develop a customized marketing plan. This can include yard signs, sign riders, flyers, feature cards, advertising, MLS, Internet, open houses, etc. We will determine with you which of these are appropriate and comfortable to you.

After all of the necessary paper work is signed we will be on our way to get your home sold a fast as possible and for top dollar.

2 – Getting Ready

Today a home that stands out among similarly priced houses is the home that sells. Why? Because it makes a good first impression that lasts right to the settlement table.

You may not be able to improve the market value of your house (Add a pool, remodel kitchen, etc.), but you can improve its market- ability. And usually this can be done with more elbow grease than hard cash. The key is to put yourself in the buyer's shoes. In fact, if you drop by some open houses, you'll pick up some pointers. Then practice making your house as appealing and uncluttered as the home you would wish to buy.

3 – Showing

The McNabs will enter a profile of your house in the Multiple Listing System computer (MLS). This profile includes everything from location and price to available financing and number of baths, from house style and heating/cooling system to special features and showing instructions. Now your house description is instantly available to the entire MLS membership. (MLS is a membership service available exclusively to agents belonging to Boards/ Associations of Realtors®.)

Once your home is entered into the MLS system, you can expect other agents to start showing your home. Your phone number of choice will be listed in the MLS for these agents to contact your to set up showings.  They will call you and give you a time frame that they would like to show your home. If you are not home they will leave you a message of when they will be by. They will then use the lockbox to enter your home. We recommend that the first thing you do when you get home is check your answering machine to check if any agents are coming by. It is best that you are not home when these agents show your home; buyers don’t feel as comfortable viewing your home when you are there.

4 – Offers and Contract

A buyer makes an offer by submitting a written and signed offer to purchase your home. Once the seller and buyer sign the contract agreement, they are bound by the contract conditions.

The "presentation of a contract" begins when the buyer’s agent delivers the offer to the McNabs. The McNabs will then arrange a presentation appointment with you, and with the buyer’s agent if he/she wishes to attend. (The buyer doesn't attend the presentation.)

The McNabs will produce for you an estimated sellers net sheet. This will give you a summery of what the offer means to you in dollars.

The McNabs will go over the offer and sellers net sheet in detail with you. After we do this you will have three options on how to proceed.

1 – Accept the offer as written

2 – Counter offer

3 – Reject the offer

Is it best to turn down the first offers?

In any transaction, it's normal for the seller to wonder “Could I have gotten more?" and for the buyer to wonder "Should I have paid less?". When your reasonably priced house is put up for sale, the very first lookers may make an offer to buy. That doesn't mean that you've priced your home too low. It usually means qualified buyers and their agents have been looking-and waiting-for the right house to come on the market at just the right price.

5 – Home Inspection

A home inspection is when a paid professional inspector -- often a contractor or an engineer -- inspects the home, searching for defects or other problems that might plague the owner later on.  Expect that the buyer of you home will hire a professional inspector and most likely ask you to make some repairs.

6 – C.L.U.E. Report

The purchase contract indicates in section 4-B that “Seller shall deliver to Buyer a written five-year insurance claims history regarding premises”. We have enclosed an order for this in this booklet; or you can contact your homeowners insurance company and ask it they will mail or fax you a 5 year claims history report. The insurance companies typically do not charge for this

7 – Termite Inspection

This inspection is required by most lenders and is specified in the contract.  The seller is usually responsible for payment of the inspection, removal of any infestation if required, and the repair of damage if needed. If you have an existing coverage in effect that might avoid an unnecessary inspection, please mention this to us during the listing appointment

8 – Appraisal

An appraisal is required by a lender to insure the property's market value, and to certify the property meets certain standards. You might be asked to pay for the appraisal, if so it will need to be paid within five days after an offer is accepted. Who pays for the appraisal is negotiable and is negotiated at time of offer presentation. A typical appraisal costs $350 to $450.

9 – Final Walk-Thru

A day or two before you close the buyer’s agent will take the buyers back through your new home for a final walk-thru.  The purpose for this final walk-thru is to insure that the property is in reasonably the same condition that it was in when they agreed to purchase it and to inspect any repairs requested and agreed upon as a result of the home inspection.

10 – Closing

Closing is the date and time set-aside for you to come in and sign the necessary title paper work to transfer the title to the new buyer at recordation. The McNabs will coordinate the time and date convenient for you and the title company. 

11– Funding

Funding occurs when all of the buyer’s loan documents have been signed at the title company and all conditions have been met (if any). The signed papers are returned to the lender for review. The lender will then send money to the title company. Funding may occur on the day of the closing or on the next day. Careful planning will ensure that the expectations of all have been met.

12 – Recordation

After the title company receives the money from the lender, the title company will send the necessary documents to the Cochise County Recorders office to publicly record the documents.  As soon as the documents are recorded the home becomes the buyers.

13 - Possession

After recordation, the McNabs will deliver your check to you, and the buyers will be given the keys to the property.  Usually possession is given at time of recordation or shortly after.  You will be required to be completely out of the house at recordation unless other arrangements have been previously made.

On occasion possession can be before recordation (pre-possession), or after recordation (post-possession).   If this happens it will include some type of rental agreement.  If this is necessary the McNabs will handle all of the details for you.