Pointers for first-time home sellers

There are some events or necessities in life which leave you no option other than to sell your house or other real estate property. If you are a first-timer, this can be one tough job to do, and usually the first question that comes to mind is, "Can I handle the selling myself?"

Self-assessment is crucial in deciding whether or not you will go through the selling process on your own. Some rely on professional real estate agents, while others opt to try the selling endeavor alone.

The best reason for working with professional brokers is the enormous amount of information they have at their disposal – information which helps make your house sell faster and easier. These agents know about market trends, existing price range, and the people who will likely buy your property. They have the means and resources to reach out to prospective buyers, strategize marketing, and screen interested individuals for you.

Professional agents also have the experience and competence in handling complex transactions, understanding legal documents, and negotiating for the best possible price. One more thing – they have all the time to do the things most of us hate: working on weekends, answering phone calls at all hours, and being eternally polite. In short, they’re always "on-call" just to sell your property.

But if you really decide to do the selling yourself, you will need to exert double effort to ensure that things will end up in a successful and fruitful transaction. You need to have much time to carry this out, and you must be familiarized with some basic but important tasks involved, such as:

• Pricing. To start selling is to determine first your asking price for your property. In doing this, you will need to get the estimated price range which you can obtain from reading classified ads or asking some info from a friend who’s into real estate business. Your asking price must be slightly higher than the fair market value, or the highest price which you think an informed buyer will pay. But make sure that it will appear to be accurate and realistic so as not to drive away prospective buyers at first glance of your asking price.

• Defining target market. This is simply to figure out a specific socio-economic group that will find interest in your property. Your clue here will be the type of property you’re selling. If you have a three-bedroom house in a posh subdivision, then your potential market will be upscale businessmen or family persons holding high company positions. If the property is a one-bedroom condo unit near a commercial business district, young and single executives or even starting couples will be your good leads. The thing here is that you have an idea of the profile of your prospective buyers. Not surprisingly though, he/she may share more or less the same economic status, age bracket and social group with you.

• Advertising. In marketing your property, it is advised that you know the lifestyle of your target market so that you can come up with effective advertising strategy, but putting up a good signage in the site and strategic areas can be a good start. Another effective option is placing a line or box ad in daily broadsheets or free ads papers, especially when your target market are newspaper readers. You may also turn your friends, acquaintances and relatives into your walking advertisers, or distribute fliers in areas where you think you can find prospective buyers.

The basic information your ad should provide must include the property type (condo or house & lot), location or access points, landmarks (optional), your name and your contact numbers. Remember that you will have to spend a considerable amount for advertising, and the more active and frequent your marketing is, the faster your house sells.

• Familiarizing with basic real estate documents, taxes and procedures. Four major documents which you should get acquainted to are Transfer/Condominium Certificate of Title, Contract To Buy and Sell, Deed of Absolute Sale, and Deed of Assignment. There are other auxiliary documents which you will also need in the negotiation process, but these legal documents are the most vital.

(Enrique M. Soriano III is currently professor of Services Marketing at the Ateneo Business Schools, and country president and CEO of ERA Real Estate, the local arm of a global real estate firm with a network of over 3,000 offices worldwide. Contact ERA hotline 867-8913 to 17 or check ERA website <www.ERAphilippines.com> for more details.) Real estate procedures can be simple especially when the title is clean and the buyer is willing to pay outright cash. However, if you haven’t completed your payment yet with the property developeror the buyer will avail off a bank financing assistance, there are some procedures involved which you need to follow.

It is important that you are well-versed with the process and that every agreement you make is documented to avoid unnecessary headaches in the future. Also get to know the taxes involved, such as the capital gains and property taxes.

There are available books which provide sample copies of the vital documents and explanation on the taxes and procedures that you as seller should bear in mind. If you have questions, do not hesitate to talk to the developer, the property administrator, or the bank involved. Better ask than never.

• Coordinating after closing the transaction. The selling process does not end after the contract is notarized and the complete payment is made. There are some coordination tasks that you must deliver. You will have a big hand in turning over the property and other documents, introducing the buyer to the village or condominium administrator, clearing all the utility bills, etc. As seller, it is your responsibility to ensure that all promises or commitment, from major repairs down to replacement of doorknobs are accomplished.

These tasks may seem to be easy and no-brainer, but in the actual process there can be instances when professional skills and specialized knowledge are required to get things done efficiently and fast. If you think that going through an arduous process is inevitable due to some issues concerning your property, you better get yourself the right agent who will work with you from start to finish. In this kind of ball game, it is better not to be alone. The mess you might create can be really disastrous, legally or otherwise.