Let’s design your future first,

before thinking of selling your house!

 

I tell my clients “Each home has its own identity that requires a unique plan when selling. We partner with you to fulfill your goals.” – Sebnem Oden

“It was a difficult task to move after 30+ years and downsize. I avoided it for years. Sebnem made it so easy with her planning tips. She walked through my house, which had 4 bedrooms and I had to downsize to 2 bedrooms. She gave me homework on a weekly basis. 2 months later, she found my perfect retirement cottage. I could not have done this without Sebnem. She is graceful and patient.” – Carol H.

 

Expect Exceptional Exclusive Service

The Personalized Method

 Our team uses a variety of personalized methods to prepare your home for sale. Each home has its own identity. Our partnership will be designed to suit to fulfill on each home’s uniqueness. The personalized method is necessary because the sale process is  different for each home.

   The marketing of your home exposes our reputation, our standards, and our values. We want to make the best and highest presentation of your home. This may include professional photos, drone footage, a 3D virtual walk-through of the floor plan, and polished writing. This information will be distributed through hundreds of real estate websites, including this one.

Sebnem says, “I create every listing like a treasured, collectible painting. I am the artist of each listing and my signature is on it”

Home Consultation

   We will review many important things together when we first meet at your home for consultation. We will jointly decide if we wish to to business together.

  • We’ll look at the title report. Is the home owned simply in your name or in a trust or LLC? Are there any liens on the property you may not have known about? You want to address these problems up front.
  • We will walk around the property, considering the condition and what repairs would ease the sale with an acceptable return on investment and within your budget.
  • Establishing a price is quite a complex process. We will look together at data report that outlines “Active, Pending, Sold, Expired and Canceled listings” within a mile of your location. Active listings, currently on the market for sale, identified as “competition to yours”. Pending listings will give us an idea about the days on the market before contracts were mutually signed. Sold listings within 30-90 days offer the most important data.  How long did they sit unsold on the market for the sold price? What price per square foot did they sell for? What price did they sell for versus the original list price? Expired and Cancelled listings are market’s rejections. Let’s see if we can figure out why: Condition? Price? Location? Homes should be truly comparable in age and style, for example.

Sebnem says, “I tell my sellers in the beginning – I’m very transparent – I will look at their home from a buyer’s point of view. I’m going to pretend the buyer is standing next to me. I will point out issues, good or bad that the buyers will talk about as if they’re walking through the home.”

Plan for the Future

   We will take a deep dive together looking into your future intentions. We will discuss your future as it already happened and how selling your property will support your future plans. When is the ideal time you want to move? From this question we learn your sense of urgency. Do you need the highest price and can you be patient? Or a quick sale is most desirable? Will you be retiring and downsizing?  We may want to involve your family in estate planning and home preparation. Or will be needing more space since your family is growing? Will it be next month, in six months, or next year? Have you educated yourself about the tax implication of the sale? We need to create an advisory team of experts, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Attorney Law Firm, Certified Financial Planner, (CFP), Tax Advisors, General Contractor depending on the type of construction work. Please check out our Resource Page for referrals or contact us.

Sebnem says, “Any licensed broker can eventually sell your house, but who can really help you deliberately design your future during your partnership with your listing broker?”

eXp Realty in Washington State LogoAdvantages of eXp Realty

   EXP Realty is the world’s fastest-growing real estate brokerage now and over the last decade. We are a technology-leading, cloud based company. A few examples of how this helps a home seller:
  • Your broker can get technical or transaction support in minutes through the virtual eXp World, where state leadership and company staff stand ready to help.
  • EXP Realty is the largest user of Facebook Workplace, which connects all of our 1,750+ brokers in Washington state in a single group. We can rapidly get backup and recommendations of vendors in minutes.
  • Dozens of hours of live training per week is available in the virtual world to get your broker up to speed on the latest and greatest techniques for getting your home sold.

Sebnem says, “I joined eXp Realty back in 2009 and I never looked back. I am honored to be one of the founding members.”

Multiple Ways to Sell

   Depending upon your individual situation, your broker may suggest creative
ways to sell your property:

  • Express Offers is eXp Realty’s proprietary platform that brings together home sellers and institutional real estate buyers for quick cash offers that close on a date the seller specifies without requiring repairs. More about Express Offers
  • EXP Realty is partnered with Curbio, a service which will make repairs to your home and take payment at closing of the sale. Curbio repair quotes are competitive with the prevailing norms of the area.
  • You might consider offering owner financing terms to open the market for your home up to a wider pool of buyers. Many high net worth self-employed or business-owning buyers will not have declared enough salary income over the past two years to qualify for a bank loan.
  • Of course, we can sell conventionally on the Northwest MLS, and your broker will guide you through that process: preparing the home, showing the home, negotiations, and closing.

How Much is Your Home Worth?

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The Seller’s Roadmap

Home Preparation

   We have to prepare some homes by pointing out items the seller needs to purge. For some homes, we just need to bring in a contractor to update certain things. We need to make an analysis that if something is fixed, what’s the return on investment? The plan must fit the seller’s budget. We give family members a deadline to come by and pick up items they want from the home. The rest may be donated.

Showing the Home

   Showing the home is the most meaningful and personal part of the process to the seller. We want a home to be welcoming and attractive: well lit, clean, and nicely staged. If a home is empty, a staging service can be brought in, which is well worth the money. If you will live in the home during the sale, we’ll show you how to declutter and stage with the furniture you have on hand.

Sebnem says, “Make your bed every morning!”

   We don’t want decline a showing request because you went out shopping and forgot to tidy up before you left. We acknowledge how hard it is for a seller to live in this constant state of readiness to receive visitors, but the more exposure the property gets, the greater the likelihood of a sale.

Offers and Negotiation

   The seller is the decision maker in everything. Broker’s advisory role and partnership is to educate you on the selling process. Offers need to be reviewed carefully and compared. The financing contingency is extremely important. Your broker will call up the loan officer to inquire additional information about buyer’s pre-qualification or pre-approval letter: Did they look at financial statements? Did they run it through underwriting for preliminary approval? Your broker will also call the buyer’s broker to collect additional information that help the seller to make decisions.

   Of course, the buyer’s offer is not a take it or leave it situation. You can push back: counter on points you don’t agree with. Your broker will help you strategize over this.

Sebnem says, “When you list a condo for ten thousand dollars more than any other unit sold in your complex, can you be patient? Can you wait three, four, or six months to get that price? How long does it take you to save ten thousand dollars by any other means?”

Managing the Contract

   Your broker’s work does not end once the contract is mutually agreed. There are many crucial deadlines to keep track of:

  • Delivery of earnest money.
  • Home inspection and maybe septic, sewer line, or well inspections.
  • Additional inspections recommended by the home inspector.
  • Appraisal by the bank’s representative.
  • Removal of the financing contingency.
  • All contingencies to be satisfied to secure the earnest money
  • Final buyer walk-through.
  • Delivery of the key after loan funding and county recording.
  • The exact hour of transfer of possession.
  • When to activate insurance and utilities.
  • And more depending on circumstances.

Sebnem says, “To this day and in the last three years, we have been having a great time with these appraisals. But remember, five years ago? Then I was negotiating appraisals.”

  • There are many points of negotiation beyond the initial contract:
  • Results of inspections.
  • Low appraisal.
  • Extension of the closing date.
  • Review of repairs.
  • Dissatisfaction with final walk-through.
  • And even post-closing issues: failure to remove debris, failure to move out!

   Your broker will guide you through the process, steer you around pitfalls, and educate you on your responsibilities.

Sebnem says about earnest money, “I am managing literally a chunk of cash in your pocket. That money can be taken away from you. The buyer’s offer comes in with all these – I call them bumps in the road – contingencies. There are cautionary moments when the buyer comes to a halt and considers whether to bail or not.”

Inspection from the Seller’s Perspective

The buyer is returning to the home along with a licensed inspector. Expect the visit to take two to three hours, during which time you need to be away. The buyer’s agent will attend and is responsible for protecting the property. The inspection should be non-invasive – no poking holes in walls, for example.

Sebnem says, “The inspection is another showing. The home needs to be in tip top shape. If the buyer sees a big discrepancy from their previous visit, the sale could be in jeopardy.”

Appraisal from the Seller’s Perspective

The appraiser is sent by the buyer’s bank to ensure that the home will be worth at least the contracted price. Again, the home needs to be clean and presentable as during showings and inspections. Appraisers will stand before every door and take a picture of every room. They take pictures of the outside and the deck. An underwriter will scrutinize the photos and ask for repairs to be made based on what they see.

Financing Contingency

Sebnem says, “Your home is not really sold until that financial contingency is waived. You can go back on the market any time until that financial contingency is waived.”

On the 21st day or as indicated on the financing addendum, your broker will give “notice to perform” requesting the buyer waives the financing contingency. Once the financing contingency satisfied by the buyer’s lender, to move forward to closing guaranteed? Ask Sebnem when you meet with her? If the buyer guesses wrong, their earnest money will be forfeit to you.

Closing Day

The closing day is not so simple as many people assume – even many buyer’s brokers have not read the contract and understand these nuances. Firstly, we want to hear that the buyer’s loan has funded. Once that happens, the escrow officer will submit the deed for recording at the county. We aren’t done yet. Now, we wait for the county to respond with recording numbers, confirming that they have legally recorded the new ownership. Delays by the lender, escrow, or county can bump closing to the next day. Assuming all goes well and we get back recording numbers in the afternoon…but…ah, ah…Dear Buyer, you don’t necessarily get the key yet. The contract gives the seller possession through 9:00pm of the closing day. The seller may need that time for cleaning and moving out.

Sebnem says, “I caution buyers and sellers not to make fixed plans around a particular closing date without being in communication with all parties. At least a quarter of the time, closing will be delayed. I had one client end up homeless for two weeks after giving up his apartment too soon.”