Now that you are on the market.
Selling your home is an exciting time. Now that you have made the decision to sell with Harcourts we want to help you prepare for what comes next. From dressing your property for success, to the importance of holding an open home, and what happens after an offer is accepted. We’ll walk you through all you need to know to ensure the sale of your home goes as smoothly as possible.
Dress your property for success. Harcourts would like to share some simple presentation tips with you, which may help to present your property in the best possible light. It is often the little things that can make the biggest impact. For example, first impressions really do count because it is estimated that over 50% of properties are sold even before the prospective buyer steps through the front door! These are just a few practical ways in which you can make an instant, positive impression, which will go a long way towards making a successful sale. Outside appeal n Remove bikes, tools, and any clutter n Keep lawns mowed, paths edged, hedges trimmed and gardens weeded n A few well-positioned flowering potted plants can create a welcoming appearance n Having the exterior washed and windows cleaned can make an enormous difference n Paint or wash fences, gates, screens, steps and the front door n Ensure your pets are secured so that they won’t pose a threat or annoy visitors n Outside lighting is a must for evening inspections
Positive first impressions n Your front door and entranceway are areas that can make a powerful first impression n A newly decorated front entrance with attractive topiary shrubs either side can be effective n Position an attractive plant or piece of art to add that final touch
Appeal to the senses n A general spring clean will freshen the look and the air n Turn on sufficient lights when showings are being held to compensate for any dark areas n Use odour neutralisers to dispel cigarette or animal smells. The delicious aroma of brewing coffee or freshly baked bread will convey the impression that you enjoy your property n Place freshly cut flowers throughout your property n Interesting knick-knacks, books or artwork in feature areas around your property can encourage visitors to linger
n Bathrooms should be gleaming. Repair any broken tiles and reseal around the bath and basin if necessary. A dish of scented potpourri or soaps adds a nice touch, but avoid overpowering scents n Turn the radio or TV off, maybe in favour of restful music n Make sure the temperature inside is comfortable – even light the fire in winter
It’s the little things that count n Attend to any small maintenance jobs such as sticking doors or windows, dripping taps, squeaking hinges, loose door handles, blown light bulbs or faulty switches.
Create a feeling of spaciousness n Ensure your kitchen is spotless, the working areas are uncluttered with tidy cupboards and pantry n Make sure closets are tidy – they’ll look larger n Mirrors in smaller rooms can convey the feeling of more space n To enlarge room size appearance, perhaps look at moving some furniture and ornaments into storage
Style to impress n Once clutter free, consider using a home stylist or home staging service. Home stylists will take a look at your space, and then loan you the furniture which is the size and style best suited for your home, which will make a space look bigger, comfortable and liveable. n Speak with your sales consultant who can help you organise a staging service.
The selling process. The highest visibility – from the moment you list Now that your property is listed with Harcourts it will be entered into our own listing system – Harcourts One. Harcourts One spans every single office in our group and enables us to match your property to suitable buyers locally, nationally and even globally. Our intelligent system will send an automatic notification to any buyers who have logged their buying criteria with us. We will also personally contact our existing buyers to inform them that your property is being launched to the market at our up-coming open home. Of course your home will also be automatically listed on our website. The comprehensive detail of each listing enables potential national and international buyers an ease of access that’s unparalleled. With just a few clicks of the mouse, a virtual tour of your property affords these buyers the opportunity to visit without ever leaving their computer.
Open homes. Why choose to hold open homes when selling? Open homes are one of the most effective ways of marketing a property and attracting interest from a wide variety of buyers. Some of the advantages are: • You have plenty of time to ensure your property is tidy and ready for inspections • You can control the viewing times • Open homes can create plenty of activity, even in a slow market • Interest and activity can trigger urgency with buyers • Your sales consultant will have the opportunity to talk to numerous people about your property in a short space of time • Comments from open home visitors can provide feedback on price, presentation, sales appeal, etc. Preparing for an open home Buyers purchase with emotion rather than with logic. To enable your sales consultant to encourage a potential buyer to take emotional ownership of a property, we recommend that sellers are not present in the property during open homes. The way your property is presented for sale will be different to the way it is presented when you live in it. The reason for this is we want to ensure buyers feel as though they can picture themselves living within the home as they inspect the property. That’s why it’s also recommended that personal effects are put away, such as photographs, mail, personal items on the refrigerator etc. We understand it can be difficult to detach from your property, but try to think of your existing home in a practical sense when preparing for an open home and start to think of your next property as your new home. Security During the open home, we will take the utmost care in looking after your belongings. We suggest that if you do have items of value, such as jewellery, money, electronics or small ornaments, that you remove these items from view or take them with you. 99.9% of people
are genuine and honest but we do not want to chance a situation occurring at your home. While we are at your home, we will turn all of the lights on and ensure that the doors and windows are open (weather permitting). Once we have finished the open home we will ensure that all of the lights have been turned off and any doors and windows that were opened at the beginning of the open home have been closed. If a potential buyer or even another real estate sales consultant approaches you directly asking to view your property, direct them to contact me. This way I am able to coordinate all interested buyers on your behalf and ensure the selling process will go as smoothly as possible. Keys To make the process as easy as possible, it is ideal to provide a spare key prior to the first open home that we can keep in our secure key system. That way we can access the home and lock up after each inspection and open home. We do prefer that we obtain a copy of the key prior to the first open home. Upon the successful settlement of your home, We hand over any keys that we have to the new owner. If your home is withdrawn from the market, we’ll immediately return the keys to you. Buyer activity and how you might feel Buyer enquiry and inspections will be at their highest when your property first enters the market. Current prospective buyers will always be quick to view a new listing and these first visitors to your property are of a very high quality as they consist mainly of people who are actively looking to buy now. They are financially prepared to act, are well educated on property values and some may have missed out on purchasing a property earlier so will not hesitate to make an early offer. If this does occur I will ask you to consider any early offers very seriously. Once the initial rush of existing active buyers has passed, you may feel concerned or anxious as the level of enquiry decreases. Rest assured I will be staying in regular contact with all potential buyers and keep you informed as we continue to market to any new buyers entering the market.
Keeping you informed. Success in real estate begins with establishing strong personal and professional relationships.
Our Promise The Harcourts Promise is your absolute assurance of just how seriously we take our responsibilities on your behalf. It’s our way of being held accountable, and your way of knowing you will be looked after every single step of the way. Consider it our total commitment to working together to make the whole experience easier, less stressful and far more rewarding. And that’s a promise! After every open home and private showing we will contact you to let you know how your property was received. Each week we will provide you with a written report outlining our progress to date, buyer feedback, market activity that impacts your property and any recommendations for the week ahead. Depending on your personal and work commitments, I would like to meet with you on a regular basis to discuss your campaign in detail and any pertinent points from my reports. These meetings are brief but essential and can occur at a time that is suitable to you. Transparency and open communication is key to our working relationship. Your personal Harcourts login Whilst we are committed to delivering exceptional service through regular face-to-face contact, phone calls, emails or text messages, we know that these methods don’t always fit in with your schedule. Your personal Harcourts login gives you 24/7 access to everything you need to know about what is happening with your property. This valuable tool will house a copy of Our Promise commitment, plus
your marketing plan and activity calendar. It is here that I will post your regular progress reports with feedback from the market about your property. In addition to this all of the documents relating to your property will be held here. Within the login you are able to see how your property is performing on the various real estate portals where your property is marketed plus you will find a link to recommended services you may need during and after your sale. Your Client Login will: • Send you reminder alerts prior to specific calendar events, such as open home dates • Send you notifications when new documents have been uploaded such as progress reports from me • Give you access to all marketing, reports and documents as and when you need them • Allow you to view live website hits on your property • Help you look for a new property and provide notifications of any new listings that fit your set criteria How to register for your Harcourts Client Login 1. V isit the Harcourts website harcourts.com.au and go to My Account > Register 2. T o register simply enter your details and choose a password 3. C lick the REGISTER button (you will then receive an email confirming your login details) 4. N otify your Harcourts representative that you have registered so that they can link your login to your property
Completing the sale. Receiving an offer
Settlement
My commitment to you is to bring you any offers formally in writing. I will ask interested buyers to sign a standard approved contract with their offer and any conditions of sale requested. I will then inform any other interested parties that an offer is being made and ask if they too would like to put in an offer. This system ensures it remains fair to all parties and hopefully provides us with a multiple offer situation where buyers are now acting quickly and competing to win your property.
Settlement generally takes place between you and the buyer and your legal/financial representatives. Officially, it’s where ownership passes from you to the buyer, and the balance of the sale price is paid to you or your financial institution.
As the seller, you can then accept the offer, reject it or counter-sign it. Counter-signing usually occurs when you are not satisfied with the price offered and/or conditions included and wish to subsequently alter them. The contract will then be brought back to the buyer for their consideration. If accepted, the buyer will initial your alteration and the property is under offer subject to any conditions that the contract may contain. Alternatively the buyer also has the right to counter-sign. I will continue negotiations between you and the buyer until you are both in agreement or until it’s clear an agreement cannot be reached. After an offer is accepted Once an offer has been accepted and all parties have signed the contract, the buyer will be asked to pay a deposit. This usually equates to 10% of the purchase price. Once paid, this deposit is held in a trust account until the contract is confirmed, i.e. becomes unconditional in all respects. Note this process is different depending on the type of sale i.e. a property purchased at auction will usually have an unconditional contract.
As the seller, you would have set the settlement date within the contract of sale. Settlement usually occurs 30-90 days after the contract has been signed, depending on what has been agreed upon. On settlement the buyer’s solicitor will exchange the following with your solicitor: • Monies • Transfer documentation • Keys to the property Possession of the property usually takes place on the settlement day although you and the buyer can agree for these dates to be different. Harcourts Complete Once the sale of your home has settled, it’s now time to settle into your new home! When preparing to move there are always so many things to organise and remember. Often it’s the little things that make all the difference. Harcourts is committed to providing a complete experience for you. Whether you’re buying, selling, renting or if we are managing your property you have access to our Harcourts Complete service. This service is free and provides all the relevant real estate services that you will require before, during or after your transaction. We can take care of a wide range of services including arranging your connections, conveyancing, home loans, tax depreciation and insurance. Harcourts Complete also provides relevant real estate information that assists with moving and will keep you up-to-date with what is happening in your local market. If you’d like help with any of the services we offer through Harcourts Complete, speak with your sales consultant or visit harcourtscomplete.com.au
Our complete moving checklist.
Remember to cancel
Make arrangements to
o Newspaper and/or milk delivery
o Ensure that the chattels that have been sold with the property aren’t accidentally packed
o Telephone, internet and cable TV
o Disconnect all appliances
o See your solicitor to sign transfer documents / mortgage discharge documents
o Gas, water and electricity (arrange a final meter reading)
o Disconnect the TV aerial
o Enrol children in new school
o Return any borrowed items
Organise for moving day
o Throw out items that you don’t intend taking with you
o Coordinate the forwarding of any files from the children’s previous school to their new one
o Obtain supply of boxes (the supermarket can be one supplier) o Get packaging tape and heavy marker pens o Arrange for furniture removal (get quote, confirm time) o Arrange care of your children on moving day o Make suitable arrangements for any pets o Arrange transit insurance and contents and fire insurance for your new home o Organise shifting times with the purchaser of your old property and the previous owner of your new one Notify your change of address to o Bank, credit card and charge card companies o Post office for redirection of mail o Elections registrar o Registrar of motor vehicles and drivers license o Tax department o Insurance companies o Hire purchase or finance companies o Investment companies
o List valuable items for special care when moving o Advise removal company of dangerous goods being moved (i.e. ammunition, petrol, spirits, chemicals) o Securely pack all jewellery, money, special documents and papers (i.e. legal, tax, insurance etc)
Organise for your new home o Contact Harcourts Complete to connect your gas, electricity and telephone. Ask your sales consultant for details o Newspaper delivery o Telephone o Internet and cable TV connection o Gas, electricity and water
o Set aside items you will need on the day of the move so you can take them with you (i.e. food, drinks, cleaning products)
The week before moving
oP ack each room leaving the boxes stacked and labelled with the room they are to be moved to. It is a good idea to write on each box a list of its general content
o Confirm moving in/moving out details and key exchange with your Harcourts consultant
oC learly label boxes containing breakables as ‘fragile’ and identify these items to the removal people
o Remind and confirm dates, times and locations for furniture removal company
o Say goodbye to neighbours One last check o Nothing left behind?
oP ot and pack away the plants and cuttings you’re taking
o No clothes at the dry cleaners?
o Explain your packing procedure to the removal people and be at your new home when they arrive
o Electricity, gas and telephone disconnected?
o No gear stored away from your property? o Water turned off and no taps left running? o Windows and doors latched?
o Local council
Don’t...
o Keys with solicitor (if appropriate)?
o Clubs and organisations
oP ut breakables or liquid filled containers in drawers
After it’s all over
oO verload drawers and make furniture too heavy to move (too much weight can damage furniture)
o Make an insurance claim if any damage has occurred during the move
o Police (if you own and store firearms) o Friends and relatives o Magazine subscriptions o Doctor, dentist, accountant, lawyer Don’t forget o Clean the stove and defrost the fridge/freezer o Tidy the yard
oM ove netting, barbed wire, timber, wood, coal etc without special arrangements being made oS tore perishable goods where they might be overlooked
o Have spare keys cut
o Teach children how to get to their new school o Enjoy your new home and keep in touch. We’d love to hear how you’re going
Real estate terms from A to Z. Like any profession, the real estate industry has a language of its own. Many of these terms I’m sure you will already be aware of but there may be some you have not come across. Appraisal A professional property valuation carried out by a registered appraiser. C.M.A A Comparative Market Analysis report prepared by a real estate consultant that provides information about properties currently on the market and properties that have recently sold that are comparable to the property being analysed. It is used to help determine the fair market value of the property. Commission The commission is paid by the seller to the real estate agency on the successful sale of the property. The commission is agreed upon by the seller and the consultant. Conditional/Contingency A written contract that is signed by the seller and the buyer, but where one or more conditions need to be met, usually within a specified time period. For example “subject to the purchaser obtaining finance within X days”. Confirmation When the conditions written into the agreement have been met, the contract is confirmed. The property is now sold and both the seller and buyer must settle (see also ‘Unconditional’).
Excluded fixtures Items that are presumed to stay with the property when it is sold but have been specified on the contract as not remaining. Fixed items include items such as curtains, light fittings, built in cabinets etc. Fixtures Items that sell with the home, i.e. carpets, light fittings, curtains, etc. Any different chattels, such as a glasshouse, dishwasher, etc. are noted in the contract if they are included in the sale. Freehold A freehold property has a clear title of ownership and is not subject to a lease. Leasehold Sometimes land is subject to a lease. The owner of the land leases to the tenant for a fixed rental sum for a fixed period e.g. 21, 99 or 999 years. Listing Agreement A contract between the seller and the real estate agency marketing the property. Non-Contingent (i) A non-contingent offer is one where there are no conditions to be fulfilled. (ii) When conditions written into a contract have been met, the contract becomes unconditional. The property is now sold and both the seller and buyer must settle.
Offer A signed Sale and Purchase Agreement, which includes the price, terms and conditions of sale, signed by the buyer then presented to the seller. Possession Date The date the buyer physically takes possession of the property. Property Profile Each individual piece of property has a property profile, which includes descriptions of the type of title, its size, the name of the owner(s) and any encumbrances. Repairs The Purchase Agreement allows time for the buyer to examine the property title. If there is a problem with the title, or if a local authority requires special works to be carried out, the buyer may ask for repairs that the seller fix these problems or credit money in escrow, or they may have cause to cancel the contract. Seller/Owner Seller of the property.
Now that you are on the market. harcourts.com.au