THE HOME SELLER’S GUIDE BOOK
BY HILTON GREEFF
A STEP BY STEP GUIDE THAT WILL BRING DESERVED REWARDS TO A RESPONSIBLE HOME SELLER, DURING THE SELLING OF YOUR PROPERTY
Hilton Greeff First Published in 2014 by BK PRESS
ISBN Cover design by; Kerry Hall Free Design
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated or transmitted in any form by means of electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.
FOREWORD In any successful Real Estate Transaction there are 3 Roles with Responsibilities – Those of The Seller; The Buyer; and the Estate Agent. The Seller’s main responsibilities are – To select the best Estate Agent; To select the right price for his property; To make the selling decision. The Estate Agent’s responsibilities include – Assisting the Seller in arriving at the right price for his property; To prepare and execute a Marketing Plan to assist the Seller in finding a Buyer for his home; To assist the Seller when making the Selling decision. In this book - Hilton Greeff is succeeding in educating us on some of the most important aspects that are of unsurpassed value to every Home Seller. I am further convinced that every Estate Agent and Home Buyer will also find value in Hilton’s views, and the experience Hilton gained from working in the Real Estate Industry for more than 40 years. After having met with Hilton in person – His passion for Real Estate, and his continuous striving to do things in the best and most successful way, is clearly evident and imprinted on every page of this book. This book is easy to read and makes the “Qualification to Sell your Home” as easy as one, two, three! 3
I gladly recommend this book to every person who takes the responsibility of Homeownership SERIOUSLY! Gerhard van Rensburg National Franchise Sales/ Training Executive – Real Estate
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WHY I WRTOTE THIS BOOK My motivation to produce this handy book, which I hope will serve as a guide for the many who decide to sell their home, is because in more than 40 years selling residential homes I met many sellers who were not sure what to expect, or what to do. In committing to writing the process of selling a property, of which there are no short cuts and more than one roll player, I hope to share a little of what I had learnt during my experiences as a Real estate Agent. After reading this book, you as a seller will know in advance what to expect and what meaningful roll you need to play during the time that your property is on the market and waiting for that one buyer. With prior knowledge and a realistic expectation from services you receive, you will know how to assist in a way that helps the sale of your home flow smoothly to a satisfactory conclusion. I believe that you will find the information that I am sharing with you relevant no matter where your home is. Heed it and you will remove the stress and anxiety from an adventure into the many faceted scenario of selling your home. Enjoy a carefree journey when you undertake it HILTON G GREEFF (Retired Estate Agent) Also: “Activities Blueprint for Realtors” / “Doors to Referrals” “Fundamental Real Estate Discussion Topics” 5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am very grateful to the many people who encouraged me to continue writing about the profession that I had spent so much of my working life at, with the constant aim of doing it correctly. I wish to express special thanks to my wife Sylvia and son Peter who without getting irritated with my regular question of “does this make sense”, were my sounding board after each and every chapter. My friend Gerhard van Rensburg, who could not wait to read the finished book in order to let me have his comments, based on his knowledge as a Trainer within the industry. I cannot covey my pride in enough words when Karien Hunter, one of Durban’s well respected Attorneys agreed to write a concise yet comprehensive account about the conveyancing. A cherry on top was Kerry Hall’s contribution that with her talent as a graphic designer, she took my simple thoughts about the cover and elevated them to a professional level. I would like to add that I am not an expert but am sharing the experience that I have gained, during more than 40 years of my life, with someone in order to help them do a good job.
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TABLE OF CONTENT Foreword.
……………………………………………………………….. 3
Why this book?
…………………………………………………….… 5
Acknowledgement.
…………………………………………………. 6
Chapter 1. The Responsible Home Seller 1.1.
Introduction to fundamentals.
………………….9 …………………….. 9
Chapter 2. Private Seller or Estate Agent? ………………….12 2.1. Points to ponder. 2.2. Position.
………………………………………………………...13
2.3. Accommodation. 2.4. Condition.
…………………………………………….12
…………………………………………... 13
………………………………………….……...... 14
2.5. Problems linked to Private Selling. Chapter 3. Roll of an Estate Agent.
…………………. 15
………………………. 17
Chapter 4. Choosing the correct Agent
…………………. 20
Chapter 5. Mandates to sell a property.
………………… 25
5.1. Benefits of a “Sole Mandate”
……………………….. 26
Chapter 6. Commission. (Fee for services rendered) …..30 Chapter 7. The Listing.( Recording the facts) 7
………. 33
Chapter 8. Pricing your property.
…………………………...37
8.1. Reasons why sellers overprice.
……………………… 38
8.2. Benefits of competitive pricing.
………………………..39
8.3. Dangers of overpricing.
………………………………… 40
Chapter 9. Putting your house “On Show” Chapter 10. The strategy of Advertising. 10.1. The Internet.
………………42 …………………61
……………………………………………… 63
Chapter 11. Viewing by potential buyers. 11.1. Requests to view by others.
……………….65
………………………….69
Chapter 12. The “Offer to Purchase”
………………………70
Chapter 13. Conveyancing & Registration of Transfer……78 13.1. Introduction.
………………………………………………..78
13.2. The Role & function of a Conveyancer.
………….79
13.3. The Process ……………………………………………….. 80
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CHAPTER 1. THE RESPONSIBLE HOME SELLER 1.1.
Introduction to Fundamentals.
So you have decided to sell your house. This is not an abnormal occurrence. Simultaneously, with millions of property owner around the world, it is taking place at the very same moment that you are thinking of doing so. Having spent more than 40 years selling Real Estate, I would like to share a few items of interest with sellers who have decided to put their residential property on the market “For Sale”. This is not an instruction manual so when every now and then I convey the words “Do Not”, it is merely a suggestion as any decision made during the sojourn of selling your property, will be entirely yours. For every property owner, irrespective of what the motivation is to dispose of your property, this is going to be a traumatic period. Just getting rid of the “Junk” that has somehow collected in all corners and storage areas is going to be a major headache, let alone the decision on how to go about getting the best price. Add in the time consuming activities of finding the right persons for the various jobs that have to be attended to, and it will become clear why 95% of all property sellers world wide call in the services of an Estate Agent.
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There is one bit of advice that I would like to share with you at this point and that is; please set about adopting a mind set that you are certainly going to be getting the best price that your property commands. This is simply the ruling price that the market will pay at the time that you sell. To date no one has yet had to “give away their house”, which is an expression often mouthed by sellers. A definition of market value is;” What a willing buyer will pay to a willing seller, in a bona fide market at any one given time”. Every seller’s prime consideration has been and will always be; a) Is the final selling price a realistic bottom line? b) How long will my property be on the market? c) What terms and conditions can be accepted? The above three concerns work in unison because if you as a seller is rigid on the final acceptance price, you will have to be flexible on the time scale as well as the terms and conditions. Now before you do anything about the selling of your home take the time to make certain that every structure and building that is erected within the boundaries of your property has had architectural plans prepared, submitted, and approved by your local municipality. What was allowed in the past is now no longer acceptable. In current methodology a lot more is called for and in order to obtain the final Municipal rates clearance certificate. 10