Sellers Should Assemble These Documents Prior to Listing For a Smooth Transaction

Copyright © 2014- 2019  AUTHOR: Paul R. Marino, REALTOR®, e-Pro®

 

OK...you've done your homework, and know you're a prime candidate for a Flat Fee MLS Listing. You've read the literature, researched your options, and figure if the US Justice Department is making it a point to educate consumers about this method of selling a home, there must be something to it. You have equity, a salable property, and, most importantly, a "can do" attitude.

 

So, in order to pocket the cash you would have normally handed over to a Listing Broker [typically $3K+/- for a $100K home, $8K+/- for a $300K home, and $14K+/- for a pricier $500K property], you need documentation. Focus like a laser beam on getting all this stuff together now. Do it once. Do it well. Do it thoroughly, and you’re done. The Buyers will thank you, as will the Buyer Broker, the appraiser, the home inspector, and the mortgage lender. Don’t fight me on this one. Buyers love documentation.

 

OK…let’s get to it. You’re going to need:

 

a) Current deed (prove to the Buyer, or the Buyer Broker, that you actually own the place). You can usually get a copy of the deed over the Internet for free by going to your county seat registry website (just "Google" the name of your county, and the word “registry”)

 

b) Tax assessment card (get a copy from the local town hall assessing office). Most can be gotten for free over the Internet (just go to your town hall website and click on "Assessing Office"), or, if your town is still using an abacus (ancient counting device from the Babylonian era), you may actually have to go down in person and pay a buck or two.

 

c) Plan of land (a drawing of the lot dimensions, directions, and boundaries). This should be easy if your lot is part of a planned subdivision, or possibly the land was recently surveyed (unlikely). Even if you have neither, take a look at your deed and draw a nice, neat, “to scale” rendition. If you have a well and septic, go ahead and draw them on the plan as well, to give the Buyer some feel for their location. Of course, in large print at the bottom, state with clarity: “This plan of land is an approximation only. If more definitive guidance is required, seek professional consultation.”

 

d] Stake out the property lines. If you don’t know exactly where your “pins” are, approximate the best you can, but on your Seller Disclosure Statement, of course put in a “safety valve”, something on the order of: “The property line markers placed on the property are approximations only. If definitive markings are required, consult a qualified expert.”

 

e) Summary of all significant physical improvements (since you bought the home). No need to itemize every little expense (sorry, that new toilet paper holder doesn’t count), but do list things like: New stainless steel refrigerator ($1,350); New hardwood flooring in living room ($3,000); New full house backup electrical generator system ($5,000).

 

f] Radon testing results [air (all properties) and water (if provided via well). In this day and age, upwards of 90% of all home buyers have professional home inspectors perform an airborne radon test (and a radon water test if applicable). It’s one of the “a la carte” items on a home inspectors menu, but most usually farm this out to a testing laboratory, and tack it onto the bill. Now you might be saying, “Why should I pay for that; let the Buyer do it if they want?Because you know they're going to get one. Why bite your nails waiting for the test to come back, hoping and praying it falls under the federally mandated maximum of 4.0 pCi/L?

 

g] Water quality testing results (if on well water). Again, the Buyer is going to conduct their own test, but you need to know in advance for your benefit. No one likes surprises. Do you really want to wait until a week before the closing to find out that arsenic levels are marginally elevated, and the deal is off because the Buyers have a brand new baby boy and are terrified little Timmy will get poisoned? I didn’t think so.

  

h] Real estate property tax billing. (you know where that is don’t you?) If not, I’m sure your local tax collector would be happy to tell you how much money you owe him. This is an important document. Some Buyers are hanging by a thread in terms of financial qualifications.  The exact yearly tax amount (converted to a monthly figure) will weigh heavily in their ability to buy your home and swing the monthly house payment.

 

i) Water bills (if on town water supply) If you have some lead time on selling your property, a one year look back is fine (same for all other utilities). And don’t just dump all these receipts out on the kitchen table and say, “There you go!” Organize them chronologically, or better yet, take 15 minutes and summarize all the data (for all your utilities) into a Word or Excel document.  If they ask you for more than a year, they’re “tire kickers”…trust me.

 

j) Sewer bills, (if on town sewerage disposal) Septic tank clean out evidence if lot is serviced by a private septic system. Go the extra mile and get an actual copy of the septic design plan (available from your Department of Environmental Services). You will need this to prove your home is a “4 bedroom” and not just a “3 bedroom”.

 

k] Copies of electric bill (especially important if the home is electrically heated), because everyone is deathly afraid the cost to heat the home via electricity is a figure bigger than the national debt

 

l] Copies of heating bill (oil and propane delivery receipts, pipeline natural gas monthly bills, cordwood, or wood pellet receipts)

 

OK, so are you drowning in paperwork yet? Don’t be dismayed. Once you’ve collected all this stuff, you will feel better. And it will be utilized (by many parties to this transaction). Not the least of which will be you, because as an official entry in the MLS system, you are required to fill out a Seller Disclosure Statement (more later in another post), and will be asked a lot of very specific questions.

 

If you’re so inclined, get everything (and I mean everything) and put it into once nice, neat little electronic file (PDF file format is best). W h u t? Yes, I know, more work, but it will save you time and aggravation in the long run. Find someone with a scanner, get everything scanned in electronically, then build your single “comprehensive” PDF file with everything in it.

 

Now the payoff.  When that nice couple drives by, stops you in front of your house mowing the lawn and says: “We don’t have time to see the house today, but can you give us any information on the house?”  You beam back and say: “I sure do; just give me your email address, and I’ll send it out today.” One click…DONE!