Find a good real estate broker.

If you stop reading here, take that with you.

When I was selling a home a few years ago, the market was just at the beginning of it’s downturn. I was lucky enough to have an astute broker friend that was available to assist me. “Joe” was extremely diligent, and the house sold within 90 days. The average time a house was on the market at that time was 180 days.

Joe worked extremely hard for his commission. He showed the house over 60 times. Because the writing was on the wall that the market was about to plummet, people were making absurdly low offers. There were several “wheeler dealer” subprime-like offers made as well. Finally, luckily, the right people came along. My broker was quick to recognize this, and we snapped up the offer - lower than we had hoped for, but right on target with the selling prices of the time.

Caught in a seller’s nightmare, one would think that any reasonable offer is a good one, but that is not always the case. Once you sign a purchase and sales agreement, the house comes off the market for an agreed upon period of time while the purchaser shores up financing. If the sale falls through, you’re back to square one.

Here’s some tips on selling your home in a buyer’s market.

Above all, find a good real estate broker-

• This is your most important step in the process. Especially in this depressed market, you need to find a broker that is available to show the house often, and is aggressive and diligent.
• Word of mouth is your best reference.
• Don’t just choose a specific agency, get a specific recommended person.
• Here are some questions you can use for interviewing potential brokers.
  • How many years have you been in business?
  • For how long have you sold houses in this area?
  • How many houses did you sell in the past year?
  • What is your commission?
  • If I were to work with you, how would you market my house?
  • Will you organize meetings with potential buyers and will you coordinate them personally?
  • Can you give me names and telephone numbers of other families that have used your services?

Take steps to reduce the potential risk of the sale falling through before you sign the purchase and sales agreement-

• Minimally, be sure your potential buyer has financial pre-approval for the value they’ll need to borrow to purchase your home.
  
• Check the pre-approver’s references. And remember,
• There’s no validation of information required for pre-approval. With today’s technology, it’s easier to ask for at least some financial validation up front. If the buyer has nothing to worry about, this won’t be a problem. This will weed out the more risky buyers.
• Find out how available the seller is. Will their purchase be contingent upon them selling their home? If this is the case, in this market, you should avoid signing a purchase and sales with them until they have sold their home.

Hire a real estate lawyer-

• We’re talking about perhaps the biggest sale of your life! The money is well worth it. You need to have someone protecting your interests.
• This will also give you some peace-of-mind during this difficult process.

Anyone have any real life experiences they’d like to tell us about?

Related Reading:

The Wall Street Journal. Complete Real-Estate Investing Guidebook

Success as a Real Estate Agent For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

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