FAQs
SELLERS CLUB RESOURCE
We are SO excited to start working together to find you an amazing home that gets you closer to your goals. We’ve gathered some helpful information and frequently asked questions for you to check out at your convenience. We like to empower our clients with as much education as possible on the selling process.
WE'RE ON THE MARKET
FAQs
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Tips for Showings
Here are some tips to make your showings as valuable as possible.
• Agents and buyers often make decisions about what to see while out in the field and on the fly. This can mean that you’ll often get last minute requests to show the home. This can certainly be hard to accommodate if you are living in the home, but the more showings you can accommodate, even on short notice, the better chance you have of finding your buyer quickly.
• Crate dogs. Many agents won’t show the home with a loose dog, no matter how friendly.
• Turn off alarms for showings and ideally during your entire “ACTIVE” listing period. If you do have an alarm, we will put alarm notes in MLS and do everything we can to direct agents to review those notes before showing. Unfortunately, we’ve learned from experience that despite our best efforts and multiple warnings, agents will still set off active alarms on a very regular basis, causing unpleasant headaches for you. If you feel comfortable disabling alarms during your marketing period, we strongly suggest this route.
• Every day is showing day. If you leave your home showing-ready in the morning, you won’t have to rush home to prep, or say no to a good showing because the request is short notice. Begin each day ready for your perfect buyer to walk through. “Showing-ready” means the things on this list, plus beds made, laundry off of floors, dishes out of the sink, toilet seats down and generally clean and tidy. This will give you the best shot of making a good impression to the buyer walking through.
• Aroma is important. You don’t have to go so far as to bake cookies for showings, but DO empty litter boxes, take out the trash, and be cognizant of food odors.
• Do leave the home for showings. There are two important reasons for this. First, buyers have trouble mentally moving into the home with the seller present. They feel like an intruder in your home, and thus can’t imagine themselves moving into it. We WANT buyers to imagine themselves moving in during their showing. Second, it’s very easy for sellers to reveal something that hurts our negotiating position with a friendly comment. If you never chat with the buyers, then there is no risk of letting something slip and regretting it later.
• Not all agents and buyers are as conscientious as we’d like. Despite, again, our best efforts, you are likely to come home some days to a muddy foot print, a light left on, the thermostat reset, or a door unlocked. If you have specific instructions, let’s put our heads together on notes to strategically place for showings. For example “Please do not adjust thermostat” next to the thermostat and “Please remove shoes” near the door. We still can’t guarantee these instructions will be followed, but it reduces the likelihood, at least. If you’d like some of these notices, just let us know.
• Showing issues? Come home to a door unlocked or something broken or anything unsatisfactory? Please let us know immediately. Our lockbox alerts us to the time of showings and who showed, so we should be able to pinpoint the guilty party and give them a professional talking to.
• Think positively! Not every showing turns into a contract. We might have lots of showings, agent previews, repeat showings and open houses before a contract hits our desk. That’s normal. But don’t get discouraged. You never know when a showing will make a buyer fall in love. So stay positive and keep an open mind.
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On Thursdays, we send out a weekly marketing update with a summary of showings, feedback, our competition, and a summary including any advice or recommendations.
It will include a summary of our marketing activities, the results of any ads/campaigns that we’ve been running on social media, similar new homes that have hit the market that buyers may be considering, and any adjustments that we may recommend based on feedback, etc.
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We are not attorneys and can’t give legal advice. But we’ll do our best to explain our understanding of the contract.
Please click the videos below for an explanation of some of the most important items on each page of the standard real estate contract in Texas.
We are always here to answer questions or explain in more detail. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions at all.