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SELLING A HOME FAQ’S AND SAQ’S | JENNIFER CHRISTENOT
SELLING A HOME FAQ’S AND SAQ’S<br />
1.) When is the best time of year to sell my home?<br />
Homeowners and real estate agents alike concern themselves<br />
with the perfect time of year to sell a home because the time<br />
of year you list your home will greatly affect how fast your<br />
home sells, and how much you get for it. So what is the best<br />
time of year to sell your home? Most times, the best time to<br />
sell your home will coincide with the time of year when the<br />
weather is best; people are more interested in going out to<br />
view homes when the weather is nice.<br />
2.) What are the most important factors I should consider<br />
when selling my home?<br />
When selling a home, it can be overwhelming to think about<br />
all the many factors that need to be taken into consideration<br />
to sell your home quickly, and for the value you want. But<br />
when you break it down into the three most important<br />
considerations: price, condition, and exposure, it becomes<br />
much easier to focus on the factors that will make the biggest<br />
difference.<br />
Price is one of the most important factors to take into<br />
consideration because if you don’t price your property properly,<br />
it will automatically turn buyers off, even often before they’ve<br />
even seen the inside of your home.<br />
The condition of your home is also of utmost importance<br />
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when selling, because most buyers won’t be interested in<br />
purchasing a home that still need a lot of work put into them.<br />
Even if your home doesn’t have holes in the wall, peeling paint,<br />
water stains, and even dirty carpets can turn buyers away so<br />
it’s extremely important to make sure your home is in the very<br />
best condition before showing it to potential buyers.<br />
The third most important factor to consider when selling your<br />
home is the exposure it receives while on the market. Even<br />
with the home priced at a great value for buyers and pristine<br />
condition inside and out, if buyers don’t know about your<br />
home they’re simply not going to buy it. It’s for this reason<br />
that you need to make sure your home is getting as much<br />
exposure as possible. A lot of that will fall on your real estate<br />
agent’s shoulders, through advertising and getting your home<br />
listed in the local multiple listings service. However, to increase<br />
your exposure even more you also need to get the word out to<br />
whoever you can and even more importantly, make sure you<br />
and your home are available for open houses.<br />
3.) How do I know what price to list my home at?<br />
You know that price is one of the most important factors to<br />
consider when listing your home. If you price your home too<br />
high, it will turn buyers away because they don’t see the value;<br />
and if you price it too low, you could lose out on thousands of<br />
dollars. But how do you know what a fair price is for both you<br />
and buyers? You can be prepared to just give your real estate<br />
agent a number based on what you paid for the home and<br />
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what you think the home is worth; but that’s not the smartest<br />
way to go about it. For better or worse, the market has most<br />
likely changed since you purchased your home, making a fair<br />
comparison very difficult. Also, sentimental value can come<br />
into play, placing a bias on any price you determine is fair for<br />
your home. A much better way to price your home is to get an<br />
appraisal, or have a comparative market analysis performed,<br />
which will tell you how much your home is worth based on<br />
location, condition, and market conditions.<br />
Appraisals can be costly, ranging from $450 for a single-family<br />
home and even more for multi-family dwellings. They are<br />
performed by a professional appraiser who knows to look at<br />
things such as location, square footage, water front possibilities,<br />
and amenities including garages, number of rooms,<br />
bathrooms, etc. Appraisals can give you a precise number to<br />
value your property at, and they’re even defendable in court.<br />
A comparative market analysis is similar to an appraisal, but<br />
it’s less formal and not admissible in court. Because they are<br />
not official, real estate agents will often provide clients with a<br />
free comparative market analysis in hopes to gain that client<br />
and eventually, earn them a commission. Even though these<br />
analyses are informal, agents still need to evaluate your home<br />
based on accepted appraisal practices, meaning that they too<br />
will take into consideration the size and style of the home,<br />
location, condition, and what other similar homes are being<br />
sold for on the market. While these analyses don’t provide<br />
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a precise number the way appraisals do, they can provide a<br />
broad price range from which a number can be agreed upon.<br />
Both appraisals and comparative market analyses should be<br />
submitted to the homeowner in writing.<br />
4.) Do I need to hire a real estate agent?<br />
The answer to this question depends largely on your situation.<br />
If you are looking to purchase a home, it is very possible you<br />
can do so without hiring a real estate agent. There are tons of<br />
resources available for people looking to purchase real estate.<br />
Often, for a buyer, the only job for a real estate agent is to<br />
unlock the doors to allow you to look inside.<br />
It is completely possible for you to perform research, negotiate<br />
prices and buy a house without an agent – but for most people<br />
this is not recommended. Real estate agents often help in<br />
the closing and escrow process. You can also use a property<br />
attorney for those procedures as well. The answer to whether<br />
or not you need to hire a real estate agent gets trickier if you<br />
are looking to sell your home. It is possible to sell your home<br />
by yourself using local marketing, the internet and advertising.<br />
But using a real estate agent all that work is done for you.<br />
In short, choosing whether or not to use a real estate agent is<br />
like anything else. You can choose to do it yourself but most of<br />
the time it just makes sense to use a professional.<br />
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5.) Should I make repairs that are necessary on the home?<br />
Truthfully, whether you decide to take on the task of making<br />
repairs on your home is up to you, but there are several things<br />
you should take into consideration before making the decision.<br />
The first is that if your home requires any major repairs, such<br />
as fixing a foundation problem, you probably are better off just<br />
making the repairs before selling the home. While these types<br />
of repairs might not get you a huge increase in price, because<br />
buyers simply won’t purchase a home that’s dangerous or<br />
inhabitable, you’ll ultimately sell the home much more quickly<br />
and won’t have to worry about the problem causing any<br />
problems later, such as lawsuits.<br />
If there are minor problems such as a leaky faucet, a laundry<br />
hook-up that doesn’t work, or a half-finished basement, you’ll<br />
have to carefully weigh your options before deciding whether<br />
or not you want to make the repairs yourself. If you do make<br />
the repairs, it can greatly add value to your home (depending<br />
on what the repair was), and you can usually also ask for<br />
more in the price than the project cost you to complete. Also<br />
consider that if you don’t make the repairs, buyers could try to<br />
use those small issues to try and negotiate a lower price for the<br />
home.<br />
6.) What do I have to disclose when selling my home?<br />
While you might not want to tell potential buyers everything<br />
there is to know about your home (including the fact that a<br />
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few shingles are loose on the roof or that a post in the fence<br />
continuously breaks), there are some things you legally must<br />
tell buyers, no matter how unpleasant they might be. These<br />
items that you must include in a written disclosure vary from<br />
state to state so it’s very important that you ask your real estate<br />
agent about any forms or guidelines that might be provided<br />
by the Association of Realtors in your state. Some of the most<br />
common things you’ll have to disclose are:<br />
Deaths in the home. Different states have very different laws<br />
about this with some making it illegal to not tell potential<br />
buyers about any death in the home, while in other states you<br />
don’t have to disclose any death in the home. In Texas, if the<br />
death didn’t have anything to do with the property itself, the<br />
information does not have to be disclosed.<br />
Nuisances. These are classified as annoying noises, smells, or<br />
sights around the property that irritate the property owners,<br />
but aren’t on the actual property itself. These nuisances<br />
could include things like train tracks, airports, industrial<br />
manufacturing plants, bad odors, smoke, landfills, and shooting<br />
ranges, to name just a few possibilities. While some states, like<br />
North Carolina and Michigan, do require that sellers disclose<br />
these nuisances, other states – such as Pennsylvania – leave<br />
the burden with the buyers to determine these nuisances for<br />
themselves.<br />
Environmental and natural hazards. Hawaii has a law that<br />
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sellers must disclose when homes are in a tsunami zone,<br />
while New York requires sellers to tell buyers if the home is in<br />
a flood plain or wetland. Again, different states have different<br />
requirements but if the home is at an increased risk of damage<br />
from a natural disaster, most states require that the seller<br />
disclose this information to any and all potential buyers.<br />
Any information pertaining to the Homeowners’ Association.<br />
If the home is a unit in a condo building or part of another<br />
multi-unit building, there’s a good chance that there’s a<br />
Homeowners’ Association. It’s imperative to tell all buyers<br />
any and all information regarding the association, including<br />
past meeting notes and information regarding membership<br />
dues. These can often be quite costly and add greatly to the<br />
purchase price. Even when this information is not required by<br />
law to be disclosed by the sellers, it should be.<br />
History of all repairs. While you’ll definitely want to tell<br />
potential buyers about recent repairs in order to increase the<br />
property price, you’ll also want to tell them about any repairs<br />
that have been done in the past, what exactly was done, and<br />
why. These repairs could become issues once again after the<br />
buyers have moved into the home and they need to know<br />
what to be watching out for.<br />
Water damage. Water damage can be one of the most<br />
disastrous, and most expensive, problems with a home so most<br />
states have a law in place that sellers must disclose all areas<br />
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of water damage, repairs that have been done to repair it, and<br />
anything that puts certain areas at risk (like heavily watering<br />
the grass along the foundation).<br />
Missing large items. While buyers do try to take a good look at<br />
the house and take note of everything that is or isn’t included,<br />
sometimes there are still some things that are missing and<br />
that buyers simply don’t notice during their many viewings.<br />
Things like missing water heaters, exhaust fans, and rain gutters<br />
can make it very difficult to live in a home but aren’t at the<br />
top of one’s list when they’re looking at homes. Only after they<br />
move in do they realize these essential items are missing and<br />
by then, they’re put in a very bad position. Some states, such as<br />
Michigan and Texas, have laws in place that requires sellers to<br />
provide a list of all the items that are included with the sale of<br />
the home so that buyers can read over it and determine what<br />
they will need to purchase before moving in.<br />
Specialty disclosures. Some states have very specific conditions<br />
due to their location and the special issues or problems<br />
pertaining to that geographical area. Because termites are<br />
extremely common in Texas, the state has a law that requires<br />
sellers disclose that information, while other areas have<br />
special historical districts that place restrictions on what<br />
homeowners can and cannot do to their home in the manner<br />
of improvements. Sellers are usually required by law to disclose<br />
that information so that buyers are aware of what will be<br />
required of them upon purchasing the home.<br />
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7.) Do I have to tell all buyers about other offers I’ve received<br />
on my home?<br />
States don’t usually place laws on whether you tell potential<br />
buyers about other offers you’ve received on your home, but<br />
it can often be advantageous for you to do so. Telling other<br />
buyers that you’ve received offers on your home can place a<br />
bit of pressure on them to make an offer or not, and it can also<br />
make your home seem more desirable when people know that<br />
it’s already garnered interest.<br />
However, never think that you have to disclose the terms of<br />
any other offers you’ve received, because you don’t. If you<br />
want to disclose the amount you’ve been offered in order to<br />
increase the bid you can, but in order to respect the privacy of<br />
all parties, never disclose anything like the name of the other<br />
buyer or any information pertaining to that person. You also<br />
don’t need to disclose other terms of the offer, including any<br />
clauses, inclusions, or exclusions that are included.<br />
8.) What are contingency clauses and what are the most<br />
common clauses included in offers?<br />
Contingency clauses are clauses that buyers will include in<br />
their offers to protect them from unforeseen circumstances<br />
that may crop up during the process of the sale. By including<br />
contingency clauses, the buyer can express their sincere<br />
interest in buying the home simply based on one or two quick<br />
viewings. From the time the offer is submitted to the closing<br />
date, a number of things can occur, problems can be found<br />
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with the home, and those problems can make it impossible for<br />
the buyer to purchase the home. For this reason, contingency<br />
clauses are put into place that provide the buyer with an “out”<br />
should they need it later on.<br />
The two contingency clauses that are more common than any<br />
others are the appraisal contingency (17 days), and the loan<br />
contingency (21 days).<br />
The appraisal and inspection contingency is included in the<br />
offer to purchase because the inspection will not yet have been<br />
performed upon time of submitting the offer. If it’s found after<br />
the inspection is completed that there are major issues with<br />
the home or a lot of repairs that are needed, the buyers can<br />
point to the inspection clause and retract their offer.<br />
Loan contingencies are written into offers to purchase with<br />
nearly every single contract that’s drawn for the purchase of<br />
any home. This is because once again, while buyers might<br />
have an idea of how much they can afford and may even have<br />
pre-approvals, they won’t actually have the financing firmed<br />
up and in place. There are also many things that can happen<br />
during the financing process that can cause the financing to<br />
fall through for the buyer and make purchasing the home<br />
impossible. The loan contingency keeps the buyer from being<br />
legally and contractually bound to buy the home when there’s<br />
simply no way they can do so.<br />
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9.) What should I do if my house has been on the market for<br />
a while and it’s simply not getting any interest?<br />
It can be extremely discouraging when you’ve had your home<br />
listed for sale for several weeks, or even months, and the buyers<br />
simply don’t seem interested. Fortunately, it’s not a hopeless<br />
situation and there are some things you can do to make<br />
your home more attractive. If buyers simply aren’t expressing<br />
interest in your home, it’s typically for two reasons: the home is<br />
simply not in good condition, or it’s priced too high.<br />
If you feel that your home should be getting more attention,<br />
and more offers, than it currently is, first take a walk around<br />
both the inside and outside of your home looking for cosmetic<br />
defects that might be turning buyers away. Maybe it’s<br />
something you missed the first time you made repairs to these<br />
small issues, or maybe it’s something you thought wouldn’t<br />
be a big deal. Either way, take care of all these issues and it<br />
could make the difference between not having any offers, and<br />
choosing the best one of a bunch.<br />
If your home is simply priced too high however, it won’t matter<br />
if you’ve taken care of all the repairs and cosmetic defects;<br />
buyers simply won’t find the price equivalent to the value of<br />
the home. Speak to your real estate agent about lowering the<br />
price. They’ll have the knowledge about how much you should<br />
reduce the price, as well as when you should.<br />
If you’ve taken care of all issues big and small around the<br />
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home, and you’re sure that the asking price is fair, and you’re<br />
still not getting any interest in the home, you might want to<br />
consider taking your home off the market for at least a few<br />
weeks. When you relist it, it will appear as a new listing and<br />
when that happens, it often garners new interest.<br />
10.) What if I want to sell my home but the value is less than<br />
the mortgage balance?<br />
Sometimes homeowners get into the unfortunate position<br />
of having a mortgage balance which is greater than the total<br />
value of their home. When this happens, and they want to sell<br />
their home, they can do a short sale. Short sales are usually<br />
very complicated because they include speaking to mortgage<br />
insurers if the home had mortgage insurance placed upon it<br />
during the time of purchase, and because it’s often dependent<br />
on the bank’s agreement to split the difference between the<br />
value of the home and the remaining mortgage payments that<br />
are due. Once all of these issues are resolved the sale of the<br />
home can be completed but short sales are often the benefit<br />
of the buyer and not the seller.<br />
The most common reasons sellers find themselves in the<br />
position of negotiating a short sale is because they can’t afford<br />
the home and need to downsize, or relocation has forced them<br />
to sell their home at a time when the market conditions may<br />
not be favorable for them to do so.<br />
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11.) How can I get my home ready to sell?<br />
It’s important for homeowners to remember that the way<br />
they live in their home and the way they sell their home are<br />
two different things. It’s well known that in order for buyers<br />
to be able to imagine their own belongings in the home,<br />
there needs to be fewer of your things around; this is why<br />
decluttering is so important, and why it should be the first<br />
thing you do. Organize your closets, take down excessive<br />
artwork or pictures from the walls, and clear counters and<br />
other surfaces of most items. This is the time to throw things<br />
out or donate them if you can, as it will be difficult to hide your<br />
excess “stuff” when potential buyers are going through cabinets<br />
and closets looking at the space.<br />
While going for this “clean” look, make sure that you actually<br />
clean every inch of your home. Dust everything, clean furniture,<br />
scrub the floors, and clean all other surfaces and appliances.<br />
When doing this cleaning you need to make sure that the<br />
kitchen and bathrooms especially are spotless. These are the<br />
two rooms that will really sell buyers or turn them off of the<br />
home so put in some extra time and effort when cleaning<br />
these two rooms.<br />
And when cleaning, don’t forget the outdoors! Curb appeal, or<br />
rather, how nice your home looks from the outside, is a huge<br />
factor as to when your home will sell and how many interested<br />
buyers will set up a viewing appointment. Make sure that<br />
sweep the sidewalk regularly, clean up any garbage, debris, or<br />
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clutter from your yard and driveway, keep lawns and gardens<br />
nicely maintained, and clean both the inside and outside of<br />
windows.<br />
It’s important to also remember that while you need to get rid<br />
of clutter, you also need to maintain a balance of still keeping<br />
a home that looks lived-in and comfortable. Otherwise, buyers<br />
will get the impression that the home is cold and stark.<br />
Once you do have potential buyers inside the home, there are a<br />
few more things you can do to make it more pleasant. Cooking<br />
and baking things like cookies, apple pies, or even spaghetti<br />
sauce can add an enticing aroma to the air, and flowers<br />
throughout the home can also bring a burst of freshness.<br />
Many homeowners like to have nice, soft music playing in the<br />
background to make buyers feel more comfortable and have<br />
them look and linger a little longer.<br />
12.) What is your strategy to get my house on the market?<br />
This answer will also let you know about how the agent intends<br />
to complete the job for you. Their answer should include their<br />
marketing strategy, how the agents handles multiple offers,<br />
how often they’re going to hold open houses, where they will<br />
be advertising, and the link to the home on the local multiple<br />
listings service. Even before going into too much detail on<br />
your specific property an agent should have some specific<br />
ideas about how they intend to sell the property because this<br />
is their profession and what they do every single day. They will<br />
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also have ideas about when the best time to list your home<br />
is, strategies specific to your neighborhood and location, and<br />
more. Above all what you want to hear is that your real estate<br />
agent has a clear-cut strategy that they’re going to follow and<br />
that has proven to be successful for them in the past.<br />
13.) Can the agent provide all documents to be reviewed by<br />
me before I am asked to sign them?<br />
This seems like a no brainer, but you have to be sure that you<br />
are given the opportunity to review any documents before you<br />
sign them. Professional real estate agents should be willing to<br />
give you all documents to look over before you sign and many<br />
will give them to you up front. Ideally, you want to be given the<br />
opportunity to take any and all documents home to look them<br />
over before signing, and not just have them tossed at you with<br />
five minutes left to sign. Any agent who is not willing to show<br />
you documents is not worth hiring.<br />
You can also ask, before any work has even begun, if the agent<br />
will show you a sample purchase agreement. Check if these<br />
agreements are exclusive or non-exclusive. Also ask to see any<br />
agency disclosures, including seller or buyer disclosures. If you<br />
are looking to sell your home, check the listing agreement to<br />
see if it has a part about your right to sell your home yourself<br />
if you choose. Also, have the agent go over all of the fees<br />
listed on the documents. If you find any fees that you do not<br />
understand, ask the agent to explain it to you. You don’t want<br />
to get stuck signing an agreement with odd or unnecessary<br />
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fees.<br />
14.) Will my real estate agent be able to help me locate other<br />
professionals I might need to use while selling my home?<br />
Real estate agents often work with lots of other professionals<br />
in the housing market and should be able to refer you to these<br />
people. Having this kind of access to the best professionals<br />
in the business and in your area is advice that can prove to<br />
be invaluable, so this is something you should always you’re<br />
your real estate agent about upfront. They will be able to refer<br />
you to mortgage brokers, title companies, home appraisers,<br />
inspectors, escrow agents and contractors that they may have<br />
worked with in the past. When selling your home you could<br />
need to make multiple repairs and so, require many different<br />
contractors in many different areas of expertise so making sure<br />
that your real estate agent also knows these professionals can<br />
save you a lot of time in the long run.<br />
In addition to getting the names of these professional, also<br />
ask about how the agent works with these other professionals.<br />
If they are ‘affiliated’ they will be receiving compensation for<br />
directing you to them, so be sure to ask. That compensation<br />
will be tacked onto your charge and that’s a fee you don’t want<br />
to have to pay.<br />
15.) How are an agent’s fees determined? What if I end up<br />
with less than the asking price?<br />
A real estate agent’s fees will be determined one of two ways: a<br />
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commission on the asking price, or a commission on the total<br />
price paid for the home. You want to work with a real estate<br />
agent that will only charge a commission based on the total<br />
price paid for the home. This way the commission remains<br />
completely fair and completely in line with the total price you<br />
receive, not the price you were hoping to receive. By choosing<br />
to work with a real estate agent that will charge commission<br />
only against the total price paid for the home, you won’t end<br />
up paying much more for the commission than you received in<br />
the sale.<br />
In addition to just their commission, make sure that you’re also<br />
aware of any fees attached to purchase agreements and listing<br />
the home. Some agents charge extra for these while others<br />
don’t. An agent asking for these fees isn’t necessarily a bad<br />
agent, but you do want to make sure you know about it so that<br />
you’re not surprised with more fees than you thought at the<br />
end of the selling process.<br />
16.) What is a current certificate of occupancy (CO), and why<br />
is it important?<br />
A CO is a certificate showing that any construction that’s<br />
been done on the property has been approved by the town<br />
or city and that it’s safe and habitable by the standards set<br />
out by that town or city. Mortgage lenders are extremely<br />
reluctant to lend to any property that has a history of any type<br />
of construction that didn’t also carry a CO. This is important<br />
for buyers to know because they might not be able to obtain<br />
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financing, but it’s also important for sellers to know before any<br />
construction or major projects are completed because after<br />
the fact there’s little that can be done about it, and it could<br />
greatly impact whether or not your home will sell.<br />
17.) If I decide at any point that I don’t want to sell my<br />
house after all, do I still need to pay my real estate agent<br />
commission?<br />
This depends on where you are in the selling process when you<br />
decide you don’t want to sell. If the real estate agent hasn’t<br />
properly advertised your property, hasn’t had any offers or even<br />
a lot of interest in the property, and hasn’t advised you on why<br />
this is happening or what can be done to change it, sometimes<br />
you can back out of the deal without too many repercussions.<br />
However, if the agent has done all of the work and has even<br />
found a ready, willing, and able buyer and then you decide<br />
you don’t want to sell, you will most likely still have to pay the<br />
agent their commission.<br />
If you get even further into the deal, such as the buyer has<br />
sold their previous home and has nowhere to go after a<br />
certain date, backing out of the deal at the last minute might<br />
make you responsible for expenses they incurred due to your<br />
decision such as hotel fees, storage fees, etc. When you decide<br />
you want to sell your home, you want to be very sure that you<br />
do in fact, want to sell your home.<br />
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SELLING A HOME FAQ’S AND SAQ’S | JENNIFER CHRISTENOT
18.) Is it okay to let a buyer move in before the closing date?<br />
The closing date is the date that all documents officially<br />
become binding, the deal is closed, and the house goes from<br />
being yours to being someone else’s. In many cases, the seller<br />
of the home also lives in the home and the closing date is<br />
also the date that they, as well as all of their belongings, need<br />
to be out of the home so that the new owner can move in.<br />
However, in some cases the seller of the home doesn’t live in<br />
the property and so, they don’t necessarily see a problem with<br />
allowing the buyer to move in a few days or even a week or two<br />
before the closing date. This can be a bad idea and can turn<br />
into a terrible situation for the seller.<br />
There are a number of things that can go wrong between the<br />
acceptance of the offer and the closing date, and these issues<br />
can make the deal fall through. Should that happen and there<br />
be someone living in the home, you will now be the landlord<br />
of a tenant that has certain rights. Instead of cashing in on the<br />
sale of your home and excitedly moving into the next phase<br />
of your life, you might instead be deep in an eviction process<br />
that’s not only lengthy, but can also be very expensive.<br />
I hope you found this information helpful and I would love to help you<br />
sell your house!<br />
Jennifer Christenot<br />
Realtor<br />
DRE#01974700<br />
760.272.0101<br />
SELLING A HOME FAQ’S AND SAQ’S | JENNIFER CHRISTENOT<br />
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