Hiring Professionals
While you can handle most aspects of selling your home on your own, there are a few steps where hiring a professional is necessary. With the help of a few key professionals, you can be sure your sell is legally binding and that you are not putting yourself in a bad situation due to some minor detail that you missed. Three professionals that can really help make the process run smoothly include:
- Real Estate Attorney/Title Insurance Company
- Escrow Company
- Mortgage Company
By putting together a team of these professionals to work with you through the process, you are keeping yourself and the buyer protected while also getting your home sold as quickly as possible images home
Staying Within the Law with a Real Estate Attorney
Perhaps the most important professional you can hire to help you with the process of selling your home is a real estate attorney. Depending on the state you live in, you may need to go through a title insurance company instead. Either way, these professionals will help ensure you are staying within the law and completing the proper forms. A real estate attorney can also help you evaluate offers, prepare and review contracts and even act as your escrow agent. Every negotiation is different, but most FSBO sellers need this type of help once they find a willing buyer.
Escrow and Title Companies
Whether you work through your attorney or with a standalone escrow or title company, enlisting in the help of these professionals is an essential step in the process of selling your home. The escrow or title company typically is an impartial third party who maintains the buyer's deposits, retains and prepares the legal documents, and closes the sale. When opening an escrow account, the buyer's initial deposit and signed sales agreement is needed.
Enlisting in the Help of a Mortgage Company
A mortgage company (lender or bank) can assist you with the financial aspect of selling your home and pre-qualify interested buyers. This will help you quickly weed out those who are not financially capable of purchasing your house. Although the buyer typically selects the mortgage company, many buyers start looking for a home without getting prequalified first. Having a trusted lender available to assist a buyer can speed up the process. Unless your buyer is willing to pay cash, it is important to make sure the buyer is prequalified before accepting an offer. You don't want to take