FOR OUR SELLERS
You may have read or heard about the recent changes in the real estate industry covering nation-wide and California residential transactions. Here is a summary of how these changes affect home buyers and sellers.
1. Commission offered by the seller or seller's agent to pay the buyer's broker are NO LONGER PERMITTED to be posted in the multiple listing service (MLS).
2. Listing agents ARE PERMITTED to post offers to pay commission by the seller or seller's broker on their website, in an open house, or on listing flyers/brochure.
SELLER CONCESSIONS
A seller may agree to pay concessions to the buyer. Seller can agree to credit the buyer through escrow for the following concessions:
- Financial costs
- Improvements costs
- Buyer Broker fee/compensation
- Other costs such as repairs
How are commission/fee and concessions negotiated?
When a buyer writes an offer to purchase a property, the type and amount of concession the buyer requests the seller to pay will be written into the purchase contract. All terms of the purchase contract are then negotiated between buyer and seller, through their agents, in the form of counter offers. Once the buyer and seller reach agreement on price and terms, the escrow process begins.
Who can pay the buyer/broker compensations: The seller, seller's agent, the buyer or a combination of all three.
OUR SERVICES TO SELLERS
COMMUNICATION: You can count on working directly with LaVonne or Herb throughout the entire transaction—not an “assistant.” “We believe that clients should work directly with the Realtor who is earning the commission, not a less experienced assistant.
EXPERIENCE MATTERS: You can count on our extensive knowledge and experience to determine a realistic market value of your home. Setting the list price is the most important part an effective marketing plan. If your home is priced too high it may not sell in a timely manner, or at all, no matter how aggressive the marketing program.
MARKETING: You can count on LaVonne and Herb to develop an aggressive, effective marketing plan customized for your unique home. They utilize both state of the art internet technology and traditional marketing strategies including direct mailings.
STAGING & PHOTOGRAPHY: LaVonne provides light staging, photography and virtual tours that showcase the special attributes of your home.
NEGOTIATING SKILLS: You can count on LaVonne and Herb to strongly represent your interests and use sophisticated negotiating skills to close the sales transaction with the results you want.
BUYER QUALIFICATIONS: You can count on LaVonne and Herb to thoroughly analyze and confirm the buyer’s ability to pre-qualify for financing PRIOR TO ACCEPTANCE.
ATTEND ALL INSPECTIONS: You can count on LaVonne and Herb to attend all home inspections and meet with tradesmen when needed. They can offer wide-ranging experience, knowledge, and advice about negotiating and arranging for any repairs that may be needed - SAVING YOU $$$$.
MEET THE APPRAISER: You can count on LaVonne and Herb to personally meet the appraiser and provide them the most recent and best comparable sales and our analysis of value.
QUARTERBACK: You can count on LaVonne and Herb to coordinate a team of professionals throughout the entire transaction – from start to finish. They are responsible for seeing that all aspects of the contract, escrow and lending process are completed in a timely manner in order to insure a smooth transaction.