The Real Estate : Sales Walkthrough Process

As the chain begins it has been seen that 90% of the buyers usually use the same agent or refer them to others as they have liked the process and the way they handle the situation. Without a broker, the process of handling property’s opening and closing process is a bit more difficult in this era. Many of the users are fond of the process that the real estate agents can use and so we could give them a small walkthrough through the process which can help you boost your business. This blog will help you understand how a basic approach is taken by an agent.

In case this process is not followed properly, then it takes a lot of time for deal closing, and frustration is built among the buyer and the seller, and a lot of discussions are required. But in case you follow up with everything and automate your process you can save a lot of time and deal closing will be quick. This will help you to generate sales in a quicker way and an assurance that the seller or buyer would choose you or refer you to others.

Let us discuss the points which you help you keep both the buyer and the sellers on your side and understanding the real estate sales process.

• Step 1: Listing the sales requirement
• Step 2: Pricing the property
• Step 3: Organizing the viewing of the property
• Step 4: Negotiation
• Step 5: Closing the deal

Step 1:  Listing the sales requirement:

When you start to prepare the sales listing, it has been divided into 3 parts:

The requirement from the seller, staging the property, and the promotion of property.

Before you start this process be prepared to dive into the process as you will be juggling with a lot of clients, requirements, and procedures for which you have a proper way to follow and with a hint of using some personal connections.

Part 1: Requirement from the seller

This is a step where the actual requirement has to be taken into consideration. When a buyer calls or meets, you have to provide confidence that you could close the deal properly and will consider the demands that are required from both parties. When a buyer comes with a requirement, you have to ask few questions regarding the property, the requirement they are expecting, details of the property, and the person they are talking to.

After understanding the requirement you need to check the property and estimate a cost as per the market value. You also need to check the tax, the title, and the insurance allotted to the property. This also includes that you have to do a certain amount of study before bringing in any buyer for the same.

In case, there are any unpaid taxes you need to inform the seller and let them know that it is the right time to pay it, or else if there is any dispute for the property you need to inform the same to the seller. The title of the property should be as per the property paper and in case if there is anybody involved then you have to inform the seller and resolve the disputes so that the property can be sold. Once all of this is settled, and all the paperwork is up to date and legal we can bring the property up into the market and after the sale, the key can be handed over to the buyer.

Note: Always keep a copy of the documents that the seller is submitting so that you can keep a track of the process till the property is sold.

Part 2: Staging the property

Once you are on good terms with the seller, now you can focus on staging the property to enter the market. Just like you have polished and cleared the understanding between you and the seller same has to be done with the house. The staging process involves making the property look more promising to the buyers.

For example, if the property requires some electrical fixing or any furniture correction or replacement, any equipment to be added, house painting, house cleaning, and set up everything so that it is ready for the buyers to see. This step is crucial as you cannot sell a broken house and expect buyers to love them.  This process usually costs the seller but also promises good buyers with high expectations with an additional frequent buyer list increasing.

Part 3: Promotion of property

Once the property is all staged up and you are prepared with all the photos and videos. The next step is to promote the property. You have to use all the online platforms and your offline contacts when you start a property promotion. This is required because a requirement can be from anywhere, a new or a referred contact or someone that has heard about your company.

Now promoting the property on online platforms has its way on how you can describe the property, requirement, and the pricing strategy for the same.

Basic online platforms that you can promote the property on are:

1. Your website: In case you have your website, it should be the first place where you can promote the property and get them on the top listings.
2. Social media: One of the best ways to spread property news to a greater extent by using social media where you can post your property on WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked In, etc.
3. Company’s blog: In case you own a blog you could promote the property there which will help you as well as updating your blog frequently. You can add features like fittings, pictures, videos, and your contact information.
4. The traditional ways: the old ways are also useful where you can share your knowledge using mails or sharing the information by meeting the contacts that will help you promote the property.

Step 2: Pricing the property

When your listing is done the most crucial topic comes under this where you have to price the property. To decide the price of the property you cannot just go with the price expectation of the seller. You have to use your own experience, your training, your understanding of the market, and how the sales are happening in the current scenario.

Any agent knows that they do not have to approve the price that the seller is expecting and have to bargain and provide them all the knowledge on which they can sell the property. If the house property costing is kept low then the property would not reach the high market because it is considered that if the pricing is low then there might be some issues or concerns related to the property and buyers won’t have any interest in them.

 

If the house property costing is kept too high then the buyers will evaluate with the market price and as the price is high it is not affordable to the buyers and again the house would not be in the top listing.

To keep the house in the list and as per the market comparison analysis we can follow few steps that can help you fix a proper costing:

• Consider the price of other properties of the same neighborhood and the property that has recently been sold having the same features of the property you want to sell.
• Improvements that the seller has made on the property
• External features like a swimming pool, long yard space, more than 1 parking slot, etc. have to be considered.
• How much the cost of other homes per square foot are?
• What is the market situation that you are selling the property into?

These steps give you an overview and would help you move closer to a basic price listing but to provide an accurate price for the property you need to consider few more aspects from the sales listing history like below:

1. Active listings:- the properties that are on the list to be sold fall under this category. Note that you keep the buyers that are also interested in buying your seller’s property. But there is an exception as the property listed are not yet sold and their price may vary as per the market.
2. Pending listings:- the properties that are on the verge of getting closed but are not getting closed fall under this category. You can not have a greater extent of knowledge in this but a calculative analysis can be done.
3. Sold listings:- the property that is sold comes under this category and this is where the true costing starts. you could check the properties that are sold between 3-6 months that will help you analyze the market value of the property.
4. Withdrawn properties:- the properties that are no longer on the top listing of the market and have been removed by the seller. This is basically due to high price issues but could help you understand what costing can be done.

After all this, you get an idea of the price that can be set for the property. Now comes the condition, shape, and size that falls under your requirement. Some of the ways are:

• Similar size properties: you could search properties of similar size per sqft but remember that larger homes have worth that is less than small homes on a per sqft basis. So, usually, less is more in your case.
• Same age property: this one requires some input from your side and time to search properties and their age duration. This will help you understand the cost of similar-age properties.
• Same feature properties: you could search for properties having similar features so you could understand the worth of the property.
• Location: the most important aspect comes when you look under the location the property falls into. The price difference is usually from location to location. That is the reason why it is more crucial.

Once you have conducted all the necessary analysis and searched the property you will be able to make the seller understand the costing analysis. The same can be used with the buyers.

Step 3: Organizing the viewing of the property

In this step, once you have finalized the pricing with the seller you have to start promoting the house.  To do this, there are few ways which you could follow to make the buyers that the property is on sale. The buyer can be an existing or a new lead or a new client that has seen some listings on your site or any personal contact.

Here the creativity and your skills work a lot for you as you have to start selling the property. You could hold a party or an open house to let the users have a look over the property. You can also hold an open house and list down the buyers that are interested and contact them privately or else you could use some online mediums that could promote the selling of the property.

You can also use your contacts or your old clients that are looking for a property similar to yours and you can start the dealing for the same. Another way to promote the property is by putting up a banner or an advertisement in newspapers regarding the availability of the property with your contact details.

Step 4: Negotiation

Here comes the actual work of a real estate agent, when both the parties have their terms and conditions. Once you have found your potential buyer you have to understand their terms and conditions and any other request that they have requested and bring them up to the seller’s acknowledgment.

Before making a meeting between the buyer and the seller it is important to first negotiate with the buyer and understand what they are looking for in the property. You need to step up the game by moving the step from a proposed deal to a negotiable deal. All the facts are to be considered which might keep you under some stress and constraints and might require more calls and meetings between the buyers. A buyer might fluctuate its decision and to give him confidence you need to boost and let the buyer know all the information that he might require and any other help that he requires like loan procedure, or any repairs, equipment, fixtures, etc.

Once the buyer has finalized, he might visit the property more often so that he could request his requirements or any other idea that is under his impression before the closure of the deal.

Step 5: Closing the deal

The most crucial step for an agent is how to close the deal. Many times people reach step 4 but are not able to accomplish step 5 or not able to close the deal.

During the closure of the deal, many things come under the picture like final inspection of the house, paperwork, handing over the keys, agreement process, and removing the property from the market.

Part 1: The final inspection

During the final inspection, there can be some scenarios where the inspector might let the buyer know whether there is any fixture required on the particular place in 4-5 years but this could make the buyer misinterpret that the fixing is required immediately. Due to this, you need to handle the situation and make the client understand. A final inspection is always needed so the buyer and the seller are aware of the changes and are not part of the requirement.

Part 2: Final negotiation

As the deal is being finalized, the last inspection when completed there can be some fluctuations in the price due to which a final negotiation deal is required and in case there are some other aspects to be added, they are done as part of the process.

Part 3: Signing of the paperwork

As the deal is about to close and pricing and negotiation have been finalized, the paperwork comes under this procedure. The agent has to provide all the necessary government documents required and help them sign the papers. The documents that they have to look into basically are:

• Letter of allotment
• Sale deed
• Sanctioned plan
• sale agreement document

As the property is sold, the property is off the market and sales listing.

Also Read: 10 things every small business needs to know about PR