Ten Essential Questions to Ask Your Realtor® in Listing Your Home

About to hire a Realtor®? Read this first.

Putting your most significant investment for sale can be a daunting experience. It can be confusing and scary, especially for first-time home sellers. It’s a good thing there are many professionals you can turn to for help.

There are many advantages to hiring a Realtor® in selling your Pleasanton home.

A Realtor® guides, assists, and takes the heavy load off your shoulder. He or she can make the home-selling process a smooth journey. You can also get a better deal in selling your Pleasanton home with the help of a competent Realtor®.

He or she is also the best person to turn to when you have any listing questions, which I am sure you’ll have many along the process. Asking questions will help you better understand the process, so you’ll know what to do on your second rodeo.

To know who to hire, here are 10 essential questions you should ask any Realtor® you interview.

1. How much is my home worth? The first thing you want to learn from the agent is how much he valuated your home for. The answer to this question is essential because it will become your home’s listing price.

We all know how important it is to get the listing price right. If your home is overpriced, you will have a hard time selling it.

2. How did you come up with my list price? A great follow up question to the first one is an explanation of how the agent came up with the value. Agents have different tools at their disposal.

The agents should explain and give you a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) which contains a list of comparable homes in your area. From the get-go, it should be clear to you how your home was valued.

3. Is it the best time to sell my home? The agent’s market knowledge should tell him or her if it is an excellent time to sell your home. As the seller, knowing what kind of market is currently prevailing in your area is helpful.

If it is a seller’s market, you should know that you can increase the price of your home for up to 10% and know it will still sell because there is a scarcity of homes for sale. If it happened to be a buyer’s market, you should drop your home price, because there are more homes for sale than buyers.

4. How do you plan to market my home? It is your right as the home seller to know how the agent plans to market your home. You want an agent who has a good solid plan. He or she should use the different marketing techniques available to get your listing to a larger audience.

 

A great follow up question to this is if the agent uses social media as a marketing tool. Most home buyers first check online, so getting your home listed online can help buyers find your home.

5. What should I do to sell my home successfully? You want an agent who willingly provides helpful suggestions so you can sell your home successfully.

6. Should I stage my home or sell it empty? You want to get the top dollar for your home, so having an agent who can help you get a better deal for your pocket is preferable.

7. Do I need an open house? An open house is a hot topic among agents and Realtors®. You want someone who can explain why you need an open house.

8. Do I need a home inspection? Most agents will recommend a home inspection. It helps you know if there are areas or spots in your home that should be repaired so you can sell your home at an optimum price.

9. What are seller's closing costs? Ask your Realtor® what the closings costs are so you can know how much to prepare at the closing.

10. How will you keep me informed? Communication is essential when you are selling a home. You want to be updated on how your home is being marketed, of buyers interested in your home, of any concerns that may arise during the selling process. This is a topic that should be clearly established so that there will be no bad feelings at the end of the deal.

Be a proactive seller. Ask questions. The Realtor®’s reaction and explanations should help you understand the selling process better. More importantly, it should tell you how the Realtor® reacts when faced with challenges.

Do you have any other questions? Call me, Doug Buenz at (925)621-0680.  Let me help you get the best deal for your home.

In case you cannot view this video here, please click the link below to view Ten Essential Questions to Ask Your Realtor® in Listing Your Home on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2kWGg9VL4w&feature=youtu.be

What to Know About the Property Types in Pleasanton CA

00:29: Hello, and welcome to 680 Home Video Channel, a web series where we answer all of your real estate questions. I’m your host Theodora and I’m talking to local East Bay real estate broker Doug Buenz.

**In case you can not view this video here, please click the link below to view What to Know About the Property Types in Pleasanton CA on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/76eLy8GJ0go**

00:41: Hi Doug, it’s great to see you! Today we’re going to discuss property types. Doug, please tell us a little bit about all the different property types.

00:51: Sure. There’s three main types of zoning designation. There’s a single family home, a PUD or planned unit development, and a condominium.

01:05: Single family homes are pre-standing properties, are not attached. The owner maintains the property and the structure. And it may or may not have a homeowners association with it.

01:20: A PUD is another zoning classification that stands for planned unit development. This is typically a little higher density project. They can be attached or detached. There normally is a homeowners association along with common areas associated with a PUD. And often there is private streets within the development.

01:43: And the last property type is condominium and this is distinguished because the owner – you as an owner – actually only own the interior airspace of the unit. You don’t own the walls or the structure or the common area. You own an undivided interest in the common area along with all the other owners in the complex. Normally there always– there’s  a homeowners association associated with a condominium project.

02:11: I often get asked the question, What’s the difference between a condominium and a townhouse?” A townhouse is really a lay person’s term, and really what it means is the style of the unit. A townhouse brings to mind a property where there is an upstairs and a downstairs. And there’s usually not  someone below you or above you. So if someone says to me,  “I want to buy a townhouse,” normally that’s what they’re referring to. Or as a condominium typically means someone is going to be above you or below you and usually one level. That would be the common definition of a condominium. In fact, most of the townhouse style units you see today are in fact condominiums or they’re owned as condominiums even though they’re townhouse style units.

02:59: In terms of homeowners association dues, condominiums have typically the highest homeowners association dues. This is because that the homeowners association and the owners there  own an undivided interest in all the structures, in all the common areas. Therefore they are responsible to maintain them. In fact many of the condominiums have homeowners associations that maintain the inside of the unit. So if there’s a plumbing leak, or a problem inside the property, the homeowners association will maintain that. Obviously that adds the expense of the homeowners dues because you’re paying to maintain other people’s units.

03:35: PUD’s or planned unit developments, the homeowners dues there are usually less because the owner’s normally responsible for maintaining there own their structure. So the homeowners association in a PUD  is responsible for maintaining the common areas. Sometimes they’ll maintain the front yard landscaping as well, just to maintain continuity throughout the project .

03:59: And obviously single family homes have the lowest homeowners dues, if there are homeowners dues with the single family home development, it’s strictly to maintain common facilities such as pools, tennis courts or monument entrances to the development and normally they’re very reasonable.

04:24: If you have real estate questions or need assistance I do hope you’ll give me a call. I’m worthy of your trust.