The MOST DIFFICULT Thing About Selling Your Home (not what you think)

Key Takeaways

• The most difficult thing about selling your home is not what you think
• Many times an offer gets accepted and the sale never closes
• The are numerous things agents can do to increase the chances of the sale closing

So your home has been on the market for a bit. You've decluttered it, kept it clean, and adjusted your daily life about every other day so that potential buyers could take a look at it.

WOO HOO!!!!!  A family fell in love with your home and after much negotiation, you have an accepted offer on your home.  🕺💃 You just finished your happy dance, and you're all ready to pack your stuff and move to your dream home.

DON'T PACK YOUR BAGS YET

If you thought the hardest part about selling a house was getting an accepted offer, you're definitely in for a surprise. That's actually the easiest part of selling a home. The most difficult thing about selling your property is making sure that it actually closes. More and more homes nowadays have accepted offers on them and they never close.

The worst thing about the sale not going thru is that many times this can be prevented. Although it's impossible to make sure that every accepted offer closes, below are some things that can be done to prevent a sale from falling thru. 

1) Don't be so excited when you receive an offer. Take a day or two to go thru all the pros and cons of the offer. When the time is taken to do this, usually emotions won't sway the decision being made. It also makes it clear to the buyers that you are giving their offer careful consideration.

2) GOOGLE the buyers. Since this is probably one of your biggest business transactions you will be making, it only makes sense to know who you are dealing with.

3) If the buyer is paying cash, make sure to get a current bank statement from the buyer to show that the buyer has enough funds for the purchase in a US financial institution. Many times agents will get a statement that is a couple of months old or they won't source where the funds are coming from.

4) If the buyer is financing, ask for permission from the buyer to let your agent speak with the lender about the approval. If possible, get a more thorough pre-approval, sometimes referred to as a DU (Desktop Underwriting) approval.

5) Make sure to get a current bank statement from the buyer to make sure the buyer has enough funds in his/her account for the downpayment and closing costs if they are getting a loan.

6) Once an offer is accepted, have your agent create a calendar with all the important dates of the transaction. Make sure that all parties involved in the transaction (buyer, seller, both real estate agents, lender, title company, attorney) go thru it and are in agreement with the specific dates. That way everyone is one the same page and there are no surprises in the future.

7) Have your listing agent continuously follow up with the other agent, lender, and title company/attorneys to make sure everything is on track.

Besides the above, there are many other things that high-quality agents do to maximize the seller's' chance of making sure that the sale actually closes. When interviewing agents to work with, make sure to ask the Realtor what he/she does to get you to the finish line of the transaction.