For Sale By Owner - Team Stevens

Galveston Tx Real Estate

Serving Galveston Tx and Galveston County

OUR duties to YOU...

Many people would love to pocket the commission paid to a Realtor for selling their homes. Have you ever wondered exactly what that commission provides you with?

This page will educate you on the services a Realtor provides. Each brokerage and agent is different. My service is offered to you by a NATIONAL firm. A sellers service guarantee will be provided detailing in writing my full responsibility to you.

My marketing proposal will outline the expenses that a brokerage has to adequately advertise and market your most important investment. You will be hiring not just an agent to facilitate the selling process but a full scale marketing expert. I will design a plan tailor made to fit your properties specific marketing needs.

Please read over the information provided. You may think you cannot afford these services but you should receive a consultation. You may not be valuing your house for all it is really worth.

Why Use a REALTOR® When Selling
A real estate agent can help you understand everything you need to know about the selling process.

By Ron Schmeadick

The selling process generally begins with a determination of a reasonable asking price. Your real estate agent or REALTOR® can give you up-to-date information on what is happening in the marketplace and the price, financing, terms and condition of competing properties. These are key factors in getting your property sold at the best price, quickly and with minimum hassle.

Marketing
The next step is a marketing plan. Often, your agent can recommend repairs or cosmetic work that will significantly enhance the salability of the property. Marketing includes the exposure of your property to other real estate agents and the public. In many markets across the country, over 50% of real estate sales are cooperative sales; that is, a real estate agent other than yours brings in the buyer. Your agent acts as the marketing coordinator, disbursing information about your property to other real estate agents through a Multiple Listing Service or other cooperative marketing networks, open houses for agents, etc. The REALTOR® Code of Ethics requires REALTORS® to utilize these cooperative relationships when they benefit their clients.

Advertising is part of marketing. The choice of media and frequency of advertising depends a lot on the property and specific market. For example, in some areas, newspaper advertising generates phone calls to the real estate office but statistically has minimum effectiveness in selling a specific property. Overexposure of a property in any media may give a buyer the impression the property is distressed or the seller is desperate. Your real estate agent will know when, where and how to advertise your property. There is a misconception that advertising sells real estate. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® studies show that 82% of real estate sales are the result of agent contacts through previous clients, referrals, friends, family and personal contacts.

Security
When a property is marketed with an agent's help, you do not have to allow strangers into your home. Agents will generally pre-screen and accompany qualified prospects through your property.

Negotiating
The negotiation process deals with much the same issues for both buyers and sellers, as noted above under the buying process. Your agent can help you objectively evaluate every buyer's proposal without compromising your marketing position. This initial agreement is only the beginning of a process of appraisals, inspections and financing -- a lot of possible pitfalls. Your agent can help you write a legally binding, win-win agreement that will be more likely to make it through the process.

Monitoring, renegotiating and closing
Between the initial sales agreement and closing (or settlement), questions may arise. For example, unexpected repairs are required to obtain financing or a cloud in the title is discovered. The required paperwork alone is overwhelming for most sellers. Your agent is the best person to objectively help you resolve these issues and move the transaction to closing (or settlement).

Why use a REALTOR®?
All real estate licensees are not the same. Only real estate licensees who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® are properly called REALTORS®. They proudly display the REALTOR "®" logo on the business card or other marketing and sales literature. REALTORS® are committed to treat all parties to a transaction honestly. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are expected to maintain a higher level of knowledge of the process of buying and selling real estate. An independent survey reports that 84% of home buyers would use the same REALTOR® again.

You be the judge
Real estate transactions involve one of the biggest financial investments most people experience in their lifetime. Transactions today usually exceed $100,000. If you had a $100,000 income tax problem, would you attempt to deal with it without the help of a CPA? If you had a $100,000 legal question, would you deal with it without the help of an attorney? Considering the small upside cost and the large downside risk, it would be foolish to consider a deal in real estate without the professional assistance of a REALTOR®!

Ron Schmeadick, CRB, is Co-Owner and Associate Broker at Realty Executives, Eugene, Oregon.

Article Provided by Realtor.com

Tax Implications of Selling a Home
Selling a home can have a major impact on your federal and state tax returns.

Check with your tax consultant on the factors that may affect taxes resulting from the sale of your home. For example:

Whether you purchased the home or acquired it by gift or inheritance
Whether you used your home partly for business or rental
Costs associated with selling your home
Home improvements or additions, which may help to offset capital gains
Gain from the sale of a prior home on which tax was postponed prior to the enactment of the federal Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997

The federal Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 says when you sell your home you can keep, tax free, capital gains of up to $500,000 if you are married filing jointly or $250,000 for single taxpayers, or married taxpayers who file separately. To qualify for the exclusion, you must have used the home as your principle residence for at least two of the prior five years. It is not a one time tax exclusion. You can use the exclusion as often as you meet the qualifications.

The federal Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 further clarified the law and says you can prorate the $500,000/$250,000 exclusion (not your specific gain) if unforeseen events, such as a job change, illness, or some other hardship forced you to sell before you meet the two-year residency requirement.

Many, but not all federal tax benefits are also available from state tax departments. Be sure to discuss your move with a tax professional familiar with state tax rules, especially if you are moving from one state to another.

-Adapted from the MetLife Consumer Education Center with assistance from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

Article provided by Realtor.com