Are you selling your home in Fox River Valley? Check out this guide on procedures specific to real estate transactions in Illinois.
- Find an agent to work with and sign a Listing Agreement with them
If you want to get top dollar for your property, work with a Realtor with local expertise. The services of a real estate professional are invaluable in marketing your home to the right buyers, pricing your property, negotiating, and helping you with the paperwork.
Once you’ve selected an agent, you need to sign a Listing Agreement with them. Covered in the agreement are:
- The commission you will pay the agent
- The type and duration of listing
- The list price
- Items included in the sale
- The Realtor’s duties and obligations
If you’re looking for an experienced and trusted Realtor in Fox River Valley, Miscella Real Estate is the team to call.
- Real estate disclosures
Illinois requires home sellers to provide a disclosure form that specifies known defects, such as pest infestation and foundation problems, which can affect the property’s value or the health and safety of the occupants. Sellers whose homes were built before 1978 should also comply with the federal law that requires them to disclose potential lead hazards in their properties.
- Offers, counteroffers, and Purchase Agreements
An interested buyer should provide you with an offer letter that states their offer price, proposed earnest money and down payment, and contingencies that they want fulfilled before finalizing the sale, including a home inspection, finalizing their mortgage, and others.
Upon receiving the offer, your options are to reject or accept it outright, or issue a counteroffer, which ideally should also be done in writing. Your counteroffer should indicate the buyer’s terms and conditions that you find acceptable, and those that you want to change, such as the price or the closing date.
Once you and the buyer agree on the price and terms of the sale, you enter into a legally-binding Purchase Agreement by signing on the buyer’s offer letter and notifying them of your acceptance.
- Going into escrow
After you’ve signed an agreement with the buyer, the process goes into escrow. A neutral third party is assigned as the escrow agent – usually a title agent or an escrow firm. All payments, such as the buyer’s down payment and earnest money deposit, are held in escrow until closing.
During the escrow period, the buyer works on finalizing the financing for the home and fulfilling all contingencies you agreed upon. If you included any contingency on your end, you should also work on removing this by the specified timeline.
The buyer will likely arrange for a professional inspection of your home and their lender will conduct their own property appraisal. If issues arise from the inspection or the appraisal, you and the buyer may have to negotiate on the amount involved. Both you and the buyer have the option to get out of the deal if you can’t arrive to an agreement.
- Closing
Closing is often done with all parties meeting in one place and signing the necessary documents, but you and the buyer may also sign the paperwork separately and at different times. Before this, both parties must come to an agreement on who pays the closing costs, including the fees for the lender, attorney, escrow, and others.
Once everything is settled, the payment is given to you, and you provide the buyer with the deed and clear title to the property.
As you may see, selling a home can get complicated without the guidance of a real estate professional. The Miscella Real Estate team can help you through every step of the process and ensure a successful sale. Call them today at (630) 232-1570 or email info(at)miscella(dotted)com. You can also leave a message here.
