Home By Owner

Selling your Home by Owner

7 Steps to Successfully Selling Your Home By Owner

Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5 | Step 6 | Step 7

Step 7. Real Estate Settlement

Home By Owner

Selling a home by owner, once you have handled all the contingencies of the purchase agreement you are now ready to close. The next step you’ll want to take is to schedule a “walk-thru” inspection with your buyers a day or two before the settlement. The purpose of a “walk-thru” is for the buyers to be assured that the property is in the same condition as it was at the time of their offer to purchase and that any agreed upon repairs have been made. Have receipts for any work done forwarded to the settlement company. Also, remember to have the keys to the house delivered to the settlement agent prior to the settlement date.

Your real estate attorney should receive a copy of the "settlement statement" usually called a "HUD-1" prior to settlement for review. This form is an invoice of the debits and credits for both the seller and buyer and is similar to the Seller’s Net worksheet provided on our Member's Only area. If there is a significant discrepancy from what you anticipated, ask your real estate attorney or the settlement agent for an explanation. Let your the settlement agency know how you would like your settlement proceeds delivered to you. If, instead of having the check picked up or mailed, you want the funds wired to your checking account, the settlement company will need bank routing and account numbers.

You will need to sign the deed prepared by your real estate attorney in advance of the closing and your Real Estate Attorney will deliver it to the Settlement Company. If you can coordinate these two processes, Deed Preparation and Closing, to take place in the same office, you’ll not only save time, you’ll save money as well in courier fees and the like. Having the entire closing process take place in one location helps create a smoother closing. When documents have to travel between offices, either in the same locality or long distance, the likelihood of closing on time diminishes due to the fact that different offices will have different schedules and priorities for a given day.

Once your real estate settlelment service has recorded the documents for your property closing transaction, proceeds are generally available within 2 days of settlement. The property deed and mortgage instruments have to be recorded at the city or county courthouse before any funds can be disbursed. Let the settlement officer know how you would like to receive your net proceeds, by check - mail or pick up or wire transfer.

That's it. You have successfully navigated the waters of the For Sale By Owner home sale. With a little extra time and effort you have just saved yourself thousands of dollars!

For more details and checklists for the home selling process, Click Here to obtain Bloomkey^®'s HomeSelling Guide E-Book in Adobe "PDF" format for download.