Your home is SOLD!

Congrats! – after all that preparation, paperwork and promotion, your home has sold! Because my business depends on your satisfaction, my goal is for you to be wildly happy with both the process and the product so you’ll gladly recommend me to your friends, family members and colleagues. You should be very happy with the sale price you’ve achieved, or we wouldn’t have accepted the offer.

Once an offer is accepted and any conditions have been removed or waived, my brokerage has obtained a deposit on your home and it’s been placed in a special, insured bank account.  The rest of the purchase price goes from the buyer to your lawyer on closing day so the property can officially change hands, and that money will be used first to pay off any outstanding mortgage amount on your home, with the balance going to you. That’s your profit!

Your big celebration day will be here before you know it. There is a long list of things to accomplish that are necessary to the successful closing of the sale. Fortunately, most of these things are done by professionals behind the scenes, but there are the obvious things that you must do (such as packing and emptying the house – please see my Moving Preparations guide under the Buyers’ tab for tips on making it a great move!)

Here are four important things to take note of right away:

• Your closing date, which is spelled out on the contract. This is the big day to plan around – if you can move out a day or two early to minimize your stress and any conflicts with the buyer’s schedule, that would be ideal!
• The contract requisition date. That is the last day that the Buyer’s lawyer has to search the title to make sure that everything is in order. If there are concerns they will need to be addressed prior to that day.
• Access visits – the Buyer (accompanied by their agent) may be entitled to see the house again before closing, at mutually agreeable times – the specifics will be on a Schedule forming part of the offer (appearing near the end of the documentation). You’ll have to agree to these dates and times and you can reject them within reason if they conflict with your schedule – I will try to get at least several days’ notice for you.
• Appraisal – An appointment may be made by the Buyer’s bank or mortgage broker to appraise the home. This is usually a very quick 15-minute interior/exterior walk-through of your home and unfortunately, not a lot of notice is given for these appointments – usually less than 24 hours. I will inform you of their intent to inspect as soon as my office gets the request.

To facilitate the continuing appointments, I can discuss leaving a lockbox on your property for easy entry of approved parties, or I can hang onto a set of keys, or you can arrange to be home for these visits or leave a key in a suitable place like your mailbox just for the specific times someone will be visiting your home.