michelle April 22, 2020
This post is the last in a three-part series on essential real estate terminology. If you haven’t seen them already, please check out Part 1 (terms for everyone) and Part 2 (terms for buyers)! Here we look at terms that all home sellers should know before putting their property on the market.
The California Department of Real Estate has published a comprehensive glossary with the legal definitions for most terms involved in transactions. While authoritative and accurate, Mosaik Real Estate feels its clients should have access to these terms in plain language.
The MLS is a local database that allows brokers and agents to share information about residential properties. Putting your listing on the local MLS shows that property is “on the market”. This means it will garner more attention across marketing channels. On the other hand, listing your property “off market” means it will not appear on the local MLS.
Co-Listing means that two listing agents both represent you, and then share the commission from the sale. There are a number of pros and cons of co-listing, which you should feel free to discuss with your agent.
Disclosures allow potential buyers to understand any non-obvious issues with the property. These issues can range from small (like a broken light fixture) to large (like a structural flaw) in scale. However, each state has its own laws about what needs to be disclosed in a residential property transaction.
While often conflated, these steps are very different. In short, an appraisal determines the value of a property, an inspection determines its condition.
Contingencies are conditions a seller must meet in order to complete the sale of a property. They typically fall under three categories: appraisal, home inspection, and mortgage approval. All three protect the buyer from losing their deposit in case something goes wrong. As such, “waiving contingencies”, or giving up these protections around their deposit, is one way buyers can strengthen their offer.
While you’ll already understand what an normal offer is, there are a few different ways of responding:
While we hope this series has answered many of your questions, buying or selling a home is still incredibly complicated. We expect that these posts may beg more questions than they answer.
If you are thinking about buying or selling a home, we would be happy to offer any advice we can. Click here to get in touch!
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