Step 1 – Use a realtor or go it alone?
If you want to sell your New York City apartment, the first step is to find a trustworthy realtor. In today’s day and age, selling an apartment is more complex than ever. It’s extremely difficult to try to sell your apartment without a realtor. Between legal requirements and competition in the market, you would be putting yourself at an extreme disadvantage not using the services of a professional. Even if you are competent enough to handle paperwork and legal disclosures on your own, you will have trouble marketing your apartment for sale. You will neegd to find a way to successfully publicize your listing. Yes, you can post your apartment on websites like Realtor and Zillow, but you can’t get your apartment listed on the multiple listing service (MLS) used by NYC realtors. Selling your apartment on your own is not worth the trouble – especially as it only saves about 6% in commission fees.
Step 2 – Selecting the right realtor.
There are different caliber real estate agents. When you’re about to list your apartment for sale, you want to work with a realtor who knows your building and surrounding areas. You don’t want to hire someone without neighborhood experience. Personally, I would not hand over the reins to someone who has never sold an apartment in my area before. The team at TripleMint is well versed in the all New York neighborhoods, and is there to support you whether you are looking to sell, buy, or rent.
Step 3 – Setting the terms.
This is an obvious and important step. Make sure you are on the same page as your realtor regarding your listing. How long does the realtor think it will take to sell? What is the fair market value of the apartment and how much do you want to walk away with? This is the game plan for selling your apartment. These details will help your realtor align the listing to your expectations for the transaction. If you want to test the limits of price per square foot in your neighborhood, the realtor will tell you that your days on market might be higher than normal. You and your realtor are a team.
Let me be clear on one issue though. I think everything is negotiable, and if someone is not willing to negotiate I take my business elsewhere. However, I think there are some exceptions with professional services. Your realtor only gets paid on commission. I bring this up so you fully understand the financial dynamic behind your transaction.
Yes, you understand that when you sell, you get to cash out. However, your realtor is your partner. How are they going to get paid? By a commission off of the final sales price,usually amounting to 6% in total, 3% going to the buyer’s realtor, 3% going to the seller’s realtor. A quick way sellers increase bottom lines is getting their listing agents to take reduced fees. This is an unfortunate decision because while your realtor may agree to take a reduced fee, the buyer’s realtor may not. In fact, other realtors may avoid your listing like the plague because they don’t want to accept a reduced commission. It’s a valid gripe. It is like your boss coming to you and asking you to work this week or this month for a discount. You wouldn’t like it and neither do realtors. Remember, this is a true partnership. If the apartment doesn’t sell, no one gets paid, and you both have a vested interest in selling the listing for as much as possible.
Step 4 – Apartment Presentation.
This is where you execute your game plan based on the information that you and your realtor agreed to in Step 3. If you agreed to de-clutter your apartment, have it professionally cleaned and/or staged. And do it now. The sooner you make the agreed changes the faster you will list your apartment. Time is money. Every day that goes by is another day your apartment didn’t sell.
Step 5 – Negotiating with potential buyers.
This is the fun part of selling your apartment: negotiations. If your listing is only three days old and you already have multiple offers, congratulations. However, if your listing is two months old and this is the first serious offer you received, you will need to approach your negotiations in a different manner. If there isn’t a lot of activity, you need to be mindful of that while negotiating. We all want more, but be careful not to let money get in the way of the deal.
Step 6 – Apartment inspection and additional demands.
Most buyers will do a home inspection before completing such a large purchase. Depending on the circumstances surrounding your listing, the buyer may try to use any negative information that comes to light as a result of the home inspection to negotiate the price down further or to ask for additional concessions. This happens more often than you may think. Reference the game plan that you established with your realtor earlier. If you know your apartment has issues, this should not be a surprise. Work with your realtor to address any of the buyer’s demand. If lowering the price another thousand dollars means you sell your apartment and net $100,000, let the buyer feel like he or she won. Always look at the big picture, and don’t give the buyer a reason to walk away from the transaction.
Step 7 – Closing.
Congratulations, you made it to the finish line. All that is left signing the paperwork. Now you can start checking your bank account balance – that wire is about to hit.
