Three Things You Must Know Before Selling Your Nanaimo Home

Three Things You Must Know Before Selling Your Home

A professional realtor will make selling your Nanaimo home go smoothly and quickly.

But before you sign that listing agreement to put your home on the market, there are three things that you must know:

1.  Names On Title

The names on the title determine who is legally able to sell the home.  

Inexperienced sellers and their real estate agents sometimes make the mistake of not researching this ahead of time.  The home is put on the market, an offer accepted, property inspections go smoothly, but when it's time to transfer ownership from seller to buyer an obstacle suddenly appears in the form of an unexpected name on the title.

One example of this would be when one spouse has passed away, but his or her name is still on the title.  Another would be a couple who has divorced yet both names are still on the title - if one of the couple chooses not to cooperate with the sales documents, the home sale could be in trouble!

Both of these situations are fixable and should be taken care of before you put your home up for sale.

2.  Mortgage Terms and Balance

Knowing your mortgage or payoff balance gives you an idea of how to price your home, or in some instances whether you can really afford to sell.  If you're trying to sell in a depressed real estate market you may have offers come in that are actually less than what you owe on the home.

When calculating the potential profit from your home sale, be sure to consider not only the payoff or mortgage balance, but also other closing costs such as legal costs, mortgae penalties and sales fees.

3.  Liens or Encumbrances

Liens or encumbrances are items that must be paid off prior to or at the time that you transfer your home title to the buyer.

A mortgage is one example of a lien.  Other examples of possible liens or encumbrances on a home include property taxes, home owner association dues, and unpaid bill from contractors or local utility services.