Proactive Steps to Prevent Your Pending Sale from Falling Apart

Real estate transactions are often emotional, wild rides full of obstacles and unexpected issues. Many issues can quickly derail a pending sale. By taking a few proactive steps, however, a listing agent and seller can help create ideal conditions to ensure the smooth sale of a North Carolina home. Below are four issues sellers in North Carolina may face and actions that can be taken to avoid them.

Buyer’s Remorse

The most common issue that will derail a pending sale is buyer’s remorse. Buyers back out of real estate transactions for multiple reasons. Buyer’s remorse may rear its head because a buyer may be worried about the sales price being too high. The prospect of larger than expected closing costs or mortgage payments along with unexpected repair issues can be enough to send a potential buyer running.

While sellers cannot prevent buyer’s remorse, they can plan for it and take steps to try and avoid their home sale from falling apart. A listing agent can help a seller prepare a counteroffer to address some or all of the buyer’s concerns. This can include lowering the asking price, offering to cover more closing costs or paying to cover certain repair costs. Also, if a buyer doesn’t seem fully committed during leading up to signing the purchase offer, the seller may want to wait for an offer from another, more confident buyer.

Low Appraisals

One issue that can derail a pending home sale is when an appraisal comes in lower than the contract price. Remember, a buyer’s lender will only lend up to the value of the property. An appraisal lower than the contract price means the buyer will not be able to secure the full mortgage.

How can sellers avoid this real estate transaction deal-breaker? When it comes to avoiding appraisal issues, sellers and listing agents need to be proactive. Listing agents can defend their price by offering the appraiser evidence of comparable home sales in the area and pointing out any remodeling or upgrades to the property that the appraiser may have missed.

Lack of Communication and Missed Deadlines

With so many people involved in the home selling process and so many deadlines which must be met, communication by all parties is vital to a successful home sale. A sales contract often sets specific dates for items like inspections or appraisals. Lenders also have timelines they must adhere to in order to meet the closing date.

During escrow, poor communication and lack of attention can form a recipe for significant problems. Attention to detail and cutting-edge electronic communication platforms will create a more efficient, headache-free home selling experience that keeps your transaction moving forward. When your home is in escrow, ask your listing agent to provide you with regular updates on the progress of your home sale.

Contingencies

You will find conditions and contingencies in almost every real estate sales contract. For example, the sale of a buyer’s home is often a contract contingency. Another widely-seen contingency is the inspection contingency. Both of these examples are also responsible for preventing many pending sales from reaching a successful conclusion.

Often, listing agents will advise their sellers not to sign a contract if the home sale will be dependent upon the buyers selling their home. To prevent a property inspection contingency from derailing a sale, sellers often must renegotiate the purchase price or agree to make repairs for items uncovered during a property inspection. Sometimes sellers opt to pay for a pre-inspection to address problems before listing their North Carolina home for sale.

Many of the issues that will prevent your pending sale from reaching a successful conclusion can be headed off or addressed in a proactive manner when you work with a proven, experienced North Carolina real estate agent. If you would like to experience a smarter, more successful way to sell your home in Raleigh, Chapel Hill or Durham, contact us today at Red Door Company.