Congratulations on your move. You are leaving your home and need to know what?

Is your home in good condition? Should you renovate before selling? Where is your deed? What are your expenses? Your neighbor has been using part of your property for a garden – is that a problem?

The first question is “how much is my house worth?” Your neighbors will tell you that the price of your house has skyrocketed and your neighbors are right. What is the right price? Call us and we’ll meet with you to give you an idea of what price you should list your house and show you what other similar houses have sold for in your neighborhood. What goes into pricing a property? The condition of your property; is it recently renovated; does it need substantial repairs; is it in a good school district; what have other similar properties sold for recently; do you need to sell quickly; is it so cluttered that people can’t see its value; is it old; is it new; is it near shopping; is it near houses of worship; is it on a highway or is there privacy. Pricing a property right is key to its selling. However, in this market where the demand is so high and the inventory so low, this office prices it on the higher end (unless the seller needs a quick sale) because that is our obligation – to get the highest price. But overpricing is very dangerous as some people won’t see your property if it is priced unreasonably. It is a fine line. We recently priced an apartment for far more than that line had ever gotten (because of such demand) and we got more than the asking price. That wasn’t a gamble. We told the seller that this was a very high price – the seller was willing to test the market and it worked.

Should you spend money on improvements? Putting in a lot of money in improvements rarely pays off. But cleaning out the clutter so the house looks bigger is very sensible. You are also going to have to do this for the move anyway so why not now? Minimal painting to spruce up the house could also pay big dividends. By all means fix those leaks in the ceiling as they drive buyers crazy and make them wary about the house. No one wants to have to pay for a new roof and leaks in a ceiling make people believe that a new roof is right around the corner.

Get a copy of your deed. If you don’t have it you can obtain it through the Department of Buildings or on the Internet. If this isn’t feasible for you we are always willing to get these for our clients at no cost. Look at the deed and make sure all owners who are on the deed are alive or if not then title has been cleared.

Do you have your old survey? If so, that could save the buyer the cost of a new survey. But it is not always advisable to provide this if there have been additions to the house after the survey was done. Read the survey against the deed description. Any problems? If you have trouble reading the survey we are happy to do this for our clients. If you don’t have a survey don’t worry. It is the buyer’s obligation.

Call a broker and list your property. Most house sales go through brokers in Riverdale and Kingsbridge and as an attorney I can tell you that deals fall through far more often if there is no broker than if a broker is involved. Should you give an exclusive or open listing? The advantage of the exclusive is that your broker has much greater incentive to advertise because she knows she’ll get the deal. In this office, we advertise immediately on our website, co-broke with all real estate agents; put the house on MLS; put the house on Realtor.com; in the New York Times, in the Riverdale Review, The Marketplace and in the Riverdale Press. We have the highest advertising budget in Riverdale and believe that the more people your property is exposed to the more likely it is to sell at the highest price. Advertising pays off. We do not keep our listings to our own agents but immediately share with all brokers to maximize your exposure. What else will the broker do besides bring you a buyer? A good broker will qualify your buyer to be sure s/he can get a mortgage. A good broker will round up any missing materials. A good broker who has a legal background will deal with certificate of occupancy issues; title issues; old mortgages that have been paid but still show up on title and anything else that it takes to get the job done. A good broker does a lot of running around.

Do you have asbestos in the house? If so, consider removing or encapsulating it now both for your health and because every buyer will demand this (or at least every buyer who has an engineering inspection).

Do you have lead in your water? There are simple test kits that will generally tell you. If you have lead in the water then get a filter immediately both for your health and when the lead test is done then lead will not necessarily show up.

Does your house smell? Sounds funny but a house that has a heavy smoke odor or heavy musty odor is harder to sell. Air out your house and get air-fresheners or have flowers or even chocolate baked cookies (this is a stretch).

Is your basement wet? This is a big problem for most buyers. It isn’t common but it keeps people from buying. If you have a serious problem this may be where you invest your renovation dollars.

Do you have lead paint in the house? It is likely but don’t go to the expense of removing it as most buyers understand that there is lead in virtually every house built in New York City before 1970.

Do you have a certificate of occupancy? If the house was built before 1939 there may not be a certificate of occupancy and that is o.k. If there were additions to the house without building permits or obtaining a certificate of occupancy this could create a problem. We are always happy to help our clients deal with certificate of occupancy problems.

The law requires sellers of a 1 or 2 family house to provide a disclosure statement showing all problems with the house or a credit at closing of $500. Should you provide the disclosure statement or pay $500? Most attorneys recommend paying the $500 to the buyer to avoid making any representations in the disclosure statement that could come back to haunt you.

If you have a shared driveway (and there are a lot of them in Riverdale and Kingsbridge), then tell your broker. It is not a problem but needs to be reviewed to be sure that title is good.

Do you have any title problems? For example, does your deed read “Mary Smith and John Doe?” John Doe died. Who owns the house? Your parent deeded the house to the three children and one child can’t be found. What happens? Your neighbor put up a fence on your property 20 years ago and you didn’t object. Is that a problem? Could be if your neighbor asserts title to that property by adverse possession.

Who should your attorney be? We at Koppell River Realty can recommend attorneys but it really is better for you to get your own attorney as you want that person working only for you and not future referrals. If you do take a recommendation from your broker just don’t tell the attorney that the broker referred you.

The buyers are going to want some tests done. These are generally done before the contract is signed but in a hot market you may want them done before the contract is signed to give you extra time to continue to show the house and get a higher price. The main tests (and they are paid for by the buyer) are

1. engineer's inspection
2. termite inspection
3. test for radon
4. test for lead in water, air, and paint
5. inspection for asbestos (frequently engineer will do)

Is there an unused oil tank? This may have to be removed before closing and if there has been leeching then the soil will have to be cleaned.

What if termites are found? Believe it or not that is rarely a deal breaker. Get the infestation dealt with and repair any damage. That is all that most buyers want.

Upon signing the contract the buyer will give a down payment of 10% in an uncertified check made payable to your attorney. This money is held until the closing and generally only returned if the mortgage is refused. If the buyer is getting a mortgage it may take up to 6 weeks. Until both parties have signed the contract there is no enforceable deal and either party can walk away.

Before closing on a house, the buyer will do a "walk-through." This is done either the day of or the day before the closing. The walk-through is where the buyer makes sure that everything is in working order; that the appliances work; that the faucets work; that the electricity works and that everything in the contract is there. The buyer will usually check the heating and air-conditioning; lift the windows - look at the ceiling and check the basement for leaks. The house should be in the same condition as when you went to contract. If not, the buyer will let you know. You will be anxious at the walk through because you will assume that there will be problems. Rest easy. The house is almost always in the same condition. If possible, maintain a good relationship with the buyer during this process as the buyer can let things slide at the walk-through or be very picky.

What are your costs? There is a transfer fee of 1% of the selling price to the City of New York if the house is under $500,000; and 1.425% if over $500,000. There is a transfer fee of $4.00 per thousand to the State of New York. If you have a mortgage there is a fee of about $200 to the title closer to send in the documents to clear the mortgage. There are other very minor fees. Your attorneys’ fee is anywhere from$1,000 to $2,500.

The closing usually takes about 2 hours. It can be very easy if the parties have been friendly or it will be a continuation of an unpleasant buying process where everyone has to have the final "gotcha."

Right before the closing please do two things – make sure there is a SMOKE ALARM and HI-TECH CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR as they are required for closing.

I do hope that this has been helpful and I really hope that you will list your property with us. We have agents who are also lawyers and are happy to use their legal skills to assist the deal. We don’t represent a seller as lawyers when we are also the broker as that would be a conflict of interest. But we certainly know our way around the legal world of real estate. The principle broker in this office has done thousands of closings – successfully.

KEEP US IN MIND & COME LIST WITH US.

RESOURCES

Termite: Exterminall Pest Control Company
1613 Second Avenue
New York, New York
(212) 472-3861
or
1938 Williamsbridge Road
The Bronx, New York 10461
(718) 863-2172

Radon: Professional Radon Systems
306 Dartmouth Court
Paramus, New Jersey 07652
(800) 235-8842
(201) 265-4001

Lead in water: YML Environmental Services
321 Ear Street
Yorktown Heights, New York
(914) 245-2800

Moving company – CeePee Moving Systems – Stephen Coughlin (914) 377-0536 or cell (914) 760-3736
Painter: Danny Nelson (718) 798-9312

(And no, we do not get any referral fees for the above as that would be unethical).

© 2004