What A Seller Needs To Do To Be Prepared For The Walk-Thru

I was horrified the other day when a client selling his Mirabella home told me what he was planning to do for closing.  Not only did he plan to have the movers finish up on Friday at 5pm, but he had no cleaning crew on hand.  I said time out and gave him 3 essential pieces of advice…

1.      Time

Everything needs to be done EARLY. If all is in order with the buyer, pre-sign your closing papers and move out the day before.

Pre-signing prevents an unforeseen situation where you miss signing.  If an emergency happens and you can’t be there, it could let the buyer out of the contract.  Don’t laugh; I represented a Buyer once who wanted out of a contract.  The Seller was rushed and got there after 6 PM.  The deal ended up falling apart!  Pre-signing also is more comfortable because you don’t have to sit at a round table with the Buyer making small talk.

Closing dates are best set on a Tuesday-Thursday.  Papers tend to not be on time on Mondays and wires sometimes come too late on Friday.

Moving out the day before or early the day of closing lets the buyers do a walk-thru prior to the last minute.  If there is a problem, better to address it when there is time to solve it rather than at the last minute.  The last minute usually means a cancelled deal or you have to throw money on the fire to put it out.

2.      Clean

Spend $75-$100 and give the Buyer a nice presentation.  This was your home sweet home and the Buyers are paying a good deal of their money to make this their home.  Clean the counters, vacuum the floors, wash the windows.  Make them happy about their purchase.  No one wants to walk into a dirty hotel room, let alone a dirty house.

3.      Champagne

Spend $25 bucks and buy them a nice bottle of champagne with a little note wishing them the same happiness that you have had.  The gesture will be appreciated.  Also, if a problem arises or you need a favor from the Buyer down the road, it will be much easier to grant if you are on great terms.

Jeff Lichtenstein is a homeowner in Egret Landing and markets Palm Beach Gardens homes for sale and Jupiter real estate.