Now Your Home Is Under Contract - Selling Your Home FAQ:

1.  How does the “last” mortgage payment work?  Do we make the last payment as normal? 

You should continue to make your payments.  They have it all calculated out at the title company when they order your payoff.  (The title company gets a copy of the balance sheet we gave you when we listed so they can get the balance.)

2.  When does the house inspection occur?  Are we supposed to attend? 

The buyer’s agent lets us know about two days before the inspection occurs.  We have to wait on them for this appointment.  As soon as they inform us, our office will call and let you know.   NO, you are not supposed to be there and half the time they don’t even allow us to attend.   The buyer pays $250 or more for two hours of an inspector’s time and wants to spend it walking through the home with him.  THREE DAYS later,we are given a copy of the report and a Repair Request form detailing what repairs they want done.  Then, we get it to you and you simply decide if you want to do the repairs yourself, let a friend do them, or we can refer a contractor if you wish to hire them done.

 
3.  When and How will we get the money we make on the sale of our home?

We will request that you get a check at closing.  About a week before closing, they will probably ask for some answers from you and an okay to get your money (equity) ordered.  About three weeks after closing, you should receive another check for the remainder of the escrow. 

4.  When should I cancel the home insurance? 

Call your home insurance and have it canceled effective the day AFTER closing and ask that the refund be mailed to you. (This will be another refund--part of your escrow money.)
 
5.  How does the transfer of utilities work?  Do we keep everything connected and the buyer switches everything in their name or can we disconnect everything as soon as we are moved out? 

Schedule utilities to be shut off the day AFTER closing.  You are responsible for keeping them on through the day of closing.

6.  Do I have to clean my house?  Do I need to mow the yard before closing? 

Yes, the house should be clean and you are responsible for keeping the yard up until closing.  Please remember, this is their “New Home”.  We need to show them the respect of having the home clean and yard manicured so they feel good about their investment and selecting YOUR home rather than all the other homes for sale in the area.

 
8.  What is the procedure for filling in nail holes in the walls prior to closing?  Will we get written up at the home inspection if we don’t fill them or should we just leave them alone?  Is there anything else we need to do prior to the home inspection?

We recommend that the pictures stay on the wall until after the home inspection IF there are a lot of pictures.  At this point, it’s not likely that the buyer has even thought about this… BUT at the inspection they will have time to start noticing every flaw.  (If you can- leave them up!  We don't want them getting buyer’s remorse.)  After the home inspection is done, we say use discretion.  Unfortunately, there is no way to match old paint.  So sometimes patching them and trying to do paint touch-up just results in one having to paint an entire room!  If there are numerous holes, just use a toothpick and try to stick something in the holes to make them less evident.  If there are only a few, don’t worry about them. 

The home inspection is to find things WRONG with the home.  If you know anything big right off the bat, go ahead and take care of it-- IF it is something you can do yourself.   Again, the inspection time is a time where the buyer can start experiencing buyer’s remorse.  If you don't know of anything that will jump out, wait until the home inspection.  Three days after the inspection is done, we will contact you with the buyer’s repair requests.

9.  Do I get to pick when/where we close?

No, unfortunately the way our OKC contracts read, the buyer selects the title company and the location.  We are simply told when to be there.  Although my closings are typically in the afternoon, we are limited on what time slot we get (remember there are over 1800 other Realtors putting in requests for closing times as well) and the title company squeezes us in when they have a time slot open.

10.  Will you be with me at closing?

Absolutely!  We typically get the final amounts for closing (called the HUD 1) the night before closing.  (Yes, much to our dismay, it typically arrives last minute.)  We review the figures, and we typically call you with the amount you are receiving when the transaction funds and a reminder of your scheduled closing.  (It should be fairly close to the projected amount we agreed upon when signing, unless we received inaccurate figures when we listed.)  IF the HUD 1 comes in late (as in, on the day of closing) then we will call you with your figures on the day of closing. 

11.  Why doesn’t the sold sign go up right away?

We find that typically it is best to wait until after the Appraisal, Home Inspection, and Termite inspection is all completely done before we consider placing a sold sign in the yard.  Sometimes we do not place one at all.  However, in the MLS system online, your listing will show as “Pending” to all the other realtors in town (and buyers using the MLS for their home search).

12.  What else should we be doing? 

You are good on everything else.  In a sense, selling is easier than buying.  You can sit back and wait for things to fall into place.  We will be calling you with the date for the inspection in the next couple weeks.  Other than that, just work on getting your stuff moved and look forward to getting your equity check!