Selling or Leasing Your Property:
What are the procedures and what to expect. Services Offered by
Patterson Woods
Patterson Woods
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Note: Our associates work on commission only ; no sale = no commission. This is the industry standard and it is believed to encourage associates to work in a very efficient manner. Like all consignment type sales the associate is not interested in working on properties that won't sell. For these reasons, not all properties are accepted for sale or lease by Patterson Woods.
Selling or Leasing Your Property:
What are the procedures and what to expect.
Valuation:
How your property is given a value.
Counseling: How to find out all there is to know
about the property, the market, future trends.
Representation:
Making sure someone is looking out for you when you buy, lease, or sell.
Property Management: Making
the property work for you with out your constant attention. 1031
Tax-deferred Exchange – Growing your investments faster, by deferring capital
gains taxes.
When you are ready to sell or lease your property, you should call our
office and ask to speak to an associate who is familiar with the type of property you own.
Expect that associate to ask some questions and arrange for a property
inspection. Do not expect to get any firm answers as to value, time to sell or cost
of sale until the associate has had a chance to see and experience your property.
You should be prepared to give the associate as much information about the property as you
have. Some of the types of information that are needed to make a responsible and
accurate evaluation of your property are, but not limited to:
Your wants, needs and desires associated with this property
Form of ownership, names of all of the Owners, their mailing addresses, phone numbers
Copy of the Deed or Lease describing the property
Copy of recent appraisal of property
Plot plan showing building locations, fences, rights of way etc.
Copy of leases affecting possession, income and owners' obligations
Copy of income and expenses
Copy of recent zoning or subdivision application(s)
List of improvements made since purchase
Recent repairs; roof, HVAC, carpeting, plumbing etc
Engineering reports, environmental reports, soil test reports, radon, termite etc.
All known problems with the property
Has anyone expressed interest in the property
Your ideas concerning who the buyer might or should be
The price you believe the property will command in the current market
Expect the associate to ask for the above information. You will want to know how long it should take to find a buyer and how long it will take for the buyer to qualify for a loan and then go to settlement. These are questions that your associate can better answer after having all the data. Perhaps the associate can get a good grip on the situation and give you a quick evaluation at this meeting but most likely the associate will want to study the comparable data back at the office and do offsite research before committing an opinion. Once the associate reaches a decision as to marketability of your property, a meeting will be arranged where all of the pertinent points will be covered. The offering price, marketing plan, sale costs and engagement period will be discussed. It is at this time you and the associate will determine if Patterson Woods will be involved in the marketing of your property. In most instances there is no charge for any of the work performed by the associate to this point.
If you and the associate have a meeting of the minds on the marketing of the property, the associate will ask you to sign a representation agreement (Listing Agreement). If you believe that Patterson Woods is the right company to represent your property but the particular associate is not right please feel free to contact Charlie Woods, Manager and a replacement associate will be assigned. It is important to have a good working relationship with your associate and you will never be forced to work with someone that "doesn't fit". Please make this determination as soon as possible.
Your property will be marketed according to the plan discussed and this plan will change as the market changes and as suspects change. In most cases Patterson Woods will advertise the property with a quality sign or two on the property plus other discussed ad plans, this will encourage some interested parties to inquire directly to you. You should immediately refer them to your associate. Within a reasonable period of time you will be presented with an offer to sell or lease. It is at this time you and your associate will discuss the pro's and con's of the offer and make a decision how to handle the offer. You will be presented all written offers and told about verbal conversations.
Once you have accepted a written agreement your associate will make every effort to see that the parties perform their specified duties necessary to satisfy the agreement. The associate will stick with you to the end of this transaction and in all likelihood will become a trusted confidant and friend for life.
Your property is worth something to someone. This is the basic premise that all sales associates operate under. A property is valued by a sales associate as of the time it is inspected. A sales associate is probably not a licensed appraiser and as such is not permitted by law to charge money for determining the value of your property. This doesn't mean the associate doesn't know the value it just means he can't charge you for that service. Patterson Woods associates are not licensed appraisers. A sister company called Delaware Appraisal Group, is located in our building and does perform fee appraisals. We share their massive data base and regularly compare notes on properties and their valuation.
A sales associate is only interested in the value of the property to a person who is ready to purchase your property today. Market value is commonly defined as that value a willing seller will sell for and the value a willing buyer will pay; neither being under abnormal pressure to perform. For this reason a neighbor may pay a premium, a competitor may pay a premium, an investor may not pay market and a person who doesn't want the building may not pay market and surely a speculator won't pay market. Most others will pay something in between these buyers and that is where a property is generally priced after assessing the interests of the premium price buyers.
Consider yourself to be a buyer, wouldn't you be inclined to pay a little more for a property that is well kept, sits on a better lot, has good drainage, a new roof, was just painted and has new carpet. These are the type properties that have more chance of getting multiple offers and hence there is a better chance of bidding up the price. If your property isn't spruced up don't expect top dollar: consider the money you saved not fixing it up as money received prior to the sale. Some properties aren't physically able to compete with new properties. Consider the older type warehouse with 25' x 25' column spacing and 16' ceilings. That can't compare with a 45' x 45' column spacing and 30' ceiling. Just like cars; some old buildings aren't as good as the new ones. These are the parameters a sales associate needs to recognize and evaluate when preparing the valuation of your property. Most commercial properties, when compared to residential homes, are rather unique and it is more difficult to assign a value. This is where a Patterson Woods associate excels because of their specialization, experience, proprietary market and comparable data plus a team of professionals to bounce ideas and theories around.
When it is all said and done the the buyer and seller must agree to a price. It is the associates job to estimate this price in advance of putting the property on the market. It is important that the initial offering price be realistic because buyers will not consider the owner to be serious if the price is unrealistic. When was the last time you gave serious attention to an overpriced property?
Probably the most overlooked and under used valuable service a broker can provide. Real estate associates have a tremendous amount of knowledge about: the history of a particular property, the neighborhood, previous owners, users, market pulse, values, strategies, financing, lease purchase plans, exchanging, and just about any other aspect you could think of. A company like Patterson Woods which believes in specialization and has the largest sales force has the advantage of being able to provide superior knowledge and experience to almost any of your inquiries.
Generally speaking the associates are willing to give any serious buyer all the free information needed to generate a sale or lease commission. If the information is not leading to a commission then the user should expect to pay either an hourly fee or project fee. Please call for further details.
In so many words, the law says that every buyer must be given written notice that the company who has a property listed is representing the fiduciary interests of the Seller. Well, with the associates representing the seller who is representing you? That's not to say you are not capable of protecting your own interests but it is a wake up call saying "buyer beware". If you feel the need to be represented or simply want to be represented call Patterson Woods.
The cost of being represented is typically the time it takes to sign a representation agreement. The monetary consideration is almost always paid by the seller of a property and at all time is controlled by you. A typical Representation Agreement is listed in the Forms section. Please review this agreement at your leisure.
The benefits of being represented are too numerous to mention but the most obvious are that unless you are constantly in the market you probably don't have a feel for market values, you may not know if it is a buyer's or seller's market, you may not know why the property is for sale, etc. These may be answers available to you if you are represented by a knowledgeable Patterson Woods associate.
You now own a rental property. You have a choice (1) Manage the property yourself; take the overflowing toilet calls, go inspect the leaking roof then call so & so to repair the broken this or that, and then....chase the rent. or (2) Hire Patterson Woods to buffer the problems. Yes, there is a cost to achieve this bliss and it may not be as costly as you think. Please call Patterson Woods for a free analysis; we bet you are pleasantly surprised. We handle retail, industrial and multi family properties.
When you sell an investment property, you have a choice: (a) to pay capital gains taxes of 15%-25% on the long term capital gain you must recognize on the sale, (b) to defer payment of those taxes (maybe for a very long time) and use that extra money to buy more or larger properties for yourself. If you wisely choose to defer those taxes, you need an exchange facilitator (a qualified intermediary) to accomplish the 1031 tax-deferred exchange transaction for you. This is exactly what our sister company, Patterson Osborn Exchange Services does. Talk to us about either forward exchanges (sell first, then buy), or reverse exchanges (buy first, then sell).
Contact Information
Our office hours are 8:30 AM to 5:15 PM EST Monday through Friday; other times by
appointment.
Telephone
302-622-3500
800-220-2738
302-622-3535 Fax
Office Address
3801 Kennett Pike, Bldg. D Suite100, Greenville, Delaware 19807
Electronic mail
cgwoods@magpage.com
Licensed in the States of
DE, PA,MD,NJ