Home Sale FAQ’s

No, there are different financing programs available that will allow a home purchase with as little as no money down. We have a great team of lenders for our buyers to choose from to help assist in the difficult process of deciding what type of financing works best vs what time for them as not all loan products are available to all buyers it is very important that buyers start with the mortgage approval process.

No, there are always properties available in all price ranges in the Denver metro area but the less you spend the less you get.

The process can move quickly depending on the type of mortgage approval for a specific buyer. Transactions can close as quickly as a few days but most transactions have a 30 day closing period once a buyer is under contract on a property. Typically the searching/showing time frame for finding a home can take 1-3 months so we suggest buyers start shopping 2-4 months prior to the date they would like to move.

First a potential buyer makes the decision to buy a home.  The buyer will then need to speak with a qualified mortgage professional to determine their spending power and how much they would like to spend on a potential property. Once the price range is established our KEY agents spend time finding properties that meet the requirements of the buyer, such as price, bedrooms, bathrooms, townhome, condo, single family and which location they would desire most. The showings of the potential homes would then be scheduled during a time frame that works for the buyers and their agent to go out and see the properties. Once the buyer finds the perfect place our KEY agents will help to determine what a fair offer would be based on recently sold comparable homes and any upgrades or issues the property may have that would affect the value. The offer is then negotiated between the buyers agent and listing agent based on feedback from the buyer and seller. The offer is then either accepted or rejected. If the offer is rejected the buyer goes back on the “house hunt” if the offer is accepted the buyer is “under contract”. Once the buyer is under contract they are required to turn in earnest money based on pre negotiated terms of how much earnest money and when it is to be delivered to the listing agent or their title company. During the under contract period the buyer will have time to do a property inspection, appraisal of the property, surveys, review title documents and to get ready to move! During the under contract period the buyer is working very closely with their mortgage company to ensure that all of their loan issues are taken care of prior to closing. Once the loan is fully approved the and closing deadline approaches the closing happens! This is typically when the buyer is given possession of the property, however this is also a pre negotiated term when the offer was written to dictate when possession may be.

First things first, we need to nail down the purpose of selling the home. Many factors come up when someone decided to make a move and can involve Upsizing, Downsizing, Relocation, Loss of income, financial hardship, and death can all be factors in one’s decision making. Once the reason for the move is decided upon we can continue down the listing path. We like to take a broad approach to pricing a listing until we have seen a property in person we use a AVM ( automated valuation model ) program to give us a range, typically $25,000-50,000 range. Seeing the property in person will help us narrow down the value of the home based on upgrades and finishes that the home has, many times county records can be wrong in regards to number of bedrooms/bathrooms and so on and we like to confirm these items during out listing presentation in person with the sellers. Once we have nailed down a price we want to decide on a listing date. This date will dictate when the home goes live on the market and we typically like to have 1 week prior to the listing date in order to have professional photos and marketing prepared for the actual list date. There are other factors to consider during this time frame such as staging that may require a longer lead time. Once the house is on the market we have showings scheduled through a showing service which allows buyers agents to gain access to the property. These showings are only approved with the request of the seller so no random people should be showing up at the property without representation. Once we receive a offer we help the sellers navigate through the process of acceptance which can include negotiations. Once there is a accepted offer we help the sellers to manage the many deadlines of the contract to ensure a smooth transaction and a successful closing.

Flat Rate real estate companies charge a standard fee for selling your home. In most cases there is a minimum charge that is collected at the time of listing from these companies and they work on selling your home in a similar fashion as KEY agents would. The main difference is whether the company advises the clients on accepting offers from represented buyers ( 90%+ ) buyers in the US are represented by a “Buyers Agent” most buyers agents have a standard fee they charge for selling a home and traditionally that fee is 2.8% of the sales price. Flat Rate companies usually only offer a fraction of that commission to buyers agents which can lead to decreased showing traffic and a lower sales price.