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abigail dotson
prudential california realty
11677 San Vicente Blvd.
Suite 307
Los Angeles, CA 90049
abigail at abigaildotson.com
direct 310•820•9398
fax 310•207•5477

Resources and FAQ

House Selling 101

What To Expect When You List Your House For Sale

LISTING THE PROPERTY: Before I can begin bringing buyers to your property, we will meet to sign a listing agreement. This is a contract that specifies the term of our relationship (usually 180 days), including details about the commission amount, the list price of the property and various other formalities.

PRINT MARKETING: Once the property has been listed, it will appear in various publications, including the MLS and The MLS Caravan.

OPEN HOUSES AND SHOWINGS: Public open houses occur on Sunday afternoons and broker open houses happen once a week on various days depending on your area. You will need to prepare your house for visitors. Sometimes people can’t make the scheduled open house times and request another showing. In any event, you will need to prepare your house to be shown to the public.

REVIEWING OFFERS: As soon as offers come in, I will present them to you and we can discuss your response. You will do one of three things:

Accept
Reject
Counter-offer. This can re-negotiate the price and/or terms of the original offer.

OPENING ESCROW: Once an offer has been accepted, escrow will be officially opened and the buyer will begin doing his or her inspections. As a seller, you are required to provide certain reports and disclosures. I will arrange for these reports to be ordered and delivered to the buyer. The buyer will use this beginning of the escrow period to investigate the property fully and decide whether or not s/he is comfortable moving forward with the deal.

DELIVERY OF DEPOSIT CHECK: Once escrow has been opened, the buyer or buyer’s agent will deliver a deposit check to escrow. This check will be held in a third party trust account by escrow and applied toward the buyer’s down payment at the close of escrow. Should the buyer back out of the deal after lifting his/her contingencies, s/he becomes liable for this deposit amount.

LIFTING CONTINGENCIES: The buyer has three main contingencies: Inspection, Appraisal and Loan. The length of these contingencies is specified in the contract. Once the contingency period has passed and they have been lifted, the buyer is unable to receive his/her deposit back.

REQUEST FOR REPAIRS: Often a buyer will have some requests of the seller after conducting an inspection. If this is the case, the buyer will submit a “Request For Repairs” form, asking the seller to remedy the specified issues or authorize a credit to buyer. You can agree, disagree or attempt to negotiate this credit.

FINAL WALK-THRU: The buyer will conduct a final walk-through of the property sometime 2-5 days before the close of escrow. This is the only the inspection that the seller is traditionally present for, usually to provide the new owner with any pertinent information regarding general maintenance issues like working the alarm system, sprinklers, etc.

FUNDING: The buyer’s loan will fund the day before escrow closes.

RECORDING: When the title transfer takes place and the new owner’s title is recorded with the county, escrow officially closes and the buyer will receive keys to the property.

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An independently owned and operated member of the Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc.
Prudential California Realty does not guarantee the accuracy of square footage, lot size or other information concerning the condition or features of property provided by the seller or obtained from public records or other sources, and the buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that information through personal inspection and with appropriate professionals. This is not intended as a solicitation if your property is currently listed with another broker.

Make buying or selling your Los Angeles area home easy with Abigail Dotson, a real estate agent who donates part of her real estate commission to help benefit local non-profit organizations. Whether you're looking for a hip Hollywood condo, a Culver City cottage, a Los Feliz lease, a Silverlake shack, or a Beverly Hills bungalow, Abigail Dotson is the Realtor you need. Not only is she professional and experienced, but she is a joy to be around and truly cares about helping you find the home of your dreams. She has settled happy families everywhere from Century City to Downtown to Hermosa Beach. As a Los Angeles native, Abigail knows neighborhood features such as good schools, hip restaurants and plenty of Los Angeles secrets. Call Abigail today and find out how to buy or sell your home quickly, efficiently and without stress. Feel good and do good while selling your home with Abigail.