Are you selling your home? If you’ve accepted a buyer’s offer on your home and have a signed purchase real estate contract, great! But you need to realize that doesn’t mean the deal will go through 100% of the time. Things can still go wrong during the home selling process. And some of these issues may be due to you and something you’ve done. So if you want your home to sell, make sure these things don’t happen on your end of the agreement.

1. You haven’t paid your property taxes for the past five years. You must pay your property taxes, otherwise, the taxing authority (the federal, county and/or city government) can place a tax lien on your home. In order to sell your home, you must pay the lien.
2. You remodeled the bathrooms and kitchen in your home a year ago, but you haven’t paid the plumber for his services. So you have a mechanic’s lien on your home. To sell your home, you must pay your tax lien, otherwise, the sale will fall through. If there is an issue with the lien, such as it was paid in full or the plumber (or other contractor) provided faulty work, contact a lawyer to decide whether you should fight the lien in court or negotiate a settlement.
3. You’re trying to sell a home you inherited from a parent, but the house is still in probate. Talk to a probate lawyer on the guidelines you must follow in your state. The probate court must monitor all aspects of the sale.
4. Your home is appraised too low compared to the purchase price. With the buyer’s permission, work with your real estate agent to prepare a written appraisal rebuttal to show the lender any information the appraiser didn’t consider during the assessment. You can also ask the lender to order a second appraisal to compare with the first. However, this will incur an additional appraisal cost. Depending on the outcome, the sale may fall through unless you’re willing to renegotiate the purchase price.
5. You haven’t completed the agreed upon repairs by the closing date.  Depending on the type of repairs needed, the buyer may cancel the purchase offer, causing the deal to not go through. Or, you may be required to make the repairs – delaying your closing. Or, the buyer may ask you to escrow funds for the repairs, which means you won’t get your closing check until the repairs are done.
6. You take appliances, kitchen cabinets and other items you agreed to leave. Be prepared for the deal to fall through.
7. You decide at the last minute that you don’t want to sell your home. You may be required to pay for any costs the buyer as incurred, such as inspection and lender fees. Or, you may be legally forced to sell your home.

Whenever you agree to sell your home, just make sure you hold up your end of the deal. Otherwise if you don’t, then don’t expect the home sale to go through.

If you’re selling your home and need a home mortgage for your new residence, contact the mortgage specialists at Grandview Lending. We can help you find the right loan based on your needs. And our specialists will walk you through the loan approval process every step of the way. Call us today at 317.255.0062 for more information.

Photo credit: iStockPhoto