By Anessa V. Cohen

Many articles have been written for purchasers about how to prepare for closing on their new house. However, I have seen few articles of the same type written for sellers advising them how to prepare for the sale of their homes, other than finding a good mover.

Articles have suggested efficient ways to pack up the different items and bric-a-brac in the home or provide checklists to use as a seller prepares to pack up and move to a different residence. But there’s not much written on how a seller should prepare documentation that he or she will need in order to facilitate the closing process with no aggravation.

So let’s talk about what the seller should prepare in the way of documentation to make the sale and closing of his or her house as smooth as possible.

When I sit down with a seller on a new “for sale” house listing, I usually take some time to go through a checklist process so my sellers have a good understanding of what is necessary for them to prepare in advance so everything will go as planned.

I was sitting with a new seller this weekend and suddenly realized that this would be a useful subject to write about in my article, since many people are not really aware of what is necessary to ensure the selling process is smooth.

One of the first things a seller should prepare when putting a house on the market is a copy of the deed to the house, and a copy of the property survey if the seller has one. Having these two items available at the beginning of the process prevents a panic later in the process when you suddenly have an accepted offer on your home and need to get hold of a copy of the deed and survey to give your lawyer so a contract can be prepared. I have seen many sellers panic at this point because they suddenly cannot remember where they put the deed and survey–and time is of the essence when getting these items to their attorney. Preparing these papers in advance when things are calm and quiet makes life much easier.

Although you may not have even considered that a survey might be helpful while selling a house, during the time the house is being marketed, there might be  would-be buyers who will ask if a survey is available so they can get a more detailed look at the boundary lines of the property. Having a copy of the survey handy addresses possible problems right away rather than worrying about solving an unanswered question further down the line.

If you have any mortgages on the house, it is important to order a payoff of those mortgages to the mortgage lenders several weeks before closing. This is given to your lawyer so that the mortgages can be paid off and the title company can arrange for the payoffs to be recorded properly at the closing. Prior to ordering any mortgage payoffs, ask your lawyer what date should be used for the payoff calculation before doing it yourself.

Usually a day or two before the closing, the buyer will arrange a walk-through of your property to make sure everything is in order prior to closing and transferring title. Make sure everything in the house has been left the way you all agreed at contract. The house should be broom-clean, which means all odds and ends have been removed and the rooms have been swept clean.

Planning these items in advance will make the selling process less stressful and leave you free to think about whatever work and arrangements are needed so that you can move into your new home.

Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a licensed real-estate broker and a licensed N.Y.S. mortgage broker with over 20 years of experience, offering full-service residential and commercial real-estate services (Anessa V Cohen Realty) and mortgaging services (FM Home Loans) in the Five Towns and throughout the tri-state area. She can be reached at 516-569-5007 or via her website, www.AVCrealty.com. Readers are encouraged to send questions or comments to anessa@AVCrealty.com.

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