There are many reasons that you may have for considering selling your home. You may be relocating to the area from another state for a job transfer or to be closer to family. You may be spilling out of your current home and in need of a larger place to live. You may have the opposite need, experiencing the 'empty nest' and ready for something a little smaller to suit your needs. In the always expanding and changing real-estate market, you may be ready to take the equity out of your current home to go for your dream home! Whatever your reason, the Dressel Meadows team is ready, capable and excited to help you explore and embark upon the selling process! Click on Seller's Checklist to begin!

Selling tips
The Dressel Meadows difference
Cutting-edge technology
Steps to selling your home
Working with an agent
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  Outside Appeal. An attractive exterior is the key to bringing the most prospective buyers to your doorstep. Here are ways to improve the "curb appeal" of your home.
 
• Keep the lawn trimmed and fertilized.
• Keep snow and ice removed from driveways and sidewalks.
• Shape up the shrubs. New decorative stones or wood chips may help too.
• Weed flower beds and add charm by potting flowers near the front door.
• Add warmth with seasonal door decoration.
• Clean and straighten sagging rain gutters.
• Paint the front door and around the trim, if needed.
• Remove oil stains from driveway and garage.
• Repair stray or warped roofing shingles.
• Advise associate on the best placement of the yard sign.
 
  Cleaning. Begin with a thorough cleaning. Sort out the things you no longer want. Hold a garage sale and convert that "stored cash" into needed repairs.
 
• Store or give away excess furniture that makes the room appear cramped.
• Discard unwanted items from closets and kitchen.
• Sweep the basement and garage floors.
• Wash windows and screens.
• Clean and arrange closets and cabinets. They will look bigger with less clutter.
• Make your kitchen appliances shine.
• Wash walls and woodwork.
• Scrub soap film from tile and grout.
• Clear off counters to make kitchen look spacious and neat.
 
  Decorating. Decorating helps assure you will get top dollar for your home.
 
• Give rooms in need of paint a fresh coat in a neutral color.
• Re-stain or paint chipped woodwork.
• Replace torn or soiled wallpaper, carpeting or draperies in a neutral shade.
• Arrange your window treatments to allow maximum light into rooms.
• Consider new light fixtures and mirrors to expand a room.
• Add flowers to make your home more attractive.
• Perk up a bathroom with a new shower curtain.
 
  Repairing. Minor flaws in your home suggest negligence to a buyer. Your repair list should include:
 
• Fix leaky faucets and toilets.
• Make sure closet and cabinet doors close easily.
• Make sure the garage door is in working order.
• Inspect the furnace, humidifier and water heater.
• Touch-up paint, repair plaster and putty nail holes.
• Make sure your doorbell is working properly.
• Polish or refinish badly scratched hardwood floors.
 
  Open house and showing preparation. Remember the importance of first impressions. Pretend your are a buyer seeing your home for the first time.
 
• Remove clutter.
• Make beds.
• Turn on soft music and all lights. Turn off the television.
• Open windows to air out any stuffy rooms.
• Bake bread or cookies. The aroma is pleasing. Avoid unpleasant cooking odors.
• Leave the house during the Open House. Let your Dressel Meadows Sales Associate sell your home.
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At Dressel Meadows Realty we strive to bring a new "edge" to the real estate industry. We are a dynamic team of individuals that offer a fun, exciting buying and/or selling experience. Our ultimate goal is to make this process the easiest it's ever been.

We are focused on a real desire to provide friendly, professional service to each and every client. Every moment we focus on your needs, your desires, and getting to know you as an individual to create a lasting relationship.

Our goal is for each customer to see Dressel Meadows Realty not only as a first-rate real-estate firm, but also as individuals with whom you have developed a genuine friendship.

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Each and every agent at Dressel Meadows Realty uses a different approach to market your property. They have the most comprehensive plan available. He or she will use a combination of large corporate marketing techniques, technology, research and hard work to market your property efficiently and effectively. Common tools such as the telephone, the Internet, and a printer can be used in exciting ways to take the marketing of your property to the next level.

Let a Dressel Meadows Agent unveil their plan for your property. We promise you will be encouraged and excited as the Dressel Meadows team takes the marketing of your property to higher levels.

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There are several steps involved in selling your home. Dressel Meadows Realty Listing Specialists want to insure you have the best home-selling experience possible. Below you'll find the steps that our professional agents will guide you through on your path to selling your property!
1. The Meet and Greet - You may already have a personal relationship with your DRESSEL MEADOWS Listing Specialist, but this is an opportunity for you and them to further familiarize yourselves with one another, perhaps in front of your fireplace or outside on the deck.
2. Agency - No we're not spies, but our professional Listing Specialists (Listing Agents) will take the time to explain and define agency representation and their relationship to you in the real estate transaction. We want to be sure our clients have all the knowledge they need to make informed decisions, and we're happy to provide it. Not to mention it's Minnesota state law! Take a look: Agency Disclosure Form (PDF). Also, take a look at Working with an Agent.
3. What's my home worth? - We know what you want for the property, but what will someone else give ya! Each DRESSEL MEADOWS Listing Specialist will evaluate the structure of your property, standard features, and non-standard upgrades so that the Specialist can best understand your property. They will then peek at all the homes in the area that have either sold or are for sale that are similar to yours. This helps us to strategically position your property in the marketplace.
4. The Dressel Meadows Difference - It's time for your Listing Specialist to toot the Dressel Meadows horn. But, don't think we do it for us - it's all for you. The marketing plans that Dressel Meadows Listing Specialists develop is second to none. Our unique corporate structure is part of this plan. Invite us in and you'll be moving out before you know it.
5. The Contract - No, it's not a death sentence and you're not signing your life away! It's your way of saying, "you're hired" and our way of guaranteeing that you have 100% mindshare from your Dressel Meadows Listing Specialist and that they are working for you and your best interest! Take a look: Exclusive Right to Represent (PDF)
6. Let the fun begin! - Ok; maybe not fun per se, but fruit of our labor. Once the marketing plan starts generating results, your phone will start ringing - and you will hear a very familiar voice on the other end. The Dressel Meadows Listing Team will be scheduling a showing of your property. A showing is another Agent that has a buyer that may be interested in your property. You will most likely be gone during the hour-long showings. There are several key factors that we will discuss with you to improve how well your property shows - the better it shows, the faster it sells and for a higher price.
7. It's Go Time! - So someone decided that your property is just the one they are looking for! They let us know by writing an offer for the property. They may or may not wish to present directly to you and your Listing Specialist. The offer, or purchase agreement, conveys their interest to purchase the property and the terms they desire. The knowledge of your Dressel Meadows Listing Specialist comes into play when evaluating the offer. Your Listing Specialist will go through each and every line with you to evaluate the positive and negative terms. He/she will whip out a Dressel Meadows net sheet to run through the numbers, indicating what your bottom line will be. With offer in hand, your Dressel Meadows Listing Specialist will help YOU determine if you want to reject the offer, counter the offer, or accept it. In any case, they are there with you making sure you understand the legal mumbo-jumbo empowering you to make the best possible decision.
8. Wrapping it Up! - After your purchase agreement has been signed, sealed and delivered so to speak, your Dressel Meadows Listing Specialist will carefully monitor the steps leading up to your closing day. He or she will ensure that each party involved is following through so that you have a successful closing! Hey, it's what you hired us to do! We'll see ya there!!
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Buying or selling a home is probably the most important and potentially rewarding financial transaction you'll make in your life. Therefore it is a good idea to take a moment and consider the kind of relationship you might be entering into with a Realtor®. The more you know, the more satisfied you will be with the results.
 

The Agency Relationship
Realtors® work within a legal relationship called agency. The agency relationship exists between you, the principal , and your agent , the company under which the individual salesperson who is representing you is licensed. The essence of the agency relationship is that the agent has the authority to represent the principal in dealings with others.

Agents and their salespeople are legally obligated to protect and promote the interests of their principals as they would their own. Specifically, the agent has the following duties:

1. Undivided loyalty. The agent must protect the principal's negotiating position at all times and disclose all known facts which may affect or influence the principal's decision.
2. To obey all lawful instructions of the principal.
3. An obligation to keep the confidences of the principal.
4. The exercise of reasonable care and skill in performing all assigned duties.
5. The duty to account for all money and property placed in an agent's hands while acting for the principal.
 

You can expect competent service from your agent, knowing that the company is bound by ethics and the law to be honest and thorough in representing a property listed for sale. Both buyer and seller can be represented by their own agents in a single transaction.

Dual Agency
Dual agency occurs when a real estate agent is representing both buyer and seller in the same transaction. Since the agent has promised a duty of confidentiality, loyalty and full disclosure to both parties simultaneously, it is necessary to limit these duties in this situation if both parties consent.

If you find yourself involved in a dual agency relationship, before making or receiving an offer, both you and the other party will be asked to consent in writing to this new limited agency relationship. This relationship involves the following limitations:

a. The agent will deal with the buyer and the seller impartially;
b. The agent will have a duty of disclosure to both the buyer and the seller except that;
i. the agent will not disclose that the buyer is willing to pay a price or agree to terms other than those contained in the offer, or that the seller is willing to accept a price or terms other than those contained in the listing;
ii. the agent will not disclose the motivation of the buyer to buy or the seller to sell unless authorized by the buyer or the seller;
iii. the agent will not disclose personal information of either the buyer or the seller unless authorized in writing;
c. The agent will disclose to the buyer defects about the physical condition of the property known to the agent.

When there is No Agency Relationship
You may also choose to use the services of a Realtor® without having any kind of agency relationship. This might occur, for example, when you are being shown a property by the seller's agent.

The Realtor® you choose to work with in this manner has a legal and ethical duty to provide you with accurate, honest answers to your questions and can provide all these services:
 
• Explain real estate terms and practices
• Provide and explain forms used
• Assist you in screening and viewing properties
• Inform you of lenders and their policies
• Identify and estimate costs involved in a transaction
• Assist you in establishing your range of affordability
• Prepare offers or counter-offers at your direction
• Present all offers promptly
 
 

A Realtor® who is not your agent cannot

• Recommend or suggest a price
• Negotiate on your behalf
• Inform you of his/her principal's top/bottom line
• Disclose any confidential information about his/her principal unless otherwise authorized.
 
You should not provide a Realtor® who is not your agent with any information that you would not provide directly to his or her principal.

 
 
  Your Responsibilities as a Buyer or Seller
As a buyer or a seller, you should:
 
• Carefully read all documents and understand what you are signing.
• Seek other professionals such as lawyers, notaries, accountants, home inspectors, contractors, engineers and surveyors if you need special or expert advice.
 
 

Definitions
The Agent is the real estate company under which the individual salesperson who is representing you is licensed.

Realtor® is often used interchangeably with Licensee, Real Estate Agent or Salesperson. A Realtor® can use the term Realtor® if he/she belongs to a local board or association that enforces a strict code of ethics.

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The Buyer is often referred to as the Purchaser.

• The Seller is often referred to as the Vendor.
• The Principal is someone who has engaged an agent to act for and on his or her behalf either to buy or sell a home.

This information has been provided to explain various types of agency relationships and to help you understand what it all means. If you are still unclear about these concepts, feel free to seek legal counsel.

Members of the public are aware that in most cases properties offered for sale by members of the real estate industry have a commission or fee that the seller has agreed to pay the listing agent. The listing agent traditionally shares this commission/fee with the selling agent. Commission and fee may vary.

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