Process for Showing and Selling A Home in Atlanta

93% of all buyers, according to all recent studies, search online to find the homes they want to see. They use location and price as their criteria. Then they look at the list of what is available, scanning the exterior pictures to see if they want to look more closely at the interior pictures. Buyers do not search by company listings. They only search by location and price and then add a few other things like bedrooms, baths, pool and neighborhood amenities. The other 7% of buyers rely on their agent to pull listings for them to see OR the agent sets them up on a system that emails them all the listings as they come on the market. This system is passive and automatic and ALL listings that fit that criteria are sent.

The buyer calls the listing agent or their buyer’s agent to set up an appointment to see the home.

The agent courtesy calls or sets up an appointment with the homeowner unless the listing agent has listed himself or herself as the contact for seeing the home. On every listing in Atlanta, there is a contact name and phone number (95% of the time it is the homeowner’s number) for showing and the showing instructions. On Duffy Realty listings an agent who knows the process and who can read, calls the homeowner and follows the showing instructions. This name and number is before the listing agent’s name and number.

The agent shows the property and it is a standard courtesy for them to leave a business card when they are in the home, usually whether prompted to do so or not. Usually there is a bowl or statement for the agent to leave their card. Seasoned agents know to leave a card no matter what the circumstance including in vacant homes.
Sometimes the listing agent does follow up to see what the buyer’s thought of the property. This can be done by an email follow up system like HomeFeedback or can be done by phone call. Surveys show that agents prefer to give feedback by email.

If the buyer has questions, the agent will call the listing agent or homeowner to get those questions answered.
If the buyer wants to add the home to their short list, the agent will call the listing agent or homeowner for the Seller’s Disclosure if the homeowner has not left one out at the showing.

The buyer’s agent will write the offer for the buyer using the buyer’s requirements and demands.

The buyer’s agent is required by law to send the offer to another agent if the seller is in a listing agreement with that agent. There is no exception to this as the agent can loose their license if they don’t follow the procedure of sending the offer to the listing agent.

The listing agent and the buyer’s agent then work to come to agreement in writing on the contracts that both the buyer and seller sign. The agreement becomes binding only when all parties have signed the agreement and can not be accepted as binding just by a verbal agreement.

After the agreement is signed, the buyer’s agent and buyer will start working towards removing contingencies such as inspection and financing, known in the Georgia contracts as due diligence. The buyer’s agent will do the same process of calling the owner that they did during the showings to notify the owner of the inspection date and time.

Once the due diligence period is over, the earnest money becomes non-refundable and belongs to the seller unless there is another contingency in the contract.

The closing attorney that was assigned in the contract is contacted by the buyer’s agent to set a time for closing. The buyer’s agent calls the listing agent and homeowner to let them know.

The closing attorney will then send a form to the sellers to gather the information about the mortgage company their loan is with so that they can get the payoff information.

The buyer and seller show up at closing with or without the agents to sign their documents. There is no form or documents that agents sign during this process. They are there to get their check. If the agent is not there and there is a question, the closing attorney will call the agents.