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Are you considering selling your property? If so, we want you to be clear as to how we handle listing your property for sale and then selling it. Always it is our intention to help you list your property at the value that puts it correctly in the market and to meet your expectations. We will not list a property for a value that is inflated, or promise that we can sell it at an over-value price. If we see the market changing, we will notify you and advise you.
The following is the listing procedure and a list of every document we will need a copy of in order to avoid any problems and often expensive surprises;
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We interview you (our client), preferably at the property in order to determine the age, condition, construction materials, amenities etc. of the property. At that time we also check all the documentation of the property and take pictures if possible.
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We check your identification to determine that you are actually the owner of the property. If you are not the owner, we check the power of attorney that you must have in order to sell the property for the owner.
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We need to receive from you copies of these documents;
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Escritura (title or trust) with the number of the file in the Public Registry
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Last payment of property taxes (predial)
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Most recent water bill, electric bill, telephone bill (originals in this case)
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Copy of your identification (passport, driver’s license, and for Mexicans - IFE y CURP)
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Immigration form if you are from another country
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Marriage certificate if you are married (Mexicans, cual tipo de estado civil?)
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In the case of a Condominium; by-laws, minutes from last meetings and budget
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We send these documents to Public Notary #8 (usually) and together with a lawyer in that office we determine your liabilities as a seller. These include the tax on capital gain (if there is any), cancellation of any existing trust (if any) and any other costs you might incur in the sale of your property.
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In the mean time we do an in-depth search in order to know at what price similar properties have sold for recently and exactly what is on the market at this time that is a fair “comparable” to your property. This helps us to determine the real market value of your property and with these search results we will sit down with you and determine the best price for your property. All of our agents have the knowledge to go over this information with you and help you to determine the best price for your property.
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Along with the above information, we will go over all of your expenses that you will have at the time of the sale of your property. These include exactly the amount or formula to determine the amount of any taxes you will owe and we will offer you a list of all the things that you can legally do to reduce or eliminate them and we will help you do this. Also, we will determine the amounts of any trust closing fees, any loan pre-payment penalties and the real estate commission that you will owe. At the end you will have a real number to look at that will be your “Net” income from the sale of your house with no surprises later. In our experience everybody has a “number” or an amount of money in their head that they are hoping to realize at the time of the sale. Our job is to make this number real for you or to show you with real evidence why the price of your property should be higher or lower.
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Listing and Selling your property: two listing options;
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Non- Exclusive Listing – this is when you offer your property to several agencies and whoever sells it will get a commission previously agreed upon. This is not good for you because none of the agencies will spend any money on advertising your property as they have no guarantee that they will be involved in the sale of your property. They will put it on their web site, and they might put a sign on it, but that is all.
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Exclusive Listing- This is the kind of listing that works because when you list exclusively with Zamilpa Realty, The first thing we do is make sure that every realtor in the area has the information about your property. We gladly share the commission giving any agency with a customer half of the commission. We use every tool in our selling toolbox to get the job done in a timely manner, so we solicit the help of all the other realtors who each have a hand full of clients looking for something. We also advertise your property in the Real Estate Review magazine, La Guia magazine, MLSVallarta (the multi-listing service for the area accessible worldwide by internet), The Real Estate Guide real estate newspaper, we place signs on the property and we will offer “Open House” events so that many realtors and potential buyers can see your property personally. FOR THIS SERVICE WE NEED AT LEAST A 3 MONTH EXCLUSIVE LISTING and you can decide to renew (if necessary) or not based on results. The MLS Service works very well because all the real estate agents and customers visit it almost every day and with its “search” tool, anyone looking for something similar to what you are offering will find your property information quickly and easily.
The Process of Selling your Property
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We find a customer that seriously wants your property and we construct the PURCHASE OFFER CONTRACT which includes any and all agreements, contingencies, method of transferring funds, the Notary Public that will be used and the closing date.
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In this contract we stipulate that all funds be deposited into an *ESCROW account for the safety and protection of all parties.
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In this contract it will state that a deposit (earnest money) shall be deposited into the *Escrow account within 3 working days after the acceptance of the offer contract.
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In this contract it will stipulate that the balance of the funds will be deposited into the same *Escrow account at least 3 working days before the closing date.
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CLOSING DAY; By now the Notary has determined that the property is legally available to sell, meaning that it is free of all liens and encumbrances and the people involved in the transaction are exactly who they say they are. At the office of the Notary both the seller and the buyer (usually, but not always) are there to sign; the seller to sign off the old title and the buyer to sign on the new title that the notary (and in the case of a bank trust, the bank) has written.
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At the same time, the Notary sends a letter (by fax or internet) to the *Escrow company that says that the contract has been successfully executed and to please release all the funds in the *Escrow account to the appropriate bank accounts previously agreed upon by both the buyer and the seller in the disbursement instructions.
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These various disbursements of funds are in a list called “disbursement instructions” and include the funds that go to the seller, the funds that go to the mediator “Zamilpa Realty” and if another real estate agency is involved, to them as well, and often the balance of the closing costs that need to go to the Notary.
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In less than 24 hours (often in the same day!) all the funds arrive safely into the various bank accounts that the *Escrow company has wired them to.
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Time for the celebration!
*An Escrow account is an account that is held by a paid neutral 3rd party who is in business to do that. We use both First American Title Insurance Company, Latin American Division in Miami Florida, USA, and Stewart Title Insurance Company who has an office here in Puerto Vallarta, for our Escrow accounts and we have years using them and no problems ever encountered. Both of these Title companies are worldwide and also offer Title Insurance.
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