Obviously the name of the seller and the property address will be included in the listing contract. There are many other things that are included, too, and you should be aware of them.

Price and Terms of Sale

When setting the terms of sale, the main thing you are concerned with is the listing price. You should have a basic idea of what your home is worth by keeping track of other sales in the neighborhood. Your agent will have provided a market analysis of your home as well. After discussing the different pricing strategies with your agent, you will have come up with an asking price that you feel comfortable with. Remember, the list price is just a starting price and is often a marketing tool to draw buyers in.

In addition to the price, you will disclose what personal property, if any, goes with the house when you sell it. Personal property is anything that is not attached or fixed to the home, such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, and so on.

There may be some item that is considered "real property" that you do not intend to include in the sale. Real property is anything that is attached to the home. For example, you may have a chandelier that has been in your family for generations and you take it from home to home when you move. Since the chandelier is attached to the house, it is considered "real property" and a reasonable buyer would normally expect it to go with the house. We recommend that if there is anything like this that you want to keep after the sale, you take it down before you go on the market and replace it with another light fixture. This prevents any issues during escrow.

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