• What should I bring to my initial conference with Attorney Caprera to initiate the START2CLOSING process?
• Can a home seller lock a deal with a prospective buyer without using the services of a real estate broker?
• What does it take for a home seller to lock a deal and create a binding sales agreement with a prospective buyer?
• How can the home seller set an appropriate listing price for his / her / their property?
• What can you do with the whopping savings (4% plus attorney closing fee) that you will realize by using START2CLOSING?
• What if a buyer is not found after reasonable efforts over a reasonable amount of time?
• Do I have the flexibility to direct the marketing strategy for the sale of my home?
• If I try to sell my home without a broker, will I expose myself to a higher risk of being sued?
• What if a real estate broker wants to bring a prospective buyer to see your property?
• What does the 2% fee cover?

An expectant, confident attitude!  Yes, you can sell your home without a broker - the finish line is definitely attainable, and we at START2CLOSING can and certainly will help you.  Additionally, if available bring your deed, your title certificate, your tape survey or plot plan, a survey plan of your lot or development, the architectural plans of your home, your recent real estate tax bills, or anything else that we can scan or photograph to post on the START2CLOSING website to identify, distinguish, and promote your property.

Absolutely.  Initiative, technology and courage have already helped many home seller “pioneers” create this exciting new trend in the real estate marketplace.  START2CLOSING desires to push this trend to the next logical level by intentionally placing a qualified attorney at the beginning of the home sales process to guide and encourage the home seller.

Minimally, a signed Offer To Purchase Agreement containing the names of the Seller and Buyer, a description of the property (i.e. address), the purchase price, a closing date, the tender of some consideration (i.e. a good faith deposit), signatures of the parties, and a date.  Additionally, the parties could list conditions or contingencies on the agreement.  START2CLOSING provides a simple, user-friendly Offer To Purchase Agreement which is included in the home seller package which is provided to all START2CLOSING clients. 

START2CLOSING will work with you to provide you with comparable sales information of homes similar to yours in your community so that you can discover how the marketplace has treated other similar properties. Additionally, if the home seller opts to market their property on the MLS, additional comparable information will be made available to them. If the marketplace doesn’t respond to your number in a desired way or in a desired time frame, then it is appropriate to reassess your situation and readjust your selling strategy.

After hugging your attorney and congratulating yourself for having the courage to step out of a time-worn box to sell your home using the most common sense way possible, spend those thousands of dollars anyway you please! Enjoy!

If after a reasonable amount of time the home seller is not comfortable with the market response to the START2CLOSING sales strategy, then the home seller can simply switch back to the traditional home seller method (i.e., establish a real estate broker partnership, sign a listing agreement with a real estate broker, market the home with the real estate broker, eventually identify a buyer and sign an Offer to Purchase Contract, and then the closing attorney will step back into an active role with the home seller to perform the customary legal services for the closing.)  Under the circumstances the home seller will not owe the 2% fee to the lawyer pursuant to the START2CLOSING involvement because the home seller will be obligated to pay the real estate broker a customary sales commission and pay the closing attorney a customary attorney closing fee.

Absolutely, you’re the boss!  The role of START2CLOSING is primarily to assist, support and encourage the home seller to complete the home sales process as efficiently and enjoyably as possible.  Though we at START2CLOSING humbly believe that we offer our home seller clients an enormously valuable service, we are always looking for ways to do our job better.  To that end, we will gladly present appreciative gifts to all innovative home seller clients who devise and disclose to us any new marketing strategies that we can add to our growing list of marketing strategies.

Absolutely not!  In fact, START2CLOSING represents a much safer way to sell your home!  First of all, Attorney Caprera will be at your side providing legal counsel throughout the entire sales process, from start to closing.  Unlike the traditional, timeworn, seller/broker paradigm where the closing attorney is only brought into the mix at the end of the process after the Listing Contract and Offer To Purchase Contract have already been signed, and when most of the significant representations about your property have already been made, we will be there to advise you any time you encounter a “sticky situation” and guide you away from trouble.  Secondly, you will control everything that is said about your property because only you will be making all of the representations about your property.  There will never be any broker (i.e., the listing broker or quite possibly the selling broker whom you’ve never met and whom you couldn’t pick out of a crowd of two!) who will engage in misrepresentation, “sales puffing”, or even fraud to zealously sell your home to earn a sales commission.

In the marketplace it is not uncommon for a buyer to hire a real estate broker to find a suitable property for him/her.  The buyer hires the real estate broker and, therefore, the buyer is responsible for paying the real estate broker for this service.  Accordingly, if you are approached or contacted by a broker under these circumstances, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.  But in doing so, don’t feel obligated to pay any money to the broker.  The broker’s deal is with the buyer and the broker will get paid by the buyer.  If the broker (who is a trained salesperson) tries to shake you down for referral money, remind yourself who you are and what you are doing and then let your conscience be your guide. Ultimately, because the START2CLOSING arrangement pairs you up with a real estate attorney right from the beginning of the process, you will be able to call me immediately after you are contacted by the real estate broker so that we can discuss all of your options and chose the best strategy for you.  With START2CLOSING, you are never alone so hopefully you will have the confidence to embark on this exciting new adventure of selling your house by yourself regardless of any challenges that might arise and enjoy it all the way to the finish line.

The fee for all of the services in the Start2Closing representation is 2% of the gross sales price of the property payable at the time of closing. This 2% fee covers all of the legal work to conduct and complete the closing of the property along with all of the counsel, assistance, and marketing aids that the Start2Closing system provides. In other words, the 2% covers all of your legal representation and work in the task of "attorney assisted selling" from the start of the sales process to the closing. The 2% fee does not include the Seller's customary closing costs which include, but are not limited to taxes, deed stamps, payoffs, apportionments, and recording fees. These "customary closing costs" are the normal expenses that Sellers incur in a sale of property. They may be large or small depending upon the particular closing, however, they are always the Seller's expense and never a part of the broker's commission or the attorney's fee. The 2% Start2Closing fee represents the Attorney's fee which, because of the elimination of the customary real estate broker's commission, provides an enormous savings to the seller in the marketing and sale of the property.