If youre looking to sell your home quickly, and for top dollar, the best thing you can do is to be able to offer your buyers some sound financing options. Thats why developing a relationship with a lender can be the key to a quick sale, and to more money at closing.

Some of your potential buyers will have already gotten themselves preapproved with a lender, but many wont, and being able to offer financing options will open up a number of possibilities for selling your home. The easier you can make finding a loan for your potential buyers, the better your chances of selling your home.

Find out what type of loans are available at your local lending institutions, and what kinds of programs they can offer buyers. Ask about income qualifications, credit scores, down payment requirements, both for buyers with good credit and for those whose credit is less than perfect. Ask if the lender will allow you to contribute to the buyers closing costs.

Get an Accurate Appraisal

If a banks or mortgage company uses in-house appraisers, it can sometimes cost you a considerable amount of money at closing. For instance, my husband and I once allowed buyers to use their own lender and ended up netting $13,000 less because of a low appraisal. We discovered later that the bank was known for understating appraisals.

Dont sign a sales contract contingent on the appraisal of a buyers lender; draw up your sales contract with a firm price and then give the buyers a specific time to arrange financing, based on that price. You dont want to have to lower your sales price to reflect a lower appraised value. Make sure that your lenders appraisers consider properties sold, but not yet closed and competing listings of similar properties when doing their appraisals, and not just past sales, because past sales alone may not give an accurate picture of your homes true market value in a fast-moving market.

Even if buyers say that they are prequalified through a lender, its worthwhile to explain that your lender may be able to offer better financing, and that youre willing to pay a certain portion of their closing costs for them if theyll use your lender.

Having a relationship with a lender who is willing to help your buyers finance your home will give you an edge on your competition, and will go a long way toward selling your house quickly, and for top dollar.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.