Seller Consultation Checklist

Check prior MLS listings, withdrawn or expired status, days on market, and last sale price. Pull the public tax record for square footage, lot size, and year built — note any discrepancies between MLS history and tax data so you can ask the seller before listing.

Federal lead-based paint disclosure is required on homes built before 1978. Confirm the build year from the tax record before the consultation so the disclosure form and EPA pamphlet are ready to deliver at signing.

Pull comps in Cloud CMA or RPR using a tight radius and a 90-day window in active markets — older comps misprice in fast-moving conditions. Include actives and pendings to read current direction, not just closed sales.

Include the CMA, marketing plan, sample photography, recent sold examples in the neighborhood, and the listing agreement with required disclosures pre-filled where possible.

Confirm the meeting at the property when possible — walking the home in person beats a coffee-shop meeting for both rapport and accurate pricing. Send a calendar invite with the address and a one-line agenda.

Cover motivation, target close timeline, mortgage payoff status, known defects, recent improvements, and any HOA. Sellers prepare better answers in writing than on the spot, and the answers shape how you frame pricing.

Cover every room plus garage, attic, basement, and exterior. Ask about the roof age, HVAC age, water heater, and any insurance claims. These come up later in the seller's property disclosure — better to surface them now than have them appear on inspection.

Flag items likely to surface on a buyer's inspection: visible roof wear, exterior paint, GFCI outlets in wet areas, water stains, and railing or step issues. A short pre-list repair list is far cheaper than inspection objections after contract.

Be specific: which rooms need depersonalization, which need furniture removed or rented, which exterior beds need refresh. Vague guidance ("declutter") doesn't get acted on; a room-by-room list with photos does.

Schedule pro photography after staging, not before. Confirm whether the property warrants drone (lot, view, acreage) and Matterport or iGuide for a 3D tour. Set expectations on photo turnaround — typically 24–48 hours.

Some sellers want maximum reach across Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, and Homes.com; others want a quiet listing or office-exclusive period before going live. Get the choice on record so the MLS input is set correctly the first time.

When the seller wants a quiet listing, the MLS opt-out flags must be set at input — not after photos hit Zillow. Confirm the specific flags your MLS uses (internet display, IDX, syndication, AVM) and document the seller's written instruction in the file.

Target the broker preview within the first week of activation and the first public open house the following weekend. Confirm seller availability to be off-site during showings.

Walk the seller through the active, pending, and sold comps page by page. Show median days-on-market and the list-to-sold ratio so the price discussion is grounded in current data, not the seller's neighbor's anecdote.

Overpricing burns the launch window — the first two weeks generate the strongest buyer interest. After multiple price drops, listings carry a stigma and net less than a correctly-priced launch would have. Make this concrete with a recent example.

Most state license laws require agency disclosure at first substantive contact. Use your state form (seller's agent, transaction broker, or the applicable variant) and have it signed before walking through the listing agreement itself.

Cover term length, protection period after expiration, withdrawal terms, and any exclusions (named buyers the seller has already shown). Sellers who feel rushed through the agreement become the sellers who try to cancel mid-term.

Sit with the seller and walk question by question — don't hand the form over to be returned later. Sellers commonly leave items blank that they actually know about (foundation, prior flooding, roof leaks), and post-closing buyer suits trace back to those omissions.

Required for homes built before 1978. Deliver the federal disclosure form and the EPA "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home" pamphlet, capture the seller's signature on the form, and add both to the transaction file.

Post-NAR settlement, buyer-agent compensation is no longer published in the MLS. Document the seller's offer of cooperation in writing — whether a fixed dollar amount, a percentage, or no offer — so it can be conveyed to buyer agents on request without ambiguity.

Upload the executed listing agreement, agency disclosure, seller's property disclosure, lead-based paint disclosure (where applicable), and any addenda into Dotloop or SkySlope. The TC needs a complete file before MLS input.

Book stager first, photographer second — photos must be taken after staging is complete. Confirm seller's pre-shoot checklist: lights on, blinds open, vehicles moved, pets out, counters cleared.

Aim for a Wednesday or Thursday go-live so the listing is fresh going into the weekend showing peak. Confirm any "coming soon" period the MLS allows and that the seller wants.

Set expectations now: showing-feedback summary every 3 days for the first two weeks, weekly market-activity update, and an explicit pricing review at day 14 if showings are below benchmark. Sellers who know what to expect call less.