Task Analysis

Introduction
I am creating an informational packet to provide important real estate
information to home sellers. The purpose of this task analysis is to
outline the different components of the packet, identify what format
each section will be in, and give a brief overview of each section.

Tasks
o Definitions of key terms
o Explanation of a realtor’s duties
o Explanation of the home selling process
o Main factors that influence a sale
o Preparing a home for sale
o Pricing

Order of Importance
o Definitions of key terms (High)
o Explanation of a realtor’s duties (High)
o Explanation of the home selling process (High)
o Main factors that influence a sale (Medium)
o Preparing a home for sale (Medium)
o Pricing (Very High)

Description of Task

I. Introduction
a. Purpose of the packet
i. To provide important real estate information to home
sellers to allow for a smoother transaction
ii. Provide information about the roles of seller and realtor
to manage expectations of what should be done by
whom
b. Definitions of key terms (Format: brochure)
i. Amortization schedule
1. Table showing monthly payments for paying off a
mortgage, shows total cost for mortgage plus
interest
ii. Buyer’s agent
1. Realtor who only represents the buyer and is
looking out for their best interests
iii. Escrow
1. Giving deposit money to a third party for
safekeeping during closing
 iv. Foreclosure
1. After the owner doesn’t make mortgage payments
for a period of time, the bank takes back
ownership of the house
v. Listing Agreement
1. The contract that puts a home up for sale
vi. Proration
1. The way of dividing up payments (usually taxes)
so that each person only pays for the time they
owned the house
vii. REO
1. ‘Real Estate Owned’ A home that is owned by a
bank
viii. Short sale
1. When someone owes more than their house is
worth, the bank may sometimes agree to take
less money than they are owed, only happens
with a financial hardship (laid off, hospitalization,
etc.)
II. Information about real estate
a. What to expect from a realtor (Format: sentence outline)
i. Realtor’s duties
1. Professionalism
2. Knowledge of real estate transactions
3. Communication with seller on a regular basis
a. Talking about market conditions
b. Discussing appropriate selling price Giving
seller feedback from showings
c. Explaining real estate contracts and
documents
d. Listening to seller’s ideas and needs
4. Marketing (some of these options may be
appropriate)
a. Newspaper
b. Internet MLS (FAAR, LUTAR, RealComp)
c. Open Houses
d. Discussion with other realtors
i. Within Red Carpet Keim at weekly
sales meetings
ii. With realtors from other companies
ii. What is beyond a realtor’s responsibility/control
1. Legal advice
2. Finding a buyer for a home that is overpriced or
not adequately prepared for sale
b. Process of selling a home (Format: flowchart and sentence
explanations)
 i. Make sure you are prepared to sell
1. Have enough time to prepare the home for sale
2. Are motivated to sell
ii. Choose a listing agent
1. Should be someone you are comfortable with,
communicates well with you and is knowledgeable
about the current market
a. Understand the current market
i. Buyer’s market
1. Many houses on the market and
home prices are lower
ii. Seller’s market
1. Fewer houses for sale and many
buyers looking for homes, prices
are higher
b. Select an appropriate selling price
i. After realtor does market analysis
ii. All other factors constant, buyers will
choose the lowest priced home first
iii. Preparing home for sale
1. Cleaning and removing clutter
2. Minor repairs
iv. Showings
1. Realtor will call when a buyer wants to see the
home to set up a time
2. Seller should not be home
3. Home should be clean and neat
4. Realtor should give feedback about the showing
including how interested the buyer is and what
they liked and didn’t like about the home
v. Offers to purchase
1. Receiving offers: meet with your realtor to go over
any offers that have been made
a. Realtor should explain what the terms mean
b. Realtor should advise whether to accept or
counteroffer
2. Counteroffers
a. Discuss with realtor appropriate
counteroffers
b. Wait to see if it has been accepted by the
buyers
3. *Steps 1 and 2 repeat until an offer is accepted
vi. Open Escrow
1. Buyers will give earnest money deposit to realtor
as a cashier’s check
vii. Order title
 1. Realtor gets information about mortgages and
gets information from the title company
2. Seller just has to sign some documents
viii. Closing
1. Closing agent will explain documents to seller
2. Seller’s only duty is to sign documents
c. Main Factors that influence sale (Format: Chart with
explanation)
i. Factors that can’t be changed
1. Location: if a buyer needs to be in a particular
school district, they will only look at homes
located there
2. Functionality and floor plan: if a buyer need 3
bedrooms, they will only look at homes with 3
bedrooms
ii. Factors that can be changed
1. Preparedness of the home
a. Cleanliness, appearance, lack of things
needing repair
2. Price
a. Most important factor
b. Any home priced above a buyer’s price
range is excluded from searches
d. How to prepare a home for sale (Format: written with pictures
showing good and bad)
i. Interior
1. Fresh paint
a. lighter colors make rooms look bigger,
neutral colors are best
2. New carpet
a. important if carpet is irreversibly dirty
b. deep clean carpet if not that dirty
3. Remove clutter
a. clutter makes a house seem smaller and
less appealing
b. Small objects can be stored in plastic
storage bins
4. Clean
a. Remove odors
b. Remove obvious stains
5. Fix minor repairs
a. Holes in wall
b. Leaky faucet
c. Broken windows
d. Anything else that is obvious and easily
fixable
 ii. Exterior
1. Landscaping
a. Simple but appealing
b. Plant a few flowers or small shrubs
c. Remove shrubs that block view of house
2. Fix minor repairs
a. Broken stairs
b. Paint porch/deck if paint is chipped
c. Obvious defects on outside of home
iii. If any of these factors cannot be changed, the price of
the home should reflect that. (For example if the home
needs a new roof, the price should be lower than a
home that doesn’t need a new roof so the buyers can
put a new roof on themselves.
e. Pricing
i. Price is important because it is the first thing seen by
potential buyers
1. Holding costs of a home (Format: chart with
example and blank line for seller to calculate their
own costs)
a. Mortgage
b. Insurance
c. Gas/Electric
d. Water
e. Sewer
f. Tax
g. Routine maintenance
h. Lawn mowing
i. Snow removal
2. Even if the home is owned free and clear (the
mortgage is paid off) it is still costly to own a
home.
ii. Selecting the right price (Format: paragraph)
1. Market conditions
a. Buyer’s market
b. Seller’s market
2. Comparative market analysis
a. Realtor searches all similar homes that have
sold in the past year or 6 months and comes
up with a reasonable selling price based on
those numbers.
b. Can also include similar homes that are
currently for sale to see what the home is
competing against
3. Realtor’s expertise
 a. If the realtor has a lot of experience, they
should have a reasonable idea of what a
reasonable selling price is based on prior
experience and knowledge of the current
market
4. Benefits of the home
a. Unique benefits of the home will affect the
selling price
f. Realtor contact information