Before You List

The homework a buyer's inspector, lender and attorney will do on your Freeport house, and how to do it first.

Most delays in a sale come from questions no one asked until the house was under contract: a septic system designed for fewer bedrooms than the house has, a survey that does not match the fence, a permit that never got a final sign off. Each one is usually solvable. Solved in the week before closing, it costs time, money and leverage.

This guide walks through what a buyer's side will look at, in the order they tend to look at it. You do not need to do everything on it. Most owners can answer a good share from the papers in their files. Where something needs a closer look, we are glad to help, and we can review your house with you before it goes on the market.

Get the printable checklist, with checkboxes and a notes page, by email.

1. Title, deed and boundaries

The buyer's attorney or title company will search the record. Knowing what they will find lets you sort out anything open on your schedule. We have attorney and title contacts for every kind of issue and will put you in touch with the right one.

Your deed. Find your copy, or pull it from the Cumberland County Registry of Deeds. Check that the owners named are the people who will sign.
Recent changes in ownership. A death, divorce, trust or name change since you bought can mean a probate filing, a court order or a new deed is needed before closing.
Mortgages and liens. List every mortgage, home equity line and lien. A line of credit you no longer use may still be open on the record.
Survey and pins. If you have a survey, find it. Walk the corners you know. Note any fence, driveway, shed or garden that sits near or across a line.
Rights of way and easements. Note any path, shared driveway, utility line or water access that others use or that you use across a neighbor. Note any that are in the deed but no longer used.
Road access. If you reach the house by a private road, find any road association or maintenance agreement and its current fee.
Condominium or association. Gather the declaration, bylaws, budget, recent minutes and any special assessment notices.

2. Zoning, permits and the town file

Buyers increasingly ask whether the house on the ground matches the house in the town's file. The Freeport Codes Enforcement Office keeps permits, plans and septic records by property.

Zoning district. Look up your lot on the Freeport zoning map. The district sets what can be added, divided or rented.
Shoreland zone. If any part of the lot is within 250 feet of tidal water, a river, a great pond or a wetland, or within 75 feet of a stream, Freeport's shoreland rules (Chapter 65) apply to setbacks, clearing, docks and expansion.
Permits against the house. Compare additions, finished basements, decks, garages and outbuildings with the permits on file. Note any work done without a permit or without a final sign off.
Bedroom count. The number of bedrooms you advertise should match the town record and the septic design. See section 3.
Accessory apartment or rental. If part of the house is rented or has been, gather any permit or approval for it.
Docks, moorings and floats. Gather any dock or float permits and your mooring assignment. A mooring assignment does not pass with the house. Maine law lets a shorefront owner ask the harbormaster for a mooring in front of the property, assigned where practicable, so a buyer applies in their own name.

3. Water and septic

Outside the village, most Freeport houses have a private well and septic system. These are the items buyers' lenders and inspectors test most often.

Septic design. Find the system's design form (in Maine, the HHE-200). If you do not have it, look in the town's permit file and the state's septic records. Some older systems have no design on record, which is worth knowing before a buyer asks. Note the number of bedrooms it was designed for and compare it with the bedrooms in the house.
Septic service. Note the last pumping date and the company. Note any repairs, alarms or replaced parts.
Shared systems. If a well, septic system or leach field is shared with a neighbor, gather the written agreement.
Well records. Note the type of well, its depth if known and where it is on the lot.
Water test. Gather any recent lab results. Maine recommends testing private wells for arsenic, radon in water and other naturally occurring elements. Buyers and lenders often ask for a current test, and results take time to come back.
Treatment equipment. List any filters, softeners or radon treatment systems, their service dates and whether they stay with the house.
Public water or sewer. If connected, note the account and any recent work on the service line.

4. Systems, tanks and the house's records

A clear record of what has been done to the house answers questions before they are asked and supports the price.

List of improvements. Write down the work done since you bought, with years and, where you have them, invoices: roof, windows, heating, electrical, plumbing, insulation, kitchens and baths, additions.
Heating and cooling. Note the system type, its age and the last service date. Book a cleaning and service if it has been more than a year.
Fuel tanks. Note the location and age of any oil or propane tank and whether you own it or lease it from a supplier. Note any tank that was removed or abandoned and any paperwork for it.
Chimneys and stoves. Note when chimneys were last cleaned and inspected, and any wood or pellet stove installation records.
Electrical. Note the panel size and any updates. If there is a generator, note its last service.
Roof. Note the roof's age and any repairs.
Radon in air. Gather any test results and any mitigation system's details.
Lead paint. For a house built before 1978, federal law requires a lead paint disclosure. Gather any test results or abatement records.
Warranties and manuals. Gather what you have for the roof, systems and appliances that stay.

5. Land and tax status

Larger lots, farms and wooded parcels often carry a reduced tax classification. Buyers need to know because it affects their taxes and their plans for the land.

Current use programs. Check your tax bill or the assessor's card for enrollment in Maine's Tree Growth, Farmland or Open Space programs.
What a change would cost. Ask the assessor how the land would be taxed if a buyer withdrew it from the program, and what penalty would apply. A buyer who keeps the land enrolled files with the town, and the assessor adjusts the classification after the sale.
Forest management plan. For Tree Growth land, find the current plan and the forester's name.
Conservation easements. Gather any easement, its holder and the uses it limits.
Exemptions. Note any homestead or veteran exemption. These belong to you and end with the sale, so the buyer's tax bill may be higher than yours.

6. The disclosure form

Maine law requires a seller to give buyers written disclosure on a set list of subjects (33 M.R.S. §173). We use the Maine Association of REALTORS Property Disclosure form and go through it with you. The papers gathered in sections 1 through 5 answer most of it.

The form asks that no question be left blank. “Unknown” and “N/A” are accepted answers, and each section asks where your information came from. Its sections, in order:

Water supply. Public, private or seasonal, drilled or dug. Any problems with the pump, quantity or quality. Whether and when the water was tested, whether any result was unsatisfactory and what was done. For a private system: location, who installed it and when, how many people use it and whether it serves more than one household.
Waste water disposal. Public, quasi-public or private. For public or quasi-public: any sewer line inspection or problems. For private: the type, size and location of the tank, install and pumping dates and the pumping company, the leach field's location, install and service dates, any malfunctions, whether design records show the number of bedrooms and whether the system is in a shoreland zone.
Heating. For each system: type, age, fuel, annual consumption, service company, last service call and any malfunctions in the past two years. Fuel supply lines, buried or sleeved. Chimneys: lined or not, more than one source on a flue, any chimney fire, last inspection and cleaning. Direct or power vents and their last inspection.
Hazardous material. Underground storage tanks, now or ever, and whether they are registered with or were abandoned under DEP rules. Asbestos in pipe insulation, ceilings, siding, roofing or flooring. Radon in air and in water: tests, dates, results and any remedy. Methamphetamine. Lead paint, including “unknown but possible due to age.” Toxic material, landfill or radioactive material.
Access to the property. Encroachments, easements, rights of way, leases, rights of first refusal, life estates, private ways, trails, associations or restrictive covenants. Whether the road is a public way and, if not, who maintains it and any road association.
Flood hazard. Flooding of the land or a structure during your ownership, flood damage, insurance claims, disaster aid and whether the property is in a mapped special flood hazard area, with the zone and panel number.
General information. Tax exemptions or reductions (Tree Growth, Open Space, Farmland, veteran, homestead, working waterfront), a forest management plan, any shoreland zoning violation or enforcement, leased equipment such as a propane tank, water heater or solar panels, the year built and the year you bought, the roof's year, basement water and sump pump, mold testing, fuses or breakers, any survey, manufactured housing, insect or animal damage and any known material defect.
Additional information. Attachments explaining current problems, past repairs or other details.

Buyers also sign that they received Maine's fact sheets on arsenic in treated wood and arsenic in well water.

A good disclosure states what you know and how you know it: the date of a repair, the result of a test, the name of the company. It does not need to guess at causes or predict what something means. If you are unsure whether something belongs on the form, ask us before you write it.

7. The walk-through

Walk the house as a buyer's inspector would. For each item, note what you will repair, what you will get an estimate for and what you will leave as is. An estimate in hand is useful in negotiation even when you do not do the work.

Doors and windows. They open, close and lock. Screens and glass are intact. Garage doors and remotes work.
Floors, walls and ceilings. Note stains, cracks, soft spots and any sign of a past leak, including areas that have been patched or painted over.
Lights, switches and outlets. Every fixture works. Outlet covers are in place. Outlets near water have ground fault protection.
Plumbing. Run every faucet, shower and tub. Flush each toilet. Look under sinks for drips. Check around the water heater.
Kitchen. Each appliance that stays runs as it should. Cabinets and drawers open and close.
Bathrooms. Fans vent outside. Caulk and grout are sound. Toilets are firm on the floor.
Basement. Note any water, dampness or odor, and cracks in the foundation. Note whether you run a dehumidifier or sump pump.
Railings and stairs. Railings are secure, inside and out.
Exterior. Gutters are clear and drain away from the house. Note peeling paint, rot or damaged siding. Shrubs and limbs are cut back from the house and roof.
Outbuildings, fences and decks. Note their condition and any repairs needed.
Pests. Note any sign of insects, rodents or wildlife and any treatment.
What stays and what goes. Anything attached to the house usually conveys. Remove or replace now anything you plan to take, and list what you would leave or sell, such as a generator, window units or a lawn tractor.

8. Presentation

Once the homework is done, the house needs to show well in photographs and in person. We stage and photograph every listing, so you do not have to do this alone.

Clear out. Pack away about half of what is on counters, shelves and in closets. Buyers open cabinets and closets.
Deep clean. Include windows, floors and carpets. Address any pet or smoke odor.
Light. Replace burned out or mismatched bulbs. Add a lamp to any dark corner.
Paint and finishes. Touch up scuffs. Consider light, consistent wall colors where rooms are dark or busy.
The approach. Mow, edge, mulch, clear the walk and paint or clean the front door. The first photograph is usually the front of the house.

The Balsam pre-listing review

We do this homework for every seller we work with and put it in writing. There is no cost and no obligation to list with us.

Title and boundaries. We read your deed and any survey and note ownership changes, open mortgages, rights of way, easements and boundary questions.
The town file. We check your zoning district, shoreland setbacks and the permits on file against the house as it stands.
Septic and water. We compare the septic design with the bedroom count and note the well records and the last water test.
Tax status. We note any Tree Growth, Farmland or Open Space enrollment and what a buyer would need to know.
Disclosure. We go through Maine's disclosure subjects with you so the form can be completed from records.
Price. We prepare a market analysis from closed sales on your street and in comparable parts of Freeport.

What you receive: a written summary of what we found, what needs attention before listing, the order to take it in and who handles each item. The records we gather become the file a buyer's lender, appraiser and attorney will ask for once the house is under contract.

We review these questions as your broker. Where something calls for legal advice, such as a title issue or an estate matter, we will say so. We have attorney and title contacts for every kind of issue and will put you in touch with the right one.

We can do this homework with you

Before your house goes on the market, we gather the deed, the town file and the septic and well records and price it from closed sales on your street, so you know what a buyer will ask before they ask it. To ask for a pre-listing review of your house, call 207.865.0123, write to homework@balsamrealty.com or use the home value form.

This guide is general information to help you prepare. It is not legal advice and it does not cover every property. For questions about title or a specific legal issue, consult an attorney. We can refer you to one for the issue at hand.