Sell Your Home
Selling your home is not only one of the largest financial decisions you can make, it can also be a very emotional experience. Choosing an experienced and trusted Realtor can make the sale of your home a smooth transaction and keep it from becoming a stressful and confusing process, allowing you and your family to focus on starting your new lifestyle.
The internet has forever changed the home search, over 90% of today’s buyers start their home search online. There is a wealth of free property information online for buyers to use – all the listings, estimated values, previous sales, tax records, demographics, school ratings, crime stats, etc. Today’s buyers and their agents use this online information to negotiate more effectively than ever before, you should be well informed and represented as well.
Implementing an effective online marketing strategy will dramatically increase your homes exposure and desirability which will result in stronger offers. Unfortunately, many listing agents will still just put your home on the MLS and wait for the phone to ring – that just doesn’t cut it anymore. I will create a proactive online marketing campaign for you and utilize all the highest traffic real estate search websites as well as social media to showcase your home with high quality photos, video, and a virtual tour.
Today’s online buyers expect quick responses to their inquiries and it’s vital that you partner with a local real estate professional who is always available and stays on top of all the latest technology. Your listing agent is the point of contact for potential home buyers and their agents, it’s imperative that your listing agent be available and responsive to all inquiries from all possible sources in a timely manner. In order to respond quickly, prospective buyers and their agents are able to contact me directly via phone, text, email, website inquiry or social media. I will respond quickly.
Where do you start?
Consult a local Realtor. Whether you’ve already decided to sell or just want to find your home’s current market value before making a decision, a local real estate professional is the best place to start. Choose your listing agent carefully, a good working relationship and constant communication with your agent are important to a smooth transaction. While most people know several licensed real estate agents (maybe a friend, a neighbor, or even a relative), familiarity doesn’t always translate into the proper expertise needed to effectively research, price, market, negotiate, and close the sale of your home.
We are happy to help you get started, discuss your options, analyze your home and neighborhood, and give you a comprehensive local market analysis that includes all the comparable sales and current market conditions. Sellers who work with me will receive a thorough overview of what to expect throughout the entire selling process. You will also receive my constant communication and follow up with all parties throughout process from the initial listing consultation to closing and funding.
The Steps of a Successful Sale
Plan and Prepare to Sell Your House
Putting your house on the market doesn’t happen overnight. You need to have a plan for not only selling your current house, but also for your transition to your new home before or after closing. I will provide you a pre-showing analysis and a staging checklist to get you started. Most houses need a thorough cleaning and staging, and possibly some painting and repairs as well. A pre-listing home inspection is recommended to uncover any hidden issues that can derail the sale later in the process.
Stage Your House
Staging enhances the visual appeal and desirability of your house, and desirability can create a powerful emotional attraction to your house, resulting in stronger offers from buyers. Clean everything and put on a fresh coat of paint, repair anything that’s loose or squeaks. Clear any clutter in your house, it’s distracting and makes rooms seem smaller. Minimize any decorations placed on walls, counters and furniture, they can prevent a potential buyer from envisioning their own style in the room. This is a time to truly accept that you’re moving forward and allow yourself to picture your home through the buyers eyes. Check out my staging checklist to get some fast and easy tips to getting your home ready to sell.
Set the Price
We will research the current market conditions and comparable sales for your neighborhood and area, and I will provide you a comprehensive Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) on your home that will give you the detailed information you need to price your home correctly. An accurate pricing strategy is very important and determines how long it will take to sell your home, if you price the house correctly it should sell quickly relative to the current market trends. If the house is overpriced it will linger on the market and buyers and their agents will typically begin to question the integrity of the house. The longer it’s on the market, the weaker the offers will be. We will work together to determine the best pricing strategy for your house to sell it for the most money in the least amount of time.
Market Your House
We will create and implement a custom marketing campaign specifically for your house. The details of the campaign will vary based upon your homes features and requirements, but the first step is to create the listing with accurate information, an enticing description, high quality photos, and a virtual tour. The listing will be entered into the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) online database which distributes the listing information to all the local Realtors and brokerages. The listing will be syndicated and advertised on all the highest traffic real estate search websites (Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Homes.com, and many others) as well as a targeted ad campaign on social media. Having a strong internet marketing strategy is essential to selling your house fast.
Show Your House
You can be confident that we know this market thoroughly and can answer all questions from buyers about your house and the local area. From quickly responding to inquiries about your house to reviewing complex contract paperwork, we will work hard to make your home selling process as stress-free as possible. Together we will determine a showing schedule and showing procedures and we will update you with any feedback and quickly present all offers. We will assist you with analyzing and negotiating the offers to ensure the strongest possible offer is accepted.
Accept an Offer
Once you’ve accepted an offer on your house, we will facilitate any inspections and appraisals to satisfy both the buyer and their mortgage lender. Sales contracts are complex and feature a number of qualifications and deadlines, we will make sure all parties stay on time with any requirements or commitments. Once the buyer has accepted the property’s condition (inspection period) and the lender has accepted the appraisal and issued the buyers final approval, we can schedule the closing. The contract to closing time frame is typically about 45 days if the buyers are financing, some lenders can close quicker, and as little as 15 days if the buyer is paying cash.
Moving
The buyer typically takes full possession of the house upon closing and funding so you need a plan to be moved out of the house by the closing date. Check the contract and be sure not to remove anything that is included in the sale to the buyer. Compare several moving companies, ask for discounts, and get the estimates in writing. Only use registered, fully insured movers and verify the insurance carrier they use. Ask what the claims process is in case there is any property damage or loss. You can use a moving checklist so that you’re organized and efficient.
Closing and Funding
The closing typically takes place at the title company that’s handling the closing/escrow. The sellers usually sign their closing paperwork first and then the buyers complete their mortgage and closing paperwork. If there are no last minute issues, then the title company will email or fax the lender the required documents and the lender will release the required funds. Once the funding from the buyers side is confirmed, the title company will issue you a check or wire and the buyer gets the keys and takes possession of the house. Congratulations!
