7 Step Home Selling Process
Selling a home requires preparation, patience, and in most cases, a good game plan. From start to finish it can take up to four to six months to sell a home. It’s a good idea to sit down and clarify your motivations as to why you want to sell. Being clear with your intentions for selling will make it easier for you and I to determine the most appropriate option for your specified financial and real estate goals. If you’re you’re wondering what does it take to sell a home, here is my 7 step process.
Step 1: Research
As much as you’d like to sell your house for as high a price as possible, you have to be realistic and price it right from the start. Researching recently sold and comparable properties in your neighborhood will give you an accurate and up-to-date picture on the current real estate market. The assessment of your home’s worth will get you comfortable with a price range and provide a solid reference point when listing your home for sale.
Step 2: Stage
Buyers decide within the first 60 seconds of seeing a home if they want to buy it or not. Let’s not give them a reason to turn around and walk away from purchasing your home. I recommend you do everything you can to make your house as attractive as possible. This includes, sprucing up the curb appeal, giving the home a thorough cleaning, decluttering and simplifying possessions to make the home feel larger and repairing the home of known issues.
Step 3: Market
Creating a plan to market your home will help attract the interest of the right buyer. Today, the vast majority of homebuyers use the internet in their home search. Almost all buyers are using their mobile phones and tablets to search for homes. Marketing materials should be easy to navigate from those devices. Your marketing plan should include focused online activities, in addition to print advertising and if need be, open houses.
I prepare marketing materials immediately and when the home is ready to sell, I blast out the materials on various websites, social media and advertise the open house online. I encourage sellers to market their home themselves too by notifying their family and friends, coworkers and their own social media.
Step 4: Showings
Ideally, a buyer and/or buyer agent will call to schedule an appointment to view the home. However, when your home is on the market it has the potential to be shown at any time. Be prepared. It is important to maintain a certain level of cleanliness (clear dishes from the sink, make beds, clear away toys, put away laundry, and vacuum and dust regularly). It's also a good idea to clear out of the home. If you can, take your pets with you. Buyers are uncomfortable touring a home when the owners are in the next room. For the sake of your sale, vacate your home for showings!
Step 5: Receiving an Offer
How exciting! All of your hard work has paid off. You received an offer (hopefully multiple offers) from an interested buyer. You are a step closer to selling your home!
I will assist you in reviewing the offer and if need be, negotiate the terms of the contract with your best interests in mind. Once an offer on a property has been made by a buyer and accepted by you, the seller, they enter into a legal contract. The process then begins to satisfying the items of the contract and transferring the home to it’s new owner.
Step 6: Inspections
Once a buyer and seller reach a mutual acceptance on a property, a home inspector is hired by the buyer to conduct a thorough home inspection of the home. This will allow the buyer to become familiar with the home, evaluate its present condition and decide what repairs will be needed. Afterwards, buyers will have a chance to negotiate with the sellers to cover the costs of certain repairs, ask for concessions or choose to walk away from the offer, if the costs of repairs outweighs the value of purchasing the home.
Step 7: Closing
At closing, you complete the sale of your home. All of the paperwork is signed by the buyer and the seller.
As your agent, I can help coordinate the completion of all necessary forms to the title company and monitor the closing process until the transaction is complete.
The title company does their part to ensure the title to the property is legally transferred from you the seller, to the buyer. Both parties pay any settlement fees and the documents are officially recorded. The home is officially sold!