15 Steps To Selling Your Home
The home selling process can vary in difficultly. Experienced real estate agents will always work with the homeowner to ensure the best chances of favorable viewings, leading to more offers. To best prepare your house for sale, here are 15 steps to consider.
1. CONDUCT A MINI WALK THROUGH
Give your property the once-over, from the perspective of a new buyer. Make notes of all the items that need repair or improvements, and things that may look out of place. You may consider having a close friend help you with this, assuming they will be honest with you about their feelings and any concerns they would have if buying the house.
2. MAKE ALL NECESSARY REPAIRS
Make all the necessary repairs and improvements before you begin to advertise your property. Doing this ahead of time can save you from adding buyer credits during negotiation. Often, the repairs can be done at a rate more reasonable than may be quoted after the fact.
3. PREPARE FOR WHAT TO DO AFTER SELLING
Are you buying a new home? Do you have a secondary home? Planning for life after selling is something you should plan well ahead. With today’s market some homes are going under contract within a day. Could you be prepared to move out of the house within 30 days? 90 days? These are all things that can help with the sale of a home, especially if you are more flexible in your ability to get out of the space quickly. Of course, if the home is empty, there are still things that need to be addressed such as cancelling utilities or other neighborhood services.
4. DO YOUR RESEARCH WHEN CHOOSING A SALES AGENT
Research different agencies in your area, using the internet and by asking your friends who may have local knowledge. Choosing the right agency could be crucial in the selling of your home. Some things to look for in the real estate companies are: Do they offer professional photos? Do they have current listings in the area that you are selling? What type of listings do they offer? Do they have a large presence in the market? Also, view the reviews on these companies. These will be helpful in deciding who might provide you the best opportunity to sell.
5. INTERVIEW MULTIPLE REALTORS
When you determine some realty agencies that interested you, contact them to set up an interview. While the agency website is a great starting point for understanding a realtors offering and scope of experience, discussing some topics with the agent is a great way to get a feel of what the realty company can offer you. This can also begin the discussion around the ways the agency would calculate pricing your property, as well as the advertising offered to help support the property sale.
6. CHOOSE YOUR AGENCY AND REAL ESTATE AGENT
After interviewing a few agencies determine what agency you feel the most comfortable with and enter into a contract with them to sell your home. Real estate can have its roller coaster moments so find someone who you feel is capable and experienced in helping things go smoother. If it is hard to choose a final representative, think about track record. Agencies that have consistent successful transactions generally make it an easy process.
7. PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR PHOTOS
A picture says a thousand words! Preparing your home for photos may be one the most crucial parts selling you home. Cleaning and tucking away unnecessary things provide a minimalistic look that provides buyers the opportunity to imagine themselves living in the home. Also, using a professional photographer will give you a leg up. Professional real estate photographers understand the angles to best sell your home. No one likes looking at the messy room with dark photos taken by a cell phone. These photos are pushed out to multiple sites so you want to start with your best foot forward and having professional, eye catching photos will do this for you. Some companies will also include video tours or 360 tours of your property so the cleaner the better.
8. ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE
In today’s market everything has been moving pretty quickly. With low inventory and a lot of buyers, making your home available for showings as often as possible will help get more potential buyers to take a tour. The more eyes on your home the quicker it will sell.
9. RESPOND PROMPTLY TO INQUIRES
Being available also means responding quickly to your agent to questions as well as potential showing windows. The longer the potential buyer has to wait for your agent’s answer, the more likely they could see another home they prefer. Remember to be flexible in your responses as well and understand that honest answers are most likely to lead to happy agents and buyers.
10. BE PREPARED TO NEGOTIATE
If you do not fix all the little issues around your home be prepared to negotiate the contract cost based on your desired listing price. The buyer may overlook some little issues, but if it is a costly repair they will likely want to negotiate a buyer credit. They may make an offer with a lower price or request specific dollar amount in credits in order to have the repairs done before or immediately after they move in.
11. PREPARE YOUR REAL ESTATE FORMS
It is never to early to get many of the forms together that you will be using once the sales transaction occurs. Your lawyer and agent will help you get the necessary information together and can prioritize upcoming steps and document requirements to make this a seamless process.
12. NEGOTIATE THE FINAL TERMS OF SALE
Once a formal offer is accepted, now is the time for any last-minute updates and adjustments to the terms of the sale. Once negotiated these terms will be placed into the final contract for ratification.
13. PLAN A FINAL WALK- THROUGH & CLOSING
Once all the paper work is done and ready to be signed, it will be time to plan your final walk-through. This is when the buyer is able to walk through the home one last time to make sure it is ready for the closing per the agreed upon terms. When the walk through is over, your lawyer will contact you for your closing date for final signatures.
14. LOCATE AND NEGOTIATE YOUR NEW HOME
If you prepared in step 3, this part should be a breeze. You may already be under contract and you are just waiting for your home to close. If not, now is the time to find your new home. Once you locate your potential next home, you should come back to this list and go through steps 8-13, but from a buyer’s perspective.
15. ENJOY YOUR HOME!
Everything is done with selling your house! Now it is time to begin to enjoy your new home and meet your new neighbors, until the time comes to sell again. If you may be selling your new home and moving again sooner or later, keep these steps in mind so when the time comes everything is ready to go.
