6 Steps to Selling a Home

Selling a house can be stressful and frustrating at times, and what you don’t know can cost you time and money. That’s why it’s so important to do a bit of research and understand the basics of selling a home as you consider placing your property on the market.

You’ll want to choose a real estate agent with whom you’re comfortable, and you’ve come to the right place when it comes to finding someone who will listen to your needs. We would be happy to represent you throughout the home selling process.

You want someone who genuinely cares about your experience and wants you to have a successful transaction. Having a real estate agent on your side to work through negotiations can lessen your stress and help you get the best return on your investment. We can also help you set the right asking price so that potential buyers take notice.

When you decide to sell your home, you want to stage it so that it appeals to a wide range of buyers. Therefore, it is best to use neutral colors in each room. You should also clean up the house so that it is neat and orderly. Remove any clutter and make sure everything is in its place. Rearrange or remove furniture if necessary so that rooms appear larger. All buyers are looking for space so it’s best to make the rooms look as big as possible. This is also the perfect time to make any small repairs that buyers might notice. Also, ensure that the grass is cut, and landscaping is neat.

Pricing your home for sale can be difficult, especially because you have an emotional connection to your home. Use the following ideas to come up with a fair price for your home that will attract buyers:

• Check your home’s property tax assessment values from your county tax assessor. This value is usually lower than the fair market price of your home, but this will give you a starting point.
• Perform a search of homes for sale in your market area. Take note of the selling prices of comparable homes. You want to price your home competitively and still extract as much value as you can.
• Ask us for a comparative market analysis. This information will include recently sold homes in your area. The advantage of this is that you can see what homes actually sold for and this can help you when you begin negotiating.

When you receive an offer, you can either accept it as is or you can counter-offer. More often than not, a prospective buyer will make you an offer that’s lower than your asking price. In rare instances, sellers receive an offer for the asking price, but in most cases negotiating is part of the process. You shouldn’t be surprised if you go back and forth on the price several times before everyone agrees.

Once you accept an offer, your attorney will draft a purchase contract and will send it to the buyer’s attorney. Once everyone is in agreement, the contract will be executed. The buyer’s lender will require an appraisal to ensure the home is worth at least the value of the loan. Next, the buyer will request a home inspection to ensure there are no major problems with the home. If a problem is found, the buyer may negotiate and ask you to fix the problem or reduce the selling price. Once you get through the appraisal and inspection, it’s time to move on to the closing.

Closing day is what everyone has looked forward to. It is possible that you, as the seller, may not even need to attend the closing. If you are able to execute all documents before closing day, then only the buyer will need to attend. Once all documents have been signed and the money has been transferred from the buyer to you, the closing is considered complete and ownership of the home now belongs to the new buyer.

Once you make it to closing, you can breathe a sigh of relief. You can take the money from the sale and move on with your life. You can reap the rewards of a job well done when you sell your home.