Selling your home is a major ordeal on emotional, physical, and financial levels. There are things you can do that will directly influence the success of your sale regarding how quickly your home sells, and for how much. Here are the six steps to selling your house.
👤 Step One: Get a Real Estate Agent
Your first step is to reach out to qualified, professional real estate agents in your area who specialize in the type of house you’re selling. For example, if yours is a condo, you’d prefer an agent who specializes in condominium sales. The same is true with waterfront or luxury properties.
Don’t be afraid to interview agents. Ask agents about the last several properties they sold. What was the list price vs. the final sales price? How long did the home stay on the market from list to close? How many times was the price reduced? You can use all of this information to gauge what kind of experience you may have working with that agent.
💵 Step Two: Price the Home to Sell
Once you’ve selected the best real estate agent to suit your needs, you’ll have a meeting with that agent about pricing strategies for your property. When you price your house competitively, you sell quickly and for top dollar. However, if you price your property for sale too high, you could create a scenario in which the house becomes unsellable. Buyers remember the properties they’ve seen whether online or in person. When that property remains on the market, experiences price cuts, and still doesn’t sell, buyers begin to wonder what’s wrong with the house. Thus, the reputation builds, the stigma is formed, and the best way to get out from under that rumor is to take the house off the market and then re-list it when a new group of home buyers enters the market.
🏡 Step Three: Staging for Impact
Staging your house is one of the essential elements you can partake in that will directly influence the way others perceive your house for sale. When buyers drive up to your curb, are they enchanted by curb appeal or put off by what they perceive as DIY projects? Buyers are attracted to move-in-ready and staging is a way to give buyers what they want, which also supports your asking price.
📝 Step Four: Offers and Negotiations
With good luck and fortune, you’ll receive multiple offers on your home. Nonetheless, all it takes is one good offer. Your agent will help you receive and review the offers and, if necessary, will help you negotiate terms. Allow your agent to go up to bat for you, to be the aggressor so that you don’t have to. Your agent is experienced in dealing with these kinds of transactions.
🔎 Step Five: Appraisals, Inspections, and other Administrative Tasks
Your buyer‘s lender is going to require the house to be inspected and appraised to verify its value and condition. Be patient and open to scheduling appointments with various service providers. The inspection deems the property free of major faults or problems whereas the appraisal determines fair market value in current time.
📆 Step Six: The Closing Table
By the time you’ve reached the closing table, you should have the house completely emptied and ready for the new owner. Once this meeting is over, the house no longer belongs to you, and you’ll be turning over the keys.
It’s not mandatory for the seller to be at the closing meeting, especially if you’ve already made other arrangements with your real estate agent.
At the closing meeting, the escrow agent dispenses funds to the service providers who worked on your real estate transaction, such as the appraiser, inspector, clerks, escrow officers, the real estate agent, etc.
😃 Conclusion
When you’re prepared and know what to expect, selling your house can be quick and profitable. Hire the best real estate agent to suit your needs. Work with your agent to set the most competitive price possible for your home for sale. Stage the house so that it has the best chance of wooing potential buyers. Then, be ready, willing, and open to negotiate offers as they come in.
Your real estate agent is the best source of information about the local community and real estate topics. Give Shane Zuspan a call today at 760-422-3042 to learn more about local areas, discuss selling a house, or tour available homes for sale.