Selling Your Home

Steps to Selling

Hire an agent who knows the market.

Many are aware that an experienced agent earns a fee after a house sells. They do this by exposing your house to the broadest audience to garner the best offers possible, and negotiating on your behalf. If you go it alone, you’ll have to personally manage prepping your home, marketing it, reviewing buyers’ offers, and handling all of the negotiations and closing details.

Set a Timeline:

First impressions are key when selling, so it’s important to put in the time to make sure your home is in top condition. At least two or three months before you plan to list, consider getting a pre-sale home inspection (more on that below) and identifying any problem areas, especially structural or mechanical issues that might need addressing to facilitate a sale. Leave enough time to schedule necessary repairs.

Pre-Sale Home Inspection:

A pre-sale Home Inspection can be a wise upfront investment, but it’s optional. A detailed inspection report can identify any structural or mechanical problems before you list your home for sale. It may cost a few hundred dollars, but an inspection will alert you in advance of issues that buyers will likely flag when they do their own inspection later in the process.

Get Professional Photos

Work with your real estate agent to schedule a photoshoot to capture marketing photos of your home. High-quality photos are critical, since maximizing your home’s online appeal can make all the difference between a quick sale or a listing that languishes.

Price:

Pricing a home is hands-down the most important aspect in getting the highest return in the least amount of time. Many considerations go into setting the price, including the condition and location of your home, recent nearby sales, and similar homes that are currently for sale. These will all factor into the Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) your agent puts together to determine the optimal sale price for your home.

Marketing:

Your agent will put a plan together to market your home to the most likely potential buyers using a variety of tools, such as digital marketing, advertising, direct mail, and open houses.

Showing:

While they can be inconvenient, home showings are a necessary part of selling. When your home is on the market it has the potential to be shown at any time, so it's important to maintain a certain level of cleanliness. During home showings, we recommend stepping out to give potential buyers privacy while viewing your home.

Offers

After your home officially hits the market and buyers have seen it, ideally the offers will start rolling in. This is where your real estate agent (or attorney) is your best advocate and go-to source for advice. If you’re in a competitive market that favors sellers, buyers will likely offer at or above asking price, and you might even get multiple bids. On the other hand, if sales are slow in your area and you don’t get many offers, you may have to be amenable to negotiate. When you receive an offer, you have a few choices: accept the offer as it is, make a counteroffer or reject the offer.

Negotiations

One of the most important roles of a real estate agent is to be an advocate for their client. This includes negotiating on your behalf on things such as the price, repair costs, timelines, and contingencies in order to get the best terms for you.

Contract:

This is the legal contract a buyer and seller enter into once the buyer’s offer has been accepted by the seller. It outlines the terms and conditions of the sale and is signed by both parties.

Escrow

Once the offer is accepted and a closing date agreed upon, escrow allows the buyer and the seller to have an outside party ensure all parts of the contract are complete.

Closing

At closing, all the paperwork is signed by the buyer and seller, both parties pay any settlement fees, and the documents are officially recorded. Prior to closing, you'll receive a settlement statement outlining any fees that may apply to you.

Selling Your Home

Steps to Selling

Ann's Real Estate