Selling a Home - Your Path to Success
While the home selling process varies slightly from one sellerto the next, there are certain steps that most sellers go through.Those are the steps we will cover in this step-by-step tutorial. Thinkof it as your road map to a successful home sale.
1. Hire an Agent
We are not just recommending this step because we are realestate agents. On the contrary, the vast majority of home sellers use areal estate agent to help in the sale of their homes, and for goodreasons. An agent can help you with many aspects of the home sellingprocess, such as pricing the property, listing it for sale, reviewingoffers from buyers, negotiating, preparing for the closing process andmore.
2. Determine Your Asking Price
This is another area where it helps to work with a real estateagent. The key here is to gather as much information as you can findabout the price of homes sold in your area recently. Real estateprofessionals refer to these as "comps," which is short forcomparables. This information will help you determine your askingprice.
3. Conduct a Mini Inspection
When selling your home there's a very good chance the buyerswill have it professionally inspected. So it's worthwhile to conductyour own "mini inspection," just by walking through and around theproperty with an eye out for discrepancies. Do you still have theinspection report from when you purchased the home? If so, you can usethis report as a checklist, because the next home inspector will checkmany of the same items.
4. Perform Repairs as Needed
When home buyers encounter items needing repair, it makes themwonder what else might be broken. So instead of looking at the propertywith a positive mindset, they are on their guard and keeping an eye outfor problems. This decreases the chance that they will purchase thehome. Of course, you can prevent all of this by performing repairs onobvious discrepancies. The goal here is not to renovate the home, butsimply to reduce the amount of discrepancies a home inspector mightfind.
5. Remove Clutter / Start Packing
The more personal items you can remove from your home beforeshowing it to buyers, the better off you'll be. This includes clothing,books, knickknacks, family photos and other personal effects, and evencertain furniture items that might be crowding the home. This willactually help you in two ways. For one thing, you're getting a headstart on the inevitable packing process. Secondly, you will make thehome appear more spacious, which is always a good thing when selling ahome. If your next home is not ready or accessible yet, you mightconsider a temporary storage unit for this purpose.
6. Clean, Like There's No Tomorrow
When showing your home to potential buyers, the goal is tohelp them see themselves in the home. The cleaner the home is, theeasier it will be for buyers to envision themselves living in thespace. This increases the likelihood they will make an offer. On thecontrary, a dirty home will give buyers a bad first impression, andthey will carry that impression with them through the rest of thehouse.
7. Stage the Home Properly
We won't get too far into the topic of home staging in thearticle, because you'll find an entire article on this subjectelsewhere on this website (go there now). So for now, suffice it to say that staging a home for sale will greatly increase the chances of selling the home quickly, and for the best price possible.
8. List the Home for Sale
If you have followed the steps up to this point, you haveprepared your home for the market, found a real estate agent, anddetermined a reasonable asking price. You are now ready to bring in thebuyers! When you are ready to show the property, your real estate agentwill list it in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This will alertother agents and home buyers in the area that your home is for sale. Inmost markets, buyers will begin visiting within a day or two of thehome being listed.
9. Accept an Offer
This is another key area where your real estate agent willprove valuable. Depending on the type of market you are in, you mayreceive one offer or multiple offers. There may also be someback-and-forth negotiation during this process, in order to reach anagreement between yourself and the buyer(s). It's important to read theoffer agreement carefully, because it will specify the details of thesale, such as price, timeframe, contingencies, etc.
10. Maintain Communications
After you've accepted an offer, the most important thing to dois keep in touch with your real estate agent. A good agent will makethis easier by being proactive and keeping you informed. After theoffer acceptance, the buyers will arrange for one or more inspectionsof the home. Ideally, this is where your mini inspection and repairswill pay off.
The buyer's lender will also have the home appraised, toensure it is worth the price they have agreed to pay. Again, staying incontact with your agent and the escrow / settlement company is the keyduring this stage.
11. Go to the Closing
The final step in a real estate transaction is the closingprocess, also referred to as settlement. During the closing, allremaining monies will be paid out to the real estate agent, the escrowcompany, and other fees for mortgage processing, inspections, etc. Thisis also where you will receive your check, if you've made a profit onthe home. At the end of the closing process, you will transfer the keysto the new owners. Now you can take a deep breath and relax ... you'vejust sold your home!
