Select an Agent
and Price

Choosing a good listing agent will begin your selling experience on the right foot. Make sure you don’t just look at the highest original listing price and lowest commission, but each agent’s track record of original listing prices versus final sale numbers. Always keep the realtors experience in mind to assure a hassle free experience during your sales process.

Find out how much your home is really worth so you don’t make the mistake of overpricing it. A Comparative Market Analysis report (CMA) is complimentary and can provide you with your home’s value related to similar homes that have been sold. You may have seen one before from postcards or direct mail letters and you can ask your agent about where to find your relative CMA. Keep in mind that your home is an investment, so investigate if your present market is hot, cold, or neutral and price accordingly. Of course we are happy to give you the most updated information.

Prepare to sell

Clean, declutter, and improve curb appeal to get your property ready for sale. Using a professional stager or having your real estate agent do so will make your property significantly more attractive to buyers, and you may even be able to use your own furniture sometimes. Don’t forget to make repairs and have any pets stay elsewhere during this time frame.

To increase buyer traffic to your home, an online presence is needed. Professional photographs and illustrative descriptions will make a large difference in outside perception. Organize an open house and decide if you want your agent to do strictly appointments or utilize a lockbox (which will allow for more showings). Ask for opinions from buyers and change your necessary pricing, condition, and marketing strategies accordingly.

We work with professional stagers and photographers. Reach out to us any time to receive more information.

Accepting an Offer

Get ready for several offers if your home is appropriately priced and ensure buyers use the correct form to write a purchase offer. Answer each offer, even the smaller ones, and just negotiate lowball offers with a larger counter offer. If your pricing is competitive and sensible in the market, don’t be scared of making a full-price counter offer. If market conditions allow it, you can anticipate making a counter offer that is provisional on buying a home.

Escrow Inspections
and Appraisals

Either your transaction coordinator or agent will open escrow and order a title policy. Ask for the closing agent’s contact information to add it to your personal records. Consider when your buyer’s mortgage loan will fund (dependent on all funding conditions being met and all loan documents being signed), then decide a date following it accordingly. Settle on an earnest money (good faith) deposit and ask for a receipt. Though not the same as a down payment, this is part of the down payment procedure.

Schedule an appraiser appointment, then make sure to clean the house the day before it. You can ask your agent about other options in the case of receiving a lower appraisal than anticipated. Remember you aren’t entitled to a copy of the appraisal since you didn’t pay for it. Under the circumstance of a buyer pitching a renegotiation or rescinding a contract because of an appraisal, you can ask your agent or lawyer about your rights.

Close of Escrow

Plan for the home inspector’s visit and ask for a home inspection checklist to see exactly what the inspector will request to see – don’t forget the basement and the attic. Get ready for the final walk-through inspection to occur a couple days before or the morning of closing. Acquire all seller-required inspections (e.g., roof, termite/pest, and sewer) and communicate seller disclosures, like lead-based paint disclosures and other material details. Remember you always have the ability to negotiate prices and requirements of inspections and requests for maintenance.

The buyer is not required to release contingencies, if you do not ask for it and may have the right to cancel the contract – so don’t forget to bring it up. When signing the title and documents for escrow, don’t forget a valid photo identification. Upon closing escrow, your property deed, conveyance, and deed of trust will be go into public records. Contingent on the contract’s specified buyer possession rights, you may have to move on the day the home closes or even the day before, so know what to be ready for.