Putting your home on the market can be a stressful process, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Fortunately, with the help of an experienced agent and this easy to follow guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for the best price possible.
At first glance, this may seem like a strange topic to be discussing as a real estate agent, but all the more reason to read up!
The absolute first step to selling your home is finding the very best real estate agent for you and your home . You want an agent that will not only sell your home for a great price, in the best timeframe for you, but also make it an experience where you’ll walk away happy with the entire process.
I’ll be the first to tell you that not every real estate agent is created equal. Each of us is unique.
There are many wonderful agents, but we all are not the same. I have worked really hard to be the best at what I do and what I know. And I’ve helped many clients successfully sell their home.
However, I don’t know everything about every neighborhood in the entire region. No one can. So, this isn’t your typical, “how to find the very best real estate agent, oh that’s me” kind of advice. Instead, I want to provide you the knowledge you need as a seller to know what questions to ask any real estate agent -- including me.
Go to https://tinyurl.com/11-insights to get the 11 insights on what to look for when finding an agent that understands your home, your needs, and your goals.
Then, based on those 11 insights, pick the best agent for YOU. I hope it’s me, but I’ll be the first to tell you if I’m not the best agent for you. It doesn’t help either of us for me to sell a home I wouldn’t be successful at selling! If I know I’m not the best agent for you, I’ll be honest with you and I’d also be happy to recommend you to another agent that might be better positioned to help you.
There are certain factors that determine the “sale-ability factor” of your home, such as its condition, timing
of the sale, its location, how many other comparable homes are for sale at the same time, and even how many investors own in your building if you are a condo owner (It does make a difference!). Together, we’ll make sure you’ve got a home that can be a viable choice for both buyers AND lenders before we move forward.
Selling your home requires an honest evaluation. This can be very hard to do since how we live in our homes is very different then how we sell homes.
You want buyers to react emotionally to your home in a good way. When they first walk through your door, they should picture themselves
living there and loving it. Some might even get an immediate, feel-good gut instinct about your home.
But how do you do that and not go over budget or be stressed out? There is an art and a science to creating a positive emotional response for buyers. I’ll walk you through how to find the perfect balance of doing what will make the biggest difference without overspending.
For example, a fresh coat of paint can do wonders without a huge investment. And, I’ll even share with you the paint color that has buyers swooning, but don’t tell anyone ;)
If your home is priced right from the start, you’ll get the foot traffic it deserves. Too low or too high can set you back and discourage your target buyer.
I’ll share my unique pricing strategies with you and give you a recommendation of how to price your home so you attract the most buyer’s possible and maybe even create a little bidding war.
Selling your home requires a marketing strategy and I have a formula that is proven to work! My customized approach to marketing your home gets the results you want, attracting buyers who mean business. I’ll first identify who your most likely buyer will be and then I create a targeted, online marketing strategy to reach as many of those buyers as possible and get them coming to your home.
Because we’ve done the “hard” work upfront of making our home look great, we priced it perfectly and we had a targeted approach to our marketing, you very likely may receive several offers on your home. How do you decide which is the best one? It’s not always the one with the highest price. Terms are oftentimes equally or even MORE important than the highest price. I’ve give the guidance you need to make a decision that is best for your particular situation, goals and timeline.
One of my favorite parts of the selling process is negotiating on your behalf. As your representative, my job is to get you the best terms possible, but that doesn't stop when we accept an offer. The sale of your home can only happen if you actually close the deal with an interested buyer and it’s the under contract phase where expert negotiation skills are key. I will share my negotiation skills with you and also always make sure you understand your options. My focus during this phase of the process is to keep my eyes on your goals, while making the buyer side feel like they are winning enough to stay in the deal. Sometimes a difficult balance to strike, but one I well versed in creating.
When your home is under contract, you can’t move forward with the sale until an appraisal is done on your home. The outcome can affect whether or not you make it to closing and whether the price in the offer is the price you’ll end up with on settlement day. I go the extra mile during this phase of being under contract, meeting the appraiser at your home and creating an information packet that helps the appraiser have all the information he or she needs for a favorable outcome. You don’t want the appraised value of your home to come in below the price you’ve negotiated with the buyer, so I have a very specific process for making sure that doesn’t happen!
There is a lot to get done before closing day. As your agent, my job is to keep you on track and make sure you know what to do when, so nothing falls through the cracks. That’s my responsibility as your agent, not yours! Just know if we work together to sell your home, I have a system that ensures you know what you need to do when and even how to do it. I leave nothing to chance, take as much possible off your plate and continuously do as much as I can to make sure this part of the under contract phase goes as smoothly as possible for you.
The big day is finally here! You are going to officially sell your home and hand over the keys to the new owners. It’s not unusual to experience a wave of anticipation and excitement leading up to this day. But no one wants the transaction to be sidetracked by any surprises. To make sure that all goes well on settlement day, I’ll give you a checklist of what you need to do before settlement to prepare, give you pointers about what to expect on this exciting day and prep with you what to bring to settlement so you have everything you need.
Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.
We recently purchased a home as first time home buyers, we were fortunate enough to have Samantha (Sami) in our corner. She is reliable and trustworthy and made the entire experience enjoyable and exciting. Sami took the time t...
We met Sami through a mutual friend in the fall, and we knew instantly we wanted to work with her. We told her what we were looking for and set up a day to see six properties across several neighborhoods/towns we were intereste...
As a consumer, I am happy when I get what I paid for. However, when someone continuously exceeds my expectations, I am elated and need to share the news with the world. Sami delivered and exceeded on all of her promises and com...
We are in. Thank you Sami for getting us our dream home. If anyone is looking to buy a home I 100% recommend Sami. She was by my side throughout the entire process, helped keep me organized, always answered any of my calls and ...
Sami is very knowledgeable an responsive to your requests. She is quick to respond to your questions and needs. Sami is genuine, thoughtful and honest. Sami helped us find a great deal on a condo and was supportive throughout t...
Sami was attentive, knowledgeable and patient during the whole home buying process. She put a personal to to finding the perfect home for me. Figured out exactly what I wanted and delivered in a quick and efficient manner. All ...
Sami was professional, personable, and prompt. It truly felt like she understood what we were looking for in a house and didn’t give up on us when we didn’t think we were going to find it! She found us our perfect starter home,...
Sami is very professional, prepared and responsive. She knew her facts and went out of her way to help with logistics to make the sale. She was well received by all parties in the transaction and I look forward to calling upon ...
We can not thank Samantha enough for the great job she did selling our home quickly. We listed our home February 2018, received 2 offers in 72 hours and received our asking price. We were in contract 4 weeks later. Call Samanth...
Samantha made the process as smooth as possible. She is quick to respond, honest and very resourceful. Highly recommend her to anyone that wants to work with a true professional. She sold my house within 2 months.
My desire to serve and connect my neighbors, colleagues, clients and local business owners benefit my clients for so many reasons. I am grateful to be able to infuse all of these valuable experiences and connections into the work I do for my clients. Let’s talk more about how I can step in as your helpful expert.
