The Basic Steps to Home Selling

Selling your home is unlike any other transaction you will be involved in. It can be a stressful, complicated, and overwhelming process. But it doesn’t have to be! With a good team on your side and a solid plan that pulls all parties involved to the same page, your home selling adventure can be exciting and rewarding; Here is a basic outline that can act as a starting guide for selling your home.

1. Find Out the Value of Your House

Finding out the right price to sell your home for is the most important part of selling your home. There are a lot of things to consider. What other homes have sold recently that are similar to your home? What are features that are different about those homes (fireplace, trees, neighborhood)? What time frame do you need to sell in? I would be glad to provide you with a free valuation report <click here for info>. It is important to do this step first in order to determine how much work/money you need to put into your home, if any, before selling it.

2. Make Repairs or Updates to Your House

Updating or making repairs might be something to consider if your house has a lot of competition (many similar homes for sale in your area). It might be a good idea to find a few upgrades to add to your home to set it apart from the others. Make sure you research how much value you will be adding in order to avoid paying for work that won’t add to the appraisal value of your home. There are some improvements that may not add literal value to your home, but will add value by making the selling process easier. For example anything you can do to keep your yard clean, mowed and all the weeds pulled is going to add to your “curb appeal” which will make a prospective buyer more interested in your home. If you are not sure about what kind of value to place on these projects, this is something I can help you plan for.

3. Cleaning/Organizing/Staging

When you are planning on selling your house it is very important to clean, de-clutter and stage your home. If your house is jam-packed then you might even consider renting a storage unit during this process (My husband and I had to do this – we have too much “stuff”). Try to purge/pack or at-least hide as much of the clutter as you can. This part of the process isn’t only important for creating a good impression to the potential buyers, but it is also to protect yourself while people are viewing your home. Make sure that anything with personal information on it is out of sight. If the home isn’t going to be lived it it is a good idea to borrow or rent some furniture to stage your home.

Home staging is important in the process to selling your house. With each of my listings, I bring in a local home staging professional to assist you. I pay her fee for the first hour, but many sellers decide to hire her for additional help. She will give you a list of FREE actions that will help your house present well to the market (de-cluttering and furniture arrangement suggestions). She will also give recommendations of small action items like touch-up paint, good ways to bring in more lighting and small accessories that could spruce up your space.

4. Photograph Your House

One thing that can really set your home apart for people searching online is good photos. I employ professional home photographers on every listing. They will provide us with 25 images and a Virtual Tour that we can use to market your home.

5. List Your House for Sell

As your agent I will list your house in the MLS and post a sign in your yard. There are multiple online websites that your home will also be listed on that pull your home’s information from the MLS listing.

6. Market Your House & Keep it Ready & Available for Showings

Marketing is an area that I excel in when it comes to selling your house. Each listing will have a unique marketing plan and we can make adjustments throughout the process. I don’t list my marketing plan on the website, but I will be glad to go over it with you in person! It is important to keep your house looking nice when a showing is scheduled. For some people this is the hardest part of selling their home. In between the baseball practice and swim lessons there is very little time to keep the house clear of all the signs of life. Making a plan for having the whole family pitch in will be important. You can use showings as an opportunity to reward your family. When a showing is scheduled plan short, fun activities that will keep everyone looking forward to the next showing; like ice cream runs or park visits. Pets should also be out of sight if possible and if not then have a plan for where they can be during showings and make sure you agent is aware of the plan.