Selling Guide
A Comprehensive Guide for First-Time Property Sellers
Navigating the real estate market for the first-time can be a daunting process. However, with a competent real estate agent and this comprehensive handbook, you can traverse this journey with ease. Read through these steps to get a clear understanding of what the process involves, enabling you to make informed decisions and sell your home at the optimal price point.
RECOGNIZE YOUR SELLING OBJECTIVES
Understand your primary goals behind selling your property. Are you seeking a significant return to invest in a larger or more luxurious property? Or is a speedy sale crucial to facilitate a relocation? Identifying your objectives allows you to strategize effectively. If speed is of the essence, you might consider a lower asking price, whereas if profit is paramount, you could price it higher. Ensure your real estate agent is aware of your goals to tailor your selling strategy appropriately.
ESTABLISH YOUR ASKING PRICE
Setting the right price for your property is a critical aspect of the real estate process. An appropriately priced property attracts the interest of potential buyers and real estate agents. Overpricing may lead to a lack of interest, while underpricing might result in you receiving less than your property’s worth. Collaborating with a real estate agent is instrumental in setting a fair price for your property. An experienced agent can gauge the prices of similar properties, assess the current market conditions, and may even recommend a property appraisal.
BEGIN PROPERTY PREPARATION
If your property has been flawlessly maintained, you’re among the scarce few. After pricing the property, it’s time to prepare it for showcasing to potential buyers. This process involves decluttering, neutralizing the space to allow buyers to visualize living there, conducting minor repairs, and carrying out a thorough clean-up to ensure your property is in impeccable condition.
FORMULATE A MARKETING STRATEGY
We will curate a marketing strategy tailored to promote your property effectively. This includes listing your property and driving the right demographic to that listing through social media campaigns, agent referrals, traditional advertising mediums, or SEO advertising. Our team creates a marketing campaign designed to maximize the traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after commencement.
REVIEW OFFERS
Receiving an offer is a thrilling phase of the process, but it doesn’t signify the end. We will scrutinize each offer, ensuring that the potential buyer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer aligns with your expectations. If an offer is lower than expected, you can negotiate or provide other incentives to bridge the gap, like covering part or all closing costs, offering to conduct repairs, adjusting the moving date, or leaving appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.
APPROVE AN OFFER
Upon finding an acceptable offer, we will review the proposed contract to ensure it is well-drafted and contains essential components like deposit amount, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and the responsible parties. Once the terms are agreeable to both parties, your agent will prepare the final contract.
PREPARE FOR CLOSING
Once an offer is accepted, you’re nearing the conclusion of your selling journey. However, a list of tasks must be completed before closing. Depending on the circumstances, your property might have to undergo formal inspection, surveying, and appraisal. In other instances, significant or minor repairs may need to be carried out before the house can close. We will spearhead the efforts to create and carry out this list, ensure that the right party pays for each item, and verify that everything is finalized by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will confirm with the company handling the transaction to ensure everything is proceeding smoothly. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to vacate the property so the new owner can move in.
Closing
You’ve now reached the final stage of the selling process. Closing involves legally transferring your property’s ownership to the new buyer. We will liaise with the company handling the transaction to sign all final paperwork and address any lingering issues. During this period, you can also coordinate with your REALTOR to manage final tasks – canceling utilities, transferring ownership of remaining accounts, and providing the new owner with operations instructions for any appliances left behind in the property.