A Comprehensive Guide to Sell Your Home

Thinking about selling your home? Whether you’re a first time home seller or a seasoned veteran, the home-selling process can be an intimidating one. From finding a listing agent to preparing for closing, it's important that you understand all of the steps involved in selling your property. To help make this process easier, here is a comprehensive guide to selling your home.

1. Find the Right Listing Agent: Finding the right real estate professional is essential when it comes to selling your home. Look for someone who has experience in your area and take their advice when it comes to pricing, marketing and other decisions related to selling your property. At Skender-Newton Realty, 94% of our listings SELL compared to 88% with other groups. 

2. Pick a Competitive Listing Price: Price is one of the most important factors when it comes to selling your home. It’s important that you choose an asking price that is competitive with similar homes in the area, but also one that will leave room for negotiation. This will help ensure that your house sells quickly and for top dollar. An experienced listing agent will be able to price your home after researching the area and comparing it to similar properties. That will help take the stress off of you!

3. Devise a Marketing Plan: Once you have chosen a competitive listing price, it’s time to devise a marketing plan for your property. This includes advertising online and in print, staging open houses, and hosting private showings with prospective buyers. It’s important that you are proactive with marketing because this will give potential buyers more visibility into the features of your home and could lead to multiple offers on your property. For example, we use 16 different marketing techniques to market properties and spend more on marketing than any other real estate company in the region.

4. Give Your Property a Makeover: Before putting your home on the market, it is essential that you spruce up its appearance so that it stands out from other properties in the area. This could mean painting walls or doing small repairs around the house such as fixing leaky faucets or repairing damaged flooring. The goal here is to make sure that potential buyers are impressed by what they see when they look at your property.

5. Prepare Your Home for Showings and Open Houses: You will want to make sure that your home looks its best during open houses or private showings. You should start by thoroughly cleaning the entire house and removing any clutter. Next, add in some seasonal decorations to give your house a hospitable feel. Pay particular attention to the kitchen, common areas, and bathrooms as this is where potential buyers will focus when considering a home. Make sure that each room is especially well lit so that interested parties can get the full experience of your home. Finally, keep fragrances subdued as certain smells may turn away potential buyers with sensitive allergies. Spending a little time preparing for showings will go a long way in helping you find the perfect buyer for your house.

6. Don't Be Afraid to Negotiate: When selling your home in this type of market, negotiation can be a powerful tool. Don’t be afraid to use it to your advantage! If you list your home at a good price and in an attractive location, there's likely to be several offers coming your way. So, enlist the help of an experienced real estate agent who can guide you through the process so that you make the best counter-offer and get the most money back from your sale. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to embrace the chance to snag the best deal possible.

7. Wait Out The Escrow Period: After accepting an offer on your property, you will enter into an escrow period where all of the paperwork related to closing on the sale of your home must be completed. During this period, it is important that you remain patient as there may be delays along the way due to issues with financing or inspections. Once all of these items are taken care of, you can move forward with closing on the sale of your property.

8. Getting an Appraisal: Appraising a home is an invaluable part of the selling process for any homeowner. Appraisals involve sending a licensed real estate appraiser to inspect your property and assign market value, which the buyer and seller will then use as a preliminary price point. Appraisers also look at your home's condition and make recommendations on how to enhance its value - such as making repairs or completing renovations. The appraisal process helps give buyers confidence when purchasing a house, knowing they are paying an appropriate price according to market benchmarks. When you receive an appraisal report, take time to review it thoroughly since it can inform decisions such as whether or not you should accept an offer from the buyer. With its many advantages, obtaining an appraisal is critical to having a successful sale.

9. Help Out With The Property Inspection: Home inspections are an important part of the process, especially in our current day and age. Home inspections allow buyers to confirm what condition the property is really in; if any major issues or damages are found and the buyer isn't comfortable with that, they can make their purchase agreement contingent on these findings. It's vital also to be sure to get agreement from the buyer to lift these contingencies in writing. Home inspections help protect both buyers and sellers; understanding what you're getting beforehand can make for a smoother home-buying experience overall!

10. Prepare For Closing: Selling your home is an exciting experience, but one that requires a lot of preparation ahead of the closing. The seller will usually prepare the title deed which is a legal document conveying ownership from seller to buyer once the transaction is finalized. Then, both parties can agree on a closing date and sign off on all the documents needed to officially transfer possession over to the new owner. Prepping for closing takes care of all the finer details that need to be taken care of in order for a sale to go through successfully and efficiently. With necessary steps such as these taken care of, you can finally put your keys in that new owner's hands with a feeling of relief and satisfaction.

Selling a home can be an intimidating venture. But, by utilizing resources as well as recruiting assistance from experienced professionals, you can confidently enter into the home selling process with an organized and well-informed plan of action! After reading this guide, we hope potential sellers now understand each step necessary to successfully sell their homes. It is important to keep up to date with the market, price your home realistically, and be prepared for bumps in the road when looking to reach your ultimate goal of selling your home. With care and attention taken towards every detail mentioned above, sellers should feel more confident that they are ready to embark on their journey! Now don’t forget - take baby steps before huge leaps…you got this!