Below is a step-by-step guide to selling a home to help you along the way.
Write down all of the reasons you want to sell your home. Want to change school districts? Need to downsize or do you have a growing family? Next, write down what you hope to accomplish. How soon would you like to sell your house? Or how soon do you
need to sell your house? What profit margin would you like to or do you need to receive? Determine which (profit margin or time frame) is most critical.
Studies show that homes listed with a Real Estate Agent typically sell faster and for a higher price than homes that are sold by owner. HAR.com, Montgomery County's local MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is where agents will list properties for sale. Research reveals that over 85% of buyers today begin their search online. And over 1 million visitors account for over 1 billion page hits on HAR... each month! If your property is not listed on HAR with a licensed agent it is being overlooked by millions of potential buyers.
Besides getting you the most money for your home and being able to sell it more quickly, it is important to have an agent to assist you with all of the complexities of selling a home, from writing contracts to negotiating and coordinating with the many other professionals involved in selling a property - mortgage brokers, inspectors, title company closers, and more.
Your agent will also be able to research sold properties in your area to determine an appropriate list price to achieve your time frame and profit margin goals.
As stated above, it is important to determine the terms of your home's sale. What will be your asking price? What items will remain with the home? What repairs are you willing to make for the potential buyer, if any? What costs are you willing to pay for the buyer, if any?
Before you list your home it is important to prepare it to maximize the impression it will leave on potential home buyers. Most important is cleanliness and lack of clutter. It is not required to hire a cleaning service, but the cleaning should be thorough. As home owners we tend to overlook the small things that home buyers will not.
All clutter should be put away. Be careful not to simply cram belongings into closets as this could send the impression that there is not an adequate amount of space in the home. If it can be thrown out or given away, now is the time to do so (this will also reduce the amount of items you will have to pack and move).
Once the home is show ready, pictures need to be taken. Depending on the price range, area, market, and other factors, it has been shown that homes listed with professional pictures sell more quickly than homes with lower quality images. It is not always necessary to hire a professional photographer. If you have a high quality Digital SLR camera and are photo-saavy, personal photos could work. Most agents will be responsible for taking photographs of your home and you should make sure they are using a high quality camera and ask to review the images before they are posted.
Another consideration for your home is staging. This, again, is not always a necessary expense. Some key rules to staging are to create an environment that is not overly-personalized to your taste or lifestyle. Remove knick-knacks, personal photographs (apart from professional photographs which may act as wall decor) and other items that could limit a buyer from envisioning themselves in your home. If your home is empty or furniture is outdated you may consider hiring a home staging company to maximize your home's appeal.
Most of the advertising of your home will rest on your agent's shoulders. Besides posting your home on HAR.com, your agent should also embrace other sites in order to ensure maximum exposure. There are numerous real estate listing sites, including many niche sites, where your home should be listed. You and your agent should also embrace your social media network contacts. Notifying your Facebook friends that your home is on the market just might lead to a sale.
Besides online marketing, discuss with your agent other possible marketing strategies such as word of mouth and print ad marketing.
Once you have prepared your home to be listed, it is important to keep your home in a show-ready state by maintaining a clutter-free environment. Make sure counters and floors are clean, the yard is maintained and every room of your house creates a great first impression.
Discuss the possibility of your agent hosting an agents-only or public Open House to showcase your home. Depending on the market your home is in this could be a waste of time and resources, or could lead to one or more offers on your home.
It is important both during Open Houses and during Agent Showings that the seller not be present during the showing. Any inside pets (and in many cases
even outside animals) should be caged or removed from the property during showing as well.
Once an offer is received it is up to your agent to insure the buyer is prequalified. To prevent you from tying your property up in negotiations only to discover the offerer cannot even purchase the home, the agent will make sure a letter, signed by the bank, approving the buyer for a loan, accompanies any offer.
Once a buyer has been prequalified it is up to your agent to translate the terms of the contract to you. At this point you will have the option to accept the offer, counter offer, or reject the offer. Rarely should an offer be rejected. Buyers do not have the same emotional attachments to your home as you may have and a low offer should not be taken offensively. Most buyers will start their bid much lower than what they are willing and/or capable of paying, expecting to negotiate upwards.
Most offers that buyers submit are not their highest offer. If you have decided to counter offer discuss with your agent the terms of the counter.
Remember that price is not the only negotiable term. Your agent will find clues that will shine light on the buyer's needs and help you in negotiating other terms of the contract, such as:
- Financing Terms (would offering Owner Financing help sweeten the deal)
- Closing Costs (would helping cover the buyer's closing costs make the deal work - this may be tax deductible)
- Repairs (are there any repairs you can do to up the price, or not do in exchange for a lower price)
- Appliances and Fixtures (will throwing in certain appliances help)
- Landscaping (is there any landscaping that can be done to help)
- Painting (is there a regrettable paint color that can be painted over)
- Move-In Date (does your client need to move in before closing)
- Personal Items
(are there any items that can be thrown in with the sale? Lawn mowers, boats, playground equipment, etc)
In general, performing repairs or upgrades can increase the value by more than the cost you will spend on them.
Based on the contract, determine your responsibilities before moving. Make arrangements to repair anything you negotiated. Move out before the closing date, or before the date in which the buyer is scheduled to take residence. During the first few days after an accepted offer you may have to provide access to inspectors and/or laborers sent by the buyer.
Keep in contact with the title company facilitating the sale to ensure they have all necessary documents so closing will not be held up.
Be sure to:
Schedule the transfer of the electricity bill
Shut off your water
Shut off Gas and/or Propane
Transfer your telephone, television, internet and other services
