Seller's Guide

A Step-by-Step First Time Seller's Guide

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 team of Real Estate Agents 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.

Step 1: Understand Why You're Selling

What do you want to accomplish with the sale of your home? Do you want to make a certain amount of money that you can put toward a larger or nicer home? Do you need to sell it as soon as possible to facilitate a move to a new city or area? Once you understand your needs, you can better craft your offer. For example, if you need to sell quickly, you might want to price your home lower than if your goal is to make a certain profit margin. Make sure you convey these needs to your team of Real Estate Agent once you choose one so they can adjust your selling price accordingly.

Step 2: Determine Selling Price

Knowing how to price your home is one of the most important parts of the selling process. When you set a fair price in the beginning, you’ll get the most interest from other Real Estate Agents and prospective buyers. Overpricing your home could lead to reduced interest, and underpricing leads to receiving less than what your home is worth. Working with a team of Real Estate Agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of Real Estate Agents with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

Step 3: Start Preparations

If you’ve kept your home in showroom condition since you’ve lived in it, you’re in the minority of homeowners. Once you price your home, it’s time to start getting it ready to be shown to potential buyers. This includes getting rid of clutter, depersonalizing the space so that buyers can envision themselves in the space, making any small repairs, and doing a deep clean to make sure your home is in pristine condition.

Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

We will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising your home. This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, or SEO advertising. Our team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. We will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you can make a counter-offer or offer other ways to bridge the gap, such as covering some or all of the closing costs, making repairs, adjusting the move-in date, or leaving some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer is acceptable, we will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your team of real estate agents.

Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now very close to the end of your selling journey. But first, you and the buyer must make a list of what needs to be done before closing. In some cases, your home may need to be formally inspected, surveyed, and appraised. In other cases, major or minor repairs will need to be made before the house can close. We will head up efforts to develop and execute this list, get each action item paid for by the correct party, and make sure everything is in order by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to move out of the home so the new buyer can take possession.

Step 8: Close

You’ve reached the last step in the seller’s process. When you close on a home you are selling, you are legally transferring ownership of the property to the new buyer. We will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your team of Real Estate Agent to handle final details such as canceling utilities, cable, and lawn or trash services, changing the name on accounts that the new owner is retaining and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

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.

Testimonials

Donna M.

This is our second transaction with Oren and there just isn't anyone I have met in 30 years of investing in real estate that can handle a transaction as smoothly and as professionally. Living 1000 miles away, this latest transa...

Buyer | Seller

Denise helped me in a difficult real estate transaction that could have cost me thousands of dollars if not handled properly. She was professional and tactful-something I wasn't going to be if I handled it myself. Denise is a f...

Natasha B.

Ruthanne is incredibly knowledgeable of Windermere and the surrounding area. She has a large network of connections which helped us collaborate with a General Contractor, Handyman, Loan Officer and Home Maintenance Companies, t...

Joffred and Leah M.

There aren't enough words to describe our gratitude for Jane Bunch! When we decided to look for a home, Jane was our first choice, referred to us by our mom/mom-in-law. In the market at the time it was a daunting task to buy a...

Buyer | Seller

Chris is extremely professional and knowledgeable. He takes time for his clients and is very thorough. He is now my go-to Realtor®!

Jim G.

Christa was always there, in every aspect she was exactly what we needed. She was also very kind, and ever so polite. Always had a smile for us. Those traits are very important to us. She will be the first to come to our minds ...

HILLARY H.

We were referred to Denise by a trusted Realtor in our hometown. We could not have asked for a better experience. Denise is a strong communicator and was able to easily articulate our concerns and issues to the Seller. She ne...

Benjanmin T.

I cannot recommend Oren more. Being from out of town, Oren functioned not only as my agent but my proxy, counselor, educator, and friend. He was patient with all my questions, explaining them in detail to ease my concerns. He t...

ROBIN P.

Denise goes above and beyond. She listened to us, researched and navigated our search and choice of builder. We will use her for all our Real Estate needs.

Leah H.

Heidi was wonderful to work with when buying our home in Clermont Florida! She went above and beyond to help my husband and I though the viewing and purchase process. She was committed to finding us our dream home and watched o...

Seller

Being that Oren moves a great deal, he has become a professional at what to look for in vastly different markets, and, importantly, he is very sensitive to all of the many moving parts which go into the process of a client's ho...

ELENI S.

We could not have sold our property at the price we sold it for without Denise’s excellent negotiation skills and knowledge of how to get a deal done. She kept us sane and in check, even when working through some tricky situa...

Roy W.

Oren is a World Class Real Estate Professional and Human Being! On multiple occasions, he extended well beyond routine to help our family. He contacted Realtors®, arranged private showings, and worked with great diligence scour...

Helen G.

From the start of the whole selling process, Oren Adar was very professional with all aspects of the sale. Always answered calls and emails. Guided us through the legal side. Would definitely use his team again.

Tom P.

Christa, is a dedicated real estate agent who always keeps her clients interests in mind and diligently ensures all facets of a transaction are attended to. She has a thorough knowledge of her job, communicates effectively and ...

Andrew G.

Oren Adar was extremely knowledgeable and helpful in selling our house. He kept us informed at all times and carefully managed the sale process from start to finish. I would highly recommend Oren and his team.

GEMMA & OLIVER

All I can say about Denise Richardson Crabbe is that she is an all round excellent realtor. Denise went above and beyond for us. This is the first home we have sold with her and we also bought it through her. It sold above li...

Andy M.

We had a very positive experience with Oren Adar. He did an excellent job marketing our residence, was always extremely responsive, and showed professionalism in all aspects of the listing and sale process.

Michael G.

Oren was exceptional in every way. He provided us with amazing results and I would recommend Oren to anyone in the real estate market buying or selling.

August F. C.

Christa's strong work ethic was evident from my first encounter with her at the Suzi Karr Real estate office. She literally attacked the market for offers that exceeded my expectations as the seller, and worked diligently with ...

Work With Us

Years of full-time experience have given us a clear understanding of the mindset of home buyers and sellers and a thorough understanding of the regional marketplace. Contact us today to find out how we can be of assistance to you!