Steps to Selling Your House

There are eight benchmarks when selling your home, each marking a phase consisting of smaller steps needed to see a real estate transaction reach the closing table. Here is a brief overview of those 8 phases.

1. Define your needs.
   Knowing your needs is the first step to selling your home. Understanding why you want to sell your home and where you want to go next is an important step that will make the home selling process a little less stressful. Whether it’s needing to sell because a job opportunity has popped up somewhere else or a growing family demands a larger home in the same area, it’s important to pin point your objectives, so your trusted realtor® can help you set a realistic time frame for the sale.
2. Name your price.
   Determine the best price for your home – a price that will allow you to walk away with what you need to move to your next adventure while still being with the realm of fair market value. 
3. Prepare your home.
   This is the step that can take the longest. Not a lot of people keep their homes in “showroom” condition all the time, but it’s necessary to de-clutter and clean up your home, so that your house makes a great first impression. Buyers can be put off by strong smells, clutter and ostentatious decorating. We’ve seen buyers walk out of homes before every setting foot passed the entryway just from the smell of smoke or pets in the house. Take your time to thoroughly clean your home and remove any unnecessary large pieces of furniture and clutter, so that potential buyers can see the very best version of your home.
4. Get the word out.
   A great realtor® will present a marketing strategy to you before your home ever gets on the market. You are paying them to find you a buyer, so they should do everything in their power to get your home in front of as many buyers as possible. Our team is one of the few in the country with a full-time marketing and inside sales person, whose sole jobs is to find buyers for our listings. You want to use an agent not only familiar with the local market, but also well-prepared and familiar with marketing homes and putting them in front of as many people as possible.
5. Receive an offer.
   Happy days! A offer has been received! While the joy of receiving the offer could potentially mark the end of needing to keep your home show ready 24/7, it also marks the start of a whole new phase, one full of paperwork and negotiations. Your realtor® will immediately check to make sure the potential buyers are qualified to purchase a home at your asking price.
6. Negotiate to sell.
   This piece can take hours or days to complete depending on the strength of the contract and the desires of each party. Most offers require some amount of negotiation to come to a win-win agreement. Your real estate agent should be well-versed in negotiation tactics as well as understand the real estate contract inside and out. Our team has Certified Negotiation Experts, which benefits our sellers greatly when it comes to getting them what they need. Negotiations can happen in multiple phase, including for repairs and any potential purchases of items within the home with which the sellers are willing to part.
7. Prepare to close.
   Once an offer is accepted, there are a million things left to do. Make a list of the people that need to be called and the things that must be done, so you can make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Your real estate agent can assist you in determining when utilities need to be shut down, vendors that can help with repairs, and clarifying terms of the contract that must be fulfilled prior to closing. The terms in the contract will ultimately dictate your net step. Make sure you fulfill all obligations you agreed upon in the final contract prior to closing.
8. Close the deal.
   You made it! The closing table is the final stop in what can be a long and stressful journey. At this point, paperwork is signed to legally transfer the ownership of the home being sold to the contracted buyers. Your realtor® will be present to answer any remaining questions and to walk you through the paperwork. Once the buyer’s funding goes through, ownership officially changes hands.

There are many steps to selling your home and these 8 steps are just milestones in a much larger and complex transaction. With the right realtor® on your side, you will know what’s going on every step of the way and have a trusted adviser to guide you through to the end. Our team has been blessed to help hundreds of people sell their home in the last few years and our track record says more than we ever could. View a few testimonials from our previous clients. 

If you’re thinking of selling your house, call our Team at 425-409-5584 to learn how we can assist you in getting  the most money for your house. You can also click on the button below to send us an email. We look forward to serving you.

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