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Everything you need to know about putting your home on the market, accepting an offer, and closing on your home.
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 agent 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.
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 real estate agent once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.
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 real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.
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.
I 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. My 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.
Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. I 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.
Once I deem the offer is acceptable, I 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 agent.
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. I 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, I 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.
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. I 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 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.
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.
We have been involved with both sales and purchases of homes in the Snohomish area for 25 years. Our experience with Crystal was exceptional in every way including pricing, advertising, staging and impressively, her professiona...
Working with Crystal was a joy! The complementary staging of the home was a real plus. I have sold a number of homes over the years and never been offered that service! That may be a BIG reason the house sold in just 6 days! Cr...
Leaving Colorado, our home for the past 30 years, for the Pacific Northwest has been a huge leap of faith for us. Crystal has been absolutely instrumental in making the leap less frightening and more exciting. She did the prep ...
When we decided to sell our home, choosing Crystal as our agent was the best decision we made. Crystal was so helpful every step of the way and was very informative, accessible and responsive to any questions we had. She presen...
We accidentally stumbled upon Crystal when we decided to go look at a house and what a wonderful find she turned out to be! We realized right away how lucky we were having Crystal help us find our new home: always in time, alwa...
Crystal did an excellent job in listing and selling my home. Even during the COVID-19 lock-down, she was extremely responsive and kept me in the loop through every step of the sale process. She had an answer for every question ...
I asked a neighbor if she knew of any good real estate people in the area. The neighbors stated that their son had just worked with Crystal Dickerson and they were very happy with her. Would highly recommend working with Crysta...
We highly recommend Crystal, she was a pleasure to work with! We were able to find our amazing home during this crazy market. She went above and beyond, helping us navigate the process and being patient with all our questions a...
Great Realtor®! We can't imagine having a better process in selling our home. She leads a great team of professionals who work together to make the process seamless, even when inevitable surprises pop up. Our home was staged be...
From the moment we interviewed Crystal to sell our condo we knew right away that she was the agent for us. Everything was taken care of down to the last detail. Unit was cleaned and then beautifully staged. Sold within two days...
Crystal knows what she is doing and has been able to acquire information we needed in a timely manner. Crystal did an outstanding job leading us through the purchasing process. Crystal was very accessible and responsive to our ...
Crystal is amazing! She took the time to listen and understand what we were looking for. She took care of little details that up front we thought weren't necessary but in the end totally appreciated it and felt the value of tho...
We were impressed with Crystal's professionalism and expertise from beginning to end of our home search. She answered our questions promptly and accommodated us at every turn, even as we were moving from out of state. She made ...
Crystal worked with us for 5 months to find a wonderful home. Ten days later she helped us stage, list and sell our current home. She has been a fantastic agent.
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