So, you’ve decided to sell your home? Selling your house for the highest price in the shortest amount of time necessitates far more than just a little marketing. Extensive study, careful planning, a lot of marketing, and the knowledge of a seasoned professional to guide you through the property sale process are all required to achieve the best outcomes.
Are you ready to begin?
Starting in the right direction can ensure that your home is sold as quickly as possible. Our clients like knowing exactly what they need to do to prepare for a sale. Request an in-home consultation to talk about pricing, preparation, and what it will take to sell your house.
SOLD in 12 Easy Steps!
The 12 Stages to Successfully Selling a Home
Call The Maxwell Team – your experienced Realtors® in East Texas.
Allowing The Maxwell Team to function as your REALTOR® is crucial because we will be leading you through one of the most significant transactions you will ever make. To become a top listed team, we had to put in a lot of training, expertise, and hard effort. In addition, we have all of the necessary tools, techniques, and marketing know-how to get your home the most exposure possible.
We’re here to help you understand how the process works, when things need to be taken care of, and what to do if something goes wrong. If things don’t go as planned and your home doesn’t sell, you don’t want to be on your own. We have access to a variety of resources that aren’t available to consumers, as well as the know-how to make the most of them. Our team will handle all of the details from beginning to end, ensuring that the transaction runs smoothly and that the burden of selling a house falls on US, not YOU.
Get Your House Ready To Sell
Preparing your property for sale can have a big impact on how much a buyer is willing to pay for it. Because buyers begin judging your home the instant they view it, first impressions are critical. A home that has been well-maintained, updated, staged, and is ready to move into will command a considerably higher price and sell much faster.
When preparing to sell your home, there are three categories to consider: maintenance/repairs, renovations/upgrades, and staging, depending on the condition of your home. Taking the effort to properly prepare your property for sale should also make the process go much more smoothly. Make the necessary repairs now; they’ll almost certainly be mentioned in the inspection report.
You should also consult with us to decide which improvements or upgrades will provide the best return on your investment. Finally, staging your house will make it appear its best and appeal to the broadest possible range of buyers. Getting all of this done ahead of time will ensure that your home looks its best during the crucial initial few weeks on the market.
You should prepare yourself to sell your home. This entails knowing where you’ll be living after the sale, making sure your finances are in order, preparing to keep your house in show-ready shape, and keeping a flexible schedule to accommodate purchasers.
Determine an appropriate price for your home.
One of the most difficult (and crucial) components of selling a house is determining the right asking price. It is, in reality, a delicate balancing act. You don’t want to set a price so expensive that it discourages people from coming to see it. A high list price may also deter genuine offers from interested bidders with sufficient financial backing. These are the people who will most likely pay top money for your house.
On the other hand, you don’t want to set a price that generates a lot of interest but also sets the scenario for offer discussions that may result in you receiving less than the market would support if you had priced it higher. So, how much is your house actually worth?
Contact us for an in-home consultation and complete property evaluation to find out what your home should sell for in today’s market. After we’ve had a chance to go over your property and others similar to it, we’ll send you a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis) that breaks down the value of your home in detail.
What factors influence the value of your home? The value of your home is mostly determined by nearby comparable property transactions. The size, upgrades, condition, lot size, and type of your home can all be used to accurately determine the worth of your property. Local factors including schools, geography, market conditions, and the appearance of your area all play a part. During your seller’s consultation, we’ll go over all of these things and more. In the meantime, you can read more about the home pricing process here. {link}
List your home.
Before a REALTOR® may list your house for sale, you must sign a listing agreement. We make sure everything is done correctly the first time to avoid delays by completing the required listing paperwork to place your home on the market. A copy of all the documents you sign should also be sent to you. Keep the documents in a secure location in case you ever need them.
Completing property disclosures and making copies of any applicable service agreements, titles, and warranties are also required when listing your home. You provide purchasers everything they need to make an informed selection and submit a comprehensive offer when the time comes by making these types of documentation available in advance.
Market Your Property
Successful house marketing, like successful marketing of any other commodity or service, is a multi-faceted process aimed at reaching buyers and cooperating agents in a variety of ways. Finally, the strategies utilized to advertise your house have one goal in mind: to increase your home’s market visibility and, as a result, the number of showings and offers you receive.
We have the information, expertise, and resources necessary to put in place a plan that will effectively coordinate all of these operations. Homes advertised with a professional marketing plan, in our experience, sell faster and for more money than those that aren’t.
The images they see, the fliers they pick up, and the level of expertise that goes into each step of the marketing process can all influence a buyer’s perception of a home. A buyer knows they’re dealing with a serious seller when they notice you’re working with a professional agent who uses only the best tools.
MLS visibility, listing syndication to home search engines, yard signs & fliers, postcards, open houses, and agent networking are all part of our traditional marketing strategy. Online advertising (Google), professional images with online galleries, HD video tours, custom property websites, social media exposure, locally targeted real estate blogs, and more are some of our more advanced approaches.
Home Showings and Follow-Up
Showing your property to potential buyers is an important part of the selling process, so plan on having guests come in and out while it’s on the market. After all, people have to see it before they can purchase it.
Making your home available is one of the most important things you can do. The easier you make it for buyers to see your home, the more showings you’ll likely get and the more probable you’ll get an offer. They will not take place if you place too many limits on how and when they can take place.
It’s also critical to keep your house tidy and ready for showings as much as possible. When showings are planned, your home will be ready both inside and out. This can be difficult, especially for those with children or who need to sell quickly, but buyers understand. Just remember to pick up after yourself and store your belongings away as much as possible.
The majority of showings will be done by a cooperating agent who is representing a buying client. They’ll usually contact to schedule the showing and, if necessary, set up an appointment. They can get entrance to the house using a key from the electronic lockbox, allowing us to track who was in your home and when. This also allows us to follow up with buyer’s agents after each viewing to get feedback.
Offer Negotiation
Negotiating the deal is, without a doubt, the most difficult aspect of selling a home. That’s why it’s crucial to engage with a knowledgeable and experienced REALTOR® who has successfully completed a variety of transactions.
It’s critical to keep your situation, priorities, and needs in mind when bargaining. Serious purchasers who have been pre-qualified by a lender and need to move quickly normally submit the best bids. These are the kinds of buyers we’re after. This type of buyer is usually more confident and eager to proceed with the purchase.
Until a contract is achieved, there may be many back-and-forth offers (counter offers). You’ve got a contract after ALL parties agree in writing to ALL of the terms of the offer. We may be able to obtain you a backup offer if you have a hot home in a desirable neighborhood. If the first deal falls through, the backup offer will take effect immediately.
Due Diligence
If there is one, the due diligence period is a period during which a home buyer can thoroughly check the state of the property before being obligated to proceed with the purchase. The due diligence process typically lasts 7-14 days, and it is during this time that the buyer has the option to proceed or back out for any reason, or for no reason at all.
Buyers may request a variety of examinations at this time, including a general property inspection, termite inspection, radon inspection, mold inspection, structural inspection, and more. Property inspectors often assess the exterior, driveways, roof/gutters, HVAC, electricity, plumbing, appliances, interior, and other main components of a home. Buyers may also order a survey to determine the property’s boundaries and uncover any encumbrances.
Following the completion of the inspections, the buyer may request repairs for any concerns detected during the inspections. This could lead to a second round of contract talks for repairs, price reductions, and/or changes to other contract terms. If an agreement can be reached and the buyer is pleased, the due diligence phase will end, and the procedure will move on to the next step.
Appraisal And Financing
If a buyer wants to buy your house with a loan, they’ll probably need some time to get financing and have an appraisal done. Before the loan can be approved, the buyer must submit a number of documents to the lender for examination by the underwriting department. It’s critical to stay in touch with the buyer’s lender throughout the process, as this can entail dozens of paperwork and review stages.
A contract might be made or broken based on the appraisal. It is the bank’s confirmation that the property is worth the loan amount, and it aids in the prevention of mortgage fraud. As a seller, you want the property to appraise for at least the contract amount, if not more, otherwise the buyer may seek a price reduction or walk away from the transaction entirely.
A poor appraisal, unfortunately, can cost a seller tens of thousands of dollars, and challenging one can be tough. Appraisers don’t enjoy it when their calculations are called into question, and challenging an appraisal entails additional work for them. If your assessment is low, we’ll talk about your choices before agreeing to a lower sale price.
Get Ready to Close
The close is in sight if you’ve completed due diligence and any financing/appraisal contingency periods. Things appear to be on track to close once the lender confirms the buyer has been conditionally authorized for the loan and can deliver a commitment letter.
If you agreed to make repairs throughout the bargaining process, get to work on them. Don’t put off performing the agreed-upon repairs; you never know when something will take longer than planned, causing the closing to be delayed if not done on time.
Keep in mind that things have been known to go wrong right up until the closing, so the deal isn’t complete until you sign the paperwork at closing. As a result, many sellers agree to stay in the house for a day or two after closing to ensure that the transaction is completed before taking everything out. After you’ve moved everything out, the buyer will usually undertake a final walkthrough to ensure that all repairs have been completed, everything has been moved out, and the house is in the condition it should be in.
On the day of closing, you’ll also want to work with the buyer to have all utilities transferred out of your name or to your new address. Also, don’t forget to inform your contacts of your new address and cancel any other services you may have at the house (i.e.: lawn care). It’s a good idea to keep in touch with the buyer’s agent, closing attorney, and lender to ensure that nothing gets in the way of the closing.
Close and Move
It’s time to finalize the transaction once everything leading up to the closing has been done and the day has arrived. Make sure you know when and where the closing is so you can there early and not feel pressured.
Remember to bring all keys to the closing, including garage door openers, mailbox keys, gate cards, and so on, to provide to the buyer. You should also bring two forms of identification, as well as anything else the closing attorney could ask for.
Because you’ve already done your part, your role as the seller at the closing table is considerably easier. The majority of the documentation (mainly mortgage docs) will be signed by the buyer, so you can sit back and relax knowing that the burden of selling your house is finally gone. Hopefully, the sale of your home goes off without a hitch.
Call Us
If you haven’t already, call The Maxwell Team for a free home appraisal and to learn more about our exceptional real estate services for home sellers.