Home Seller Guide
Our home sellers guide will help you familiarize yourself with the necessary steps to selling your residential property. It is important to set clear goals and decide how involved you want to be in the selling process whether you want to hire a "real estate agent" or if you would sell your property yourself under "for sale by owner".
Step 1: Understand the Market
Understanding the real estate market in you area involves every aspect from location of the property, field design, construction to the comparable sales history. The cost of real estate property is measured in dollars per square foot, greatly influenced by location and demand. Understanding the real estate market requires various skills such as knowledge of land price, an insight for future market changes and laws that apply to your specific property in the area it subsides.
Step 2: Selling Plan
Make sure it is the right time for you to sell your house and decide on a "real estate agent" based upon referrals and their experience in the business of residential real estate.
Step 3: Do necessary repairs
Walk through your home as if you are the prospective buyer.
Check:
- Flooring
- Plumbing
- Lighting
- Heat ventilating systems
- Drainage systems
- Interior paint
- Exterior paint
- Leaks
- Outdoor drainage systems
- Pest control
- Roof
Step 4: Make improvements
Apply small cosmetic touches that could help in the selling of your property for example.
- Spruce up the entry way to make it more inviting.
- De-clutter
- Make minor repairs
- Create curb appeal
- Make your house shine
- Stage your home
(To learn more information on staging and preparing your home for sale click here.)
Step 5: Price Your Home
Set a realistic price. Unfortunately, there is no scientific method for determining the value of your home. Avoid overpricing or under pricing your home.
- Get an "Appraisal"
- Check recent sales of properties in your area also known as comparables.
- Settle on a price
Step 6: Market your home
The most important goal when marketing your property is to gain maximum exposure for example.
- Advertise with “for sale” signs, print listings or list online.
- Show your house through open houses and walk through.
- Decide terms of contract
Houselocator.com offers many great advantages for your marketing your residential property. (Click here to learn more advantages houselocator.com offers to our valued customers.)
Step 7: Close the sale
- Choose a "real estate attorney"
- Meet the required inspection
- Deliver the required "disclosure" documents.
- Receive the loan commitment from the buyer
- Sign purchase contract deal
- Obtain title report
- Arrange to pay off existing mortgage
- Pay all closing fees
After completing the prior steps, you simply need to get through all the paper work which we refer to as "real estate legal documents" . This can be the most complex and tedious part of selling your property. That is why hiring a "real estate attorney" would be a very wise decision when completing your property transaction.