Have you decided to sell your house but don’t know what to expect next? If so, I’m here to help. In this video, I’m going to walk you through the 3 stages of the home-selling process. By understanding everything that the process entails, you’ll be better able to sell your house for top dollar and move on to your next chapter.
3 Stages Of The Home-selling Process
#1: Pre-Listing
The first stage of the process is called the pre-listing stage. Before we put the property on the market, we’ve got to make it look great. There are a few different steps that we’ll need to take, which include going through your home, decluttering and depersonalizing.
I’ll also have my stager with me to give us some great ideas that will make your home look as great as it can. Decluttering means getting rid of excess stuff, so whatever you don’t need to live your everyday life will have to go. Whatever you’ll want to save will go in storage, and anything you don’t want to take with you to your next home will be sold or donated. The primary goal here is to make your house look amazing.
Once there’s less stuff in your house, potential buyers can start envisioning themselves and their stuff in your house. We don’t want them to look at your life and your things. We want them to imagine their lives and their things in this beautiful home. After the decluttering and depersonalization, we’re going to hire a professional photographer and videographer. Depending on the property, we’ll also want to get drone footage and make a 3D photo using a Matterport camera.
The reason photos and videos are so important is that the first showing of your home is going to be online. We want to make it look as enticing as possible, which will draw the most solid buyers in to see your home in person. The video walkthrough tour is going to be very critical, using professional still photographs with the best lighting that shows all the amazing qualities of your house. That’s going to be critical to our success. Have you ever seen something online that you thought was just so awesome that it made you want to see it in person? That’s exactly what we’re aiming for.
#2: Active On The Market
Once we’ve completed step 1, we’re ready for your listing to go live on the market! The first two weeks that your home is listed are going to be our most opportune time to get a great offer. You’ll have the highest number of eyeballs on your home with the highest level of interest, making this truly game time. Everybody wants to see the new kid on the block, and your house is going to be the prettiest and shiniest new object. The more people we can get to see your house in these first two weeks, the likelier we are to get the highest offer close to—or even above—asking price.
During this two-week time, it’s also important to be as flexible as possible when showing. By offering as much access to the home as possible, keeping it at its show-ready stage at all times, you’ll get the highest number of potential buyers coming through your house. You want people to be able to quickly and easily come in to get a look at your beautiful home.
While we can’t control when people want to see your house, we can control how it looks when they do see it. Eventually—hopefully sooner rather than later—your home will get an offer and we will go into escrow.
#3: In Escrow
The third stage of the home-selling process is accepting an offer and getting your house into escrow. People think that once you get an accepted contract, most of the work is done. In reality, this is when things really start to happen.
The first thing that’s going to happen is the inspection, which the buyer’s agent will set up right away. Additionally, the buyer’s lender is going to send them a bunch of loan disclosures to fill out so the appraisal can be ordered right away. After that, there will probably be a termite inspection just to make sure there are no bad surprises.
After these inspections, there’s more to be done. If there are HOA dues, we’ll need to order those documents. Cleaning and moving will need to be complete, as well as repairs. We’ll also need to transfer utilities to the buyer. If your head is already spinning, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered when it comes to all these details. Our job is to make it as stress-free as possible for you. If you’re not using a realtor, it will be your responsibility to complete all these steps and follow through.
I hope you now have a better idea of everything that the home-selling process entails. While this is a general outline of what will happen, every situation is different depending on the market. If you have any questions, please contact me
contact me and I’ll be happy to be a resource for you. I’m always here to help you get your home sold and move forward in the next chapter in your exciting life.
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