Selling Your House in 14 Easy Steps
1. Find out how much it's really worth!
This is by far the most crucial step in the selling process, as an accurate valuation will ensure your house sells quickly and for top dollar. Did you know Zillow's own website says their Zestimates are greater than 5% off the eventual sale price almost half the time? Yikes. That's over $10k for a $200,000 listing! As your realtor, I pride myself in pulling detailed comps that reflect up-to-the-minute market trends. Want to see how much your house is worth, even if you aren't planning to sell right away? Click here and I'll get an analysis sent your way ASAP, no strings attached.
2. Speak to a lender about loan types and preapproval.
Once you've determined how much you'll hopefully make from the sale of your house, it's time to find a great lender to make sense of all the numbers you'll need to crunch before buying your NEW home! They'll be able to discuss current interest rates and loan types with you to give you a clearer picture of how much your eventual monthly payment will be. If you don't already have someone you're thinking of using, I'd be more than happy to recommend a couple fantastic ones who've proven themselves to be both professional and accessible, time and again.
3. Start researching where you'd like to live.
This is obviously the most fun step of the process, and it'd be a great idea to at least start seeing what's out there even if you're months away from a move. Send me a list of the features/amenities you'd like to have in a new home-- number of beds/baths, hardwood floors, fireplace, school districts, price, etc. --and I'll set you up with a notification system that will let you know as soon as a house that checks off all your boxes is listed for sale. This is SUPER beneficial in a market where homes tend to go quickly. (Hello, Lexington!) It's also a fantastic way to know you're making an informed decision when the time to write an offer finally comes.
4. Prepare your house for listing.
So you're officially sold on selling, huh? Good to hear! Our next step is deciding what needs to be done with your house before it's listed. Should you choose a more neutral shade for your purple living room? (Yes.) Is it necessary to have a landscaper come out and spruce up the yard? (Possibly.) Should you rent a storage garage for your extensive collection of creepy porcelain dolls? (Most definitely.) Creating a pre-sale punch list is a daunting task, but following the guidelines in these two informative articles will keep you focused on the projects that'll truly add value and make your place more attractive to its potential next residents.
5. Time for professional photography.
Professional images and virtual walk-throughs are THE best way to ensure you'll have potential buyers lined up for showings from the get go. After you've cleaned and decluttered to your heart's content, we'll schedule a time for one of my talented photographers/videographers to come capture all your hard work. This process will take up to an hour, sometimes longer depending on you size and type of home. Let's make your home shine!
6. Pre-listing marketing, paperwork, and a few loose ends.
Now that the photos are ready to go, it's time to fill out the paperwork to create your listing. A couple helpful things to do ahead of time are to make a list of any recent improvements/updates you think might help sell the home, and to write down the top 10 reasons you've loved living there. Try to focus on intangibles-- sunset views, awesome neighbors, being able to walk to your favorite coffee shop, and so on. I'll use all of this to help market your place, and I'll get started before we're even listed by singing its praises in several realtor-only Facebook groups in hopes we can find a perfect buyer right off the bat. Speaking of Facebook, it's a good idea to set your profile privacy setting to "friends only" while we're selling. Buyers WILL search you, and finding out you're being transferred for work or are having a baby can and will affect our negotiating abilities. Feel free to tell the whole world(!) you're selling, but please keep motivations for doing so to a minimum. :)
7. Annnnd we're live! Here come the showing requests...
Yay! Now that we're officially on the MLS, all your hard work up to this point is hopefully going to pay huge dividends. Your listing will make its way from Lbar.com to Zillow, Trulia, Redfin etc. (this generally happens quickly, but could take up to 24 hours). I'll also create an advertisement and pay to promote it on Facebook and Instagram for maximum exposure. If we've priced your house competitively, we should start getting showing requests from day one. I will set up a system for you to be able to approve, deny, and reschedule requests as they come in, as well as to block out times for regularly scheduled events like toddler naptime or working from home. Each showing lasts 30 minutes or so, and while they can occasionally be inconvenient and even overwhelming, it's important to allow as many as possible. More buyers coming through means we can get your house under contract sooner rather than later. After each one, the buyer agent will immediately receive an email asking to fill out a custom feedback form. Around half fill them out, and they provide excellent insight into what, if anything, needs to be addressed to help sell the house.
8. It's the end of the first week. Let's debrief!
Depending on the time of year your house is listed, my goal is to have 6-10 showings during the first week. If we've had less than three, there's probably a problem with either the price or the way we're presenting the property. Feedback from showings will help determine which issue(s) needs fixing. If the numbers are dismal after the first couple weeks, it's probably time to at least consider a convo about dropping the price. Don't hate me. I'll ride the original price out with you until the bitter end, but there's no surer way to light a fire under buyers than by giving them a better deal. Having said that, it's important to remember that this part of the process is a marathon and not a sprint. I'll obviously do everything I can to get your house sold the first weekend, but the current average selling timeframe for Fayette County is around 50 days. Hang tight and be patient...all it takes is ONE perfect buyer, and we'll absolutely find them.
9. We've received an offer! What happens now?
That's great news! There are quite a few moving parts we'll want to key in on when the offer arrives, but the three main areas of focus are the price, closing details (date and requests for you to pay costs), and any contingencies listed at the end of the contract (buyers have a house to sell, home warranties, etc.). We'll also take a look at their downpayment and the amount of their escrow (good faith) deposit, as these are indicators as to the legitimacy of the buyer. You'll have the option to accept, counter, or walk away from the deal. In the event we receive multiple offers at once, we'll most likely ask all involved parties to re-submit a "highest and best" offer before a set deadline, and then we'll consider them all at the same time. A helpful side note: we'll take care of all of this digitally--negotiating, counter-offering, signing--so you won't have to run around town every time a revision needs to be made. Ideally, we'll have a signed and executed contract within a few hours...and then the rest of the fun begins.
10. The home inspection process.
After the contract is signed, the buyer will be responsible for scheduling a home inspection. This normally takes place within the first week, as most contracts allow a 14ish day window for the inspection AND any subsequent repair requests/negotiations. You'll need to plan to be out of your home for 3-4 hours while the inspector is there with the buyers, and your house should look the same as it did for the showing that made them fall in love with the place. The inspection report will be sent out to them a day or two afterward, and they'll look over everything to see if there are any areas or issues they'd like you to address. Cosmetic, code, or previously disclosed problems are off-limits for repair requests. We'll negotiate these items back and forth within a four-day window and hopefully come to an agreement. If for some reason we aren't able to do this, the buyer is free to walk away from the deal and get their earnest money deposit back. If everything is successfully negotiated, though, you'll have until the final walkthrough to complete repairs. One other thing: buyers aren't allowed to ask for money to fix problems on the initial repair request form. If we deny a request, only then are we able to discuss financial compensation in lieu of something you'd rather not tackle but might be willing to pay for.
11. The appraisal.
The next step on the buyer side of things is for his/her lender to order an appraisal for your house. The buyer pays this expense. It's best for you to leave the house during this time (approximately 30 minutes). It takes around 7-10 days for the appraiser to complete their report and send it back to the buyer's lender. If the house appraises for at least the sale price, nothing more needs to be done. If it doesn't, well, we have a problem, because the bank will only give the buyer a loan for the appraised value of your house. Most of the time, the buyer will re-offer that amount. If you decide not to accept, they can either bring money to closing to make up the difference (unlikely), or walk away from the deal and retain their earnest money deposit (most likely). This is why it's SO very important that we determine an accurate value of your house from the get go and set the asking price accordingly. It's no fun to see extra money you thought you were making disappear due to an appraisal report.
12. Things to do as we near the homestretch.
Now that the inspection request form has been negotiated and the house has appraised, you're in the clear to start packing and taking care of any repairs you agreed to do. It's also advisable to go ahead and schedule a moving company, as they often get booked up weeks in advance. If you'd like, I will gladly refer you to a few reliable companies my clients have been pleased with in the past. And lastly, I'd recommend going ahead and calling utility companies to notify them of your upcoming move, and setting services to either end or transfer to your new home on the day of closing. Accidentally paying an electric bill for two houses because you forgot to call in the midst of closing madness is the actual. worst.
13. Mortgage approval, clear to close, and final walkthrough.
Several days before our scheduled closing date, the buyer's lender will notify him/her that their mortgage has been granted final approval and we are clear to close. We will receive closing documents no less than 72 hours from closing, which will give us an opportunity to look over the numbers and report any discrepancies to the closing attorney. Once everything else is squared away, the buyer will come over for a final walkthrough the day before or day of closing to make sure repairs were performed. You'll need to have alllll of your belongings out of the house BEFORE we close, and it's best to go ahead and get everything loaded up before final walkthrough if at all possible. This part of the process is almost always a logistical nightmare, but I'll do everything I can to make the transition a smooth one for you and your kids and your succulents.
14. Closing day!
Congratulations!
We made it! Pat yourself on the back and get ready to sign a few things. I'll attend closing with you to keep an eye out for any issues that might arise. The whole process only takes about an hour, tops, and your part will be be over much sooner than that. Make sure to bring a valid driver's license, along with keys and garage door openers so your buyers can get in and start repainting everything, stat. The closing attorney will arrange for the balance of your loan to be paid off with proceeds from the sale, and any additional money owed to you beyond that will be given to you in the form of a check. And that's it! We just successfully sold your house. Celebrate accordingly, and thanks SO much for trusting me to help make everything happen.