What are the steps for selling a house? If you’ve just started thinking about selling your home, figuring out what to do first can be overwhelming. You probably have a mental list of all the things you need to do before you contact a realtor to start the process. You may be wondering if you should contact a realtor as soon as you start thinking about selling your home or wait till you have your home in tip-top shape, ready to sell.
Is your house ready to sell? Are you ready?
While you are making the decision about whether or not you are ready to sell, you can start the process by getting your house clean, decluttered, and ready for sale. Before you make any major improvements, you should talk to a realtor. Deep cleaning, clearing out your garage, or making minor repairs can be done ahead of time. When you are ready to start the selling process, plan to contact a realtor about 3 months before you plan to sell. If you contact a realtor months before you are actually ready to sell, the market conditions may change. The best approach is to contact a realtor once you’ve committed to selling.
Some things you should ask yourself first are:
Does my house have enough equity? Will I be able to sell it for what I owe or more than what I owe?
If you’re unsure about this, contacting a realtor for a home evaluation can help you determine whether now is the right time or if you should wait.
Are you ready to move?
While the home selling process may take a few months, selling a house can move rather quickly. Do you love your current home? Is your family happy there? Before you make a commitment to sell your house, decide if this is the right time for you and your family. You need to be emotionally and financially prepared to leave your home behind and move out.
What are the most important steps for selling a house?
Start by talking to a realtor
One of the first steps for selling a house is figuring out how much your home is worth. You can use our free property valuation tool to get an estimate of what your home could sell for. Keep in mind this is an estimate. Online tools are useful, but they can’t look inside your home to see what the selling condition of your home is or provide you with expert advice. Before you can really determine what your house could sell for, you should talk to a realtor.
Find out what your house is worth
Our team of experienced real estate brokers knows the New Mexico home market. We will perform a competitive market analysis by comparing your home with similar properties. By reviewing factors including your location, the condition of your home, amenities, and current market conditions, we will provide you with the best competitive price for listing your home.
Get your house ready for sale
Once you talk to a realtor, you can start preparing your home for sale. To get the best price for your home, you should take care of any minor repairs. If you have missing tiles, holes in your walls, or carpeting that needs to be cleaned, take care of these issues before you try to sell your home. Sometimes a home can sell in a lived-in condition, but home maintenance issues can be deal-breakers for potential buyers. Your realtor can be your best resource. They can tell what you should do to best prepare your home for sale.
Before your realtor starts showing your home to potential buyers, you want it to look as attractive as possible. This is the time to get your home sparkly clean. Decluttering, cleaning your windows, carpets, or touching up paint will make all the difference when buyers start looking at your home. You might consider hiring a professional cleaning service to really make your home really stand out.
Next steps for selling a house
Market your home to potential buyers
The Bigelow Team will help you with a marketing plan to create excitement and generate buyer interest in your home. They will help you determine your home’s best selling points and create the best marketing plan to sell your house. This includes comprehensive internet marketing through our website, Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Google, and more. We will also set up open houses, broker tours, yard signs, property feature sheets, and network with other real estate agents to market your home.
Showing your home
Once your home is listed, your realtor will start setting up showings or open houses to market your home to prospective buyers. A showing is a scheduled one-on-one appointment with a potential buyer to give them a tour of your home. An open house is a scheduled time for any potential buyer to come to look at your home.
Receiving offers
One of the next big steps of selling a house is when you start receiving offers. Depending on the location, features of your home, and the current market, you may start receiving offers quickly after your home is shown to buyers. Be prepared to discuss multiple offers with your realtor. Deciding which offer to take involves more than choosing the highest bidder. There are other factors to consider such as the buyer’s financing and the terms of the offer. Once you’ve received an offer, you can accept the offer as is, or make a counteroffer. Your realtor will help you decide which offer you should take and when you should make a counteroffer.
The final steps for selling a house
Accept the offer and prepare for closing
Once you accept the offer, an escrow will be opened and a title policy will be ordered. We work with an outside Transaction Coordinator to handle all the transactional documents involved in completing the sale of your house. The Transaction Coordinator will be in constant communication with you and prepare all the disclosures and reports necessary for closing.
Close of Escrow
The last of the steps of selling a house is the close of escrow. On closing day, you’ll meet with your realtor at the title company to sign all the closing documents. Congratulations. Your house is sold! If you have any questions arise, before or after the close of escrow, we are always available to answer your questions.
