The Process of Selling Your House and When Should You Call A Realtor
You have come to terms that it might be time to expand, down size or even relocate. Now what? Where do you begin? I am about to take you through a small process that will allow the anxious task selling your current home, pleasurable.
The first thing you should do is call a realtor, this will save you time and money. They have the resources you will need to make this transition a smooth as possible
- To begin the process you need to clear out and create space. Go through the house and throw away, give away or store items that are taking up space or detracting from the space you are trying to sell. This could take weeks so start early!
- Determine what repairs need to be done; maybe your house needs a fresh coat of paint inside and out or maybe just a few touch ups. You may need to hire a contractor and they are usually booked weeks in advance as well.
- Set a budget so you have something to work with. Nobody wants to spend money on a house they are leaving, but not spending something now to put your best foot forward is foolish. Consider how much one more month on the market will cost you in terms of taxes and carrying costs, or the lost money if the house doesn’t sell and you have to reduce the price.
- Do you need to stage any rooms in your house to make it more appealing to your target buyer? Remember you only have one chance and just a few seconds to make a good first impression.
- You may need a yard clean up or add landscaping depending on the time of year. Curb appeal is very important for that first impression.
- Make sure you have professional photos taken, the majority of all home searches begin online and that is where you will want to get buyer’s attention.
Once the listing of your house is active and on the local Multiple Listing System (MLS), your realtor will hold a broker open house to expose the house to the local broker community.
In general, the weekend following the broker open house a public open house is scheduled. Public open houses are optional, depending on the house, the location and how you as the owner feel about it.
The marketing plan is now put in place.
Hopefully you will get an offer quickly, it can be a fairly quick negotiation or it could even take up to a week.
Once you have an accepted offer, the buyers will do an inspection.
Your attorney will send out the contracts to the buyer’s attorney, this could take a week, it just depends on how quickly everyone does their part.
The buyers sign, the sellers sign and now you are “in contract” which can also take about a week. You have a fully executed contract so your buyer now will be able to start their mortgage process. This could take 60-90 days.
Now that you have a signed contract you can move forward to buying or renting another place to live.
Almost everything is negotiable so remember having an agent that is your advocate and who negotiates for a living is critical. Planning ahead and meeting with an agent months before you think you want to sell will save you time and money.
Thinking of selling?
