Selling your home can seem like a very daunting process, especially if you have never done it before. Even for people that have sold their home many times it can be a very overwhelming process. In this article we will talk about steps to the home sale process. The process is not always gone through in the same manner or order, but most of the time homeowners are advised to keep to this step by step process.
Decide to sell your home and what method to use.
This may seem obvious but many couples can go back and forth about this decision for months at a time and may lose their momentum in the middle of their effort. In most circumstances, the home sale will feel like a marathon with multiple steps rather than a quick sprint. There is planning and multiple decisions to be made. Make sure you are committed to your decision. As soon as you decide, the next step is to know whether you are going to sell your home yourself or use a real estate agent. This is also a good time to eye the costs of the closing process since you may have liens on your property and other debts that need to be fulfilled before the sale.
Go through the prelisting process.
The prelisting process is a mash up of different things, but generally this process is marked by making your home look its absolute best by yourself and using professionals as well as chasing after paperwork you know you will need during the closing process. Thus, this includes deeply cleaning each room, staging the home, and making the necessary repairs to bring your home to good condition. This is also the time to decide on your asking price, either by comparing similar listings or hiring a real estate appraiser. After the staging and decorating process has been completed, hire a professional photographer to take stunning pictures of your home. These you can use on your online listings to attract buyers who are wowed by the sight.
Listing Your Home
If you are using a real estate agent this can involve two things, one a listing agreement to the agent in question and showing of your home for a certain time period. If you are going to be selling your home privately you will want to get the materials together to make a great listing and then post it to the most popular sites. You will also want to purchase a sign and consider other listing methods like a magazine, newspaper, or other marketing materials. Some sites will even give you a yard sign and other marketing materials if you pay for the premium fee.
Arrange Showings And Consider Offers
Once you have advertised your listing you will start to receive interest from multiple interested parties. When you are using a real estate agent you will want to make sure that you have flexible showing times to be able to show the house to the most people as possible. If you are doing the showings yourself you will want to give the prospective buyer as much space as possible to see the home. No matter what the case you will want to give each offer consideration and to send counteroffers even for lowball offers.
Accept An Offer And Sign A Purchase And Sale Agreement
You will sometimes have to go through many rounds of negotiations but when an offer is finally accepted it will mean that you are in the home stretch. If you have multiple offers you will want to pick a buyer that has the best financing and keep a second offer as a backup just in case the first one doesn’t work out.
Go through the Closing Process
The closing process is about fulfilling the obligations that are stated in the contract and making sure all the financial and legal aspects of the sale are squared away and correctly done. You will be working with title insurance companies, escrow services, and real estate attorneys to make sure this process goes smoothly. On the closing day, the escrow or lending company will have you sign the necessary paperwork which transfers the deed from you to the buyer.