When it comes to selling your home, it’s hard to know what to expect until you’ve gone through the process yourself. Want to get started on the right foot? Here are a few of our top tips geared towards helping first-time sellers maximize their profit and move fast!
Here’s What All First-Time Sellers Should Know
Selling a home involves so much more than just sticking a “for sale” sign in your yard and waiting for eager buyers. In fact, you may have more than just a few questions about the process—and that’s totally okay! Make sure to follow these quick tips before you take the plunge and give us a call when you’re ready to get started.
Work with an expert agent
If you’re thinking about selling your home without the help of an agent, you may want to do a bit of research first. Unless you have extensive real estate experience, you could miss out on a pretty big chunk of equity.
A top-notch local agent will be an expert on your area, and they’ll handle all the details of the transaction for you. They can get your home listed on the MLS, market it to interested buyers, help you negotiate, and navigate the specifics of the closing. And best of all, you’ll almost always get more money for your home by working with an agent!
Get your home looking perfect
Once you’ve found the right agent, it’s time to start staging your home. Staging is the process of styling and updating your home for potential buyers, which makes it a crucial step of the selling process.
Not sure where to start? Try having a home inspection before you list to uncover any lingering problems, and repair them as needed. You should also depersonalize your decor, do a deep clean, and move around your furniture to make the most out of your space. If you need more advice, just check out our dedicated staging guide for our top tips.
Set the right price
Even the most beautiful homes can sit on the market if they’re priced too high. However, if you price too low, you could end up losing quite a bit of money. To strike the right balance, ask your agent to perform a comparative market analysis (CMA) to see how your home stacks up to recently sold properties in your neighborhood. They can help you come up with just the right price!
Know how to negotiate
After a buyer submits an offer, you may want to negotiate on price, a closing date, or other contingencies. And while your agent will be the one communicating with the buyer, you ultimately get to decide whether or not to accept an offer.
When you’re negotiating with buyers, it’s best to consider every offer you’ve received. Remember, price isn’t always everything—you may want to go with a quicker closing date or a cash offer instead. If you ever have any questions, your agent can always provide valuable advice.
Prepare for the closing
Once you’ve accepted an offer, it’s time to prepare for the closing. Before the big day, the buyer will likely order an appraisal and inspection of your home. In the meantime, you should work with your agent and title company to complete any remaining paperwork.
On the day of your closing, make sure to bring your photo ID and be prepared to sign just a few more documents. From there, the ownership of your home will be transferred and you’ll officially be done!
We’re Here to Help First-Time Sellers
If you’re thinking about listing your Triangle home soon, we’d love to help you out! Here at 220 Agents, we’re second to none—and that means we can help you sell fast and for top dollar. Just contact a member of our team to learn more about what makes us different. We can even help you buy your next home, too!