The Selling Process Explained: A Guide for First-Time Sellers

A Step By Step Guide to Home SellingIt's a fact that most home buyers will eventually become home sellers. According to a survey completed by Gallup in 2013, approximately 24 percent of Americans move every five years. For first-time buyers, these numbers may mean that one in every four will become a first-time home seller in just five years. If you are about to become that first-time home seller, the following five-step guide will help you enjoy the best possible home sale, even if it is the first time.

Choosing the Right Time to Sell

Selecting the right time to sell will depend upon the reason for the sale and the market area in which the home is located. If the home is being sold in order to move for employment reasons, selecting the optimal market time may not be possible. However, if the home is being sold in order to purchase a larger one or some other less time-sensitive reason, it will likely be best to put the home on the market during the most active selling time in the area. In many locations, this is will be during the spring or early summer months. 

Preparing the Home for the Market

Once the selling time frame has been selected, the next thing for a first-time home seller to do is to thoroughly prepare the home for the market. This includes: 

  • cleaning and decluttering the home
  • taking care of any needed repairs or renovations on both the interior and exterior of the home
  • making sure that the lawn, grounds, and landscaping are all neat and attractive

During this step is also the optimal time for first-time home sellers to select the listing agent who will help them sell their home. By hiring the listing agent at this time, first-time sellers will benefit from the agent's market knowledge and expertise, throughout the sale process. 

Pricing the Home Correctly 

The third step, and one of the most important is pricing the home correctly. The easiest and most accurate way to do this is to rely on the listing agent to prepare an accurate comparative market analysis (CMA) based on recent listings and sales data for comparable homes in the same area as the seller's home.

By using a CMA, along with market knowledge and historical information about the area real estate market, listing agents can often pinpoint a very narrow range in which the home will likely sell. It is important for first-time home sellers to remember, however, that the home may be currently worth more or less than the amount they paid for it, because many factors, including condition, competition, buyer activity, and others, will determine what the amount of the purchase offers will be.

Attracting Buyer Attention

The fourth step in the process is deciding how best to market the home to attract the most buyer interest and get the best offers. In addition to making sure that the home is clean and attractive for each and every showing, sellers can also consider opting for professional staging services, videographers, and photographers, which can give sellers an edge in competitive markets like Jupiter Farms. In some areas, drones are also being used to take aerial views of homes and land for marketing purposes.

Negotiating Offers and Managing Documents

Managing offers, counteroffers, title work, closing documents and other paperwork related to the sale of the home is another part of the process that sellers will need to understand. A good way to do this is to have the listing agent read through these documents with the sellers and discuss any questions they may have. Once the sellers have a purchase offer on the Tequesta home for sale, it will be necessary to work within the time frames in the offer to respond. Part of the listing agent's duties is to assist with managing the paperwork, from initial listing through the offer, acceptance, and eventual closing of the sale.

Dylan Snyder is a seasoned real estate professional serving the Jupiter real estate market, Palm Beach real estate market, Palm Beach Gardens real estate market, North Palm Beach real estate market, and the surrouding Palm Beach County area. Along with being a top producer in Jupiter real estate, Dylan's professionalism and expertise in luxury and waterfront real estate sets him and his team of real estate experts apart from the competition. For more information on Jupiter and Palm Beach real estate for sale, contact Dylan at (561) 951-9301.

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