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Seller's Guide

A Step-by-Step First Time Seller's Guide

Putting your home on the market can be a stressful process, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Fortunately, with the help of an experienced team of real estate agents and this easy-to-follow guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for the best price.​​​​​​​

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Step 1: Understand Why You're Selling

What do you want to accomplish with the sale of your home? Do you want to make a certain amount of money that you can put toward a larger or nicer home? Do you need to sell it as soon as possible to facilitate a move to a new city or area? Once you understand your needs, you can better craft your offer. For example, if you need to sell quickly, you might want to price your home lower than if your goal is to make a certain profit margin. Make sure you convey these needs to your team of real estate agents once you choose one so they can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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Step 2: Determine Selling Price

Knowing how to price your home is one of the most important parts of the selling process. When you set a fair price in the beginning, you’ll get the most interest from other real estate agents and prospective buyers. Overpricing your home could lead to reduced interest, and underpricing leads to receiving less than what your home is worth. Working with a team of real estate agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate agents with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

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Step 3: Start Preparations

If you’ve kept your home in showroom condition since you’ve lived in it, you’re in the minority of homeowners. Once you price your home, it’s time to start getting it ready to be shown to potential buyers. This includes getting rid of clutter, depersonalizing the space so that buyers can envision themselves in the space, making any small repairs, and doing a deep clean to make sure your home is in pristine condition.

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Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

We will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising your home. This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, or SEO advertising. Our team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

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Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. We will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you can make a counter-offer or offer other ways to bridge the gap, such as covering some or all of the closing costs, making repairs, adjusting the move-in date, or leaving some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

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Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer is acceptable, we will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your team of real estate agents.

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Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now very close to the end of your selling journey. But first, you and the buyer must make a list of what needs to be done before closing. In some cases, your home may need to be formally inspected, surveyed, and appraised. In other cases, major or minor repairs will need to be made before the house can close. We will head up efforts to develop and execute this list, get each action item paid for by the correct party, and make sure everything is in order by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to move out of the home so the new buyer can take possession.

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Step 8: Close

You’ve reached the last step in the seller’s process. When you close on a home you are selling, you are legally transferring ownership of the property to the new buyer. We will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your team of real estate agents to handle final details such as canceling utilities, cable, and lawn or trash services, changing the name on accounts that the new owner is retaining and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

Client Stories & Experiences

Buddy F.

Buddy F.

I was skeptical about using a realtor to sell my house. I heard everyone talking about how easy For Sale By Owner was but given my limited knowledge of the market and the hype everyone was spewing, I was confused. I met Christi...
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Anthony A.

Anthony A.

She listed and sold my house in less than two days. She was fully engaged with the entire process of staging the home up to closing the sale. Professional, honest and courteous. She also helped me with purchasing a home recently.
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Ben C.

Ben C.

Serving as our realtor, Christie Davis has been part of our home buying and selling experiences for the past 5 years. I cannot imagine using a different realtor as she has always worked non stop to get us the deals we wanted. F...
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Heather M.

Heather M.

The Davis Group is outstanding to work with. We have bought and sold several homes with the Davis Group. Turn key process and stress free. They listen to your needs, find what you are looking for and more. We highly recommend t...
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Barry H.

Barry H.

Christie Davis was very diligent with contacting me for over a year while my wife and I were searching for our retirement home. That diligence is what convinced me she was the right realtor for us to sell our home after finding...
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Jackie S.

Jackie S.

I truly cannot imagine a purchase and a sale of homes going any smoother! Christie Davis was amazing to work with, she listened to my wants and needs and worked to fulfill them. She was patient, kind and supportive. I NEVER fel...
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Shelby B.

Shelby B.

Christie and Russell were absolutely AMAZING while we were trying to find our dream home. They are knowledgeable about every area, and give you all the information. This was our first time buying a home and I couldn’t imagine d...
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Amy S.

Amy S.

Christie Davis has been our realtor for over 8 yrs. She assisted my husband and I in purchasing our very first home. We weren’t the easiest to work with, purchasing the perfect home can be very stressful but she was so patient ...
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Barry H.

Barry H.

Christie Davis was very diligent with contacting me for over a year while my wife and I were searching for our retirement home. That diligence is what convinced me she was the right realtor for us to sell our home after finding...
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James W.

James W.

Can’t thank these guys enough! Found us our forever home! Forever grateful!
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Robert P.

Robert P.

You won't find better realtors! Wonderful people and great at what they do.
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Barbara S.

Barbara S.

Christie is the greatest. I just love her. She helped me get into my forever home. She worked with me for a long time to get the perfect one.
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Shanna H.

Shanna H.

Loved looking at houses with these guys. Always ready to help out.
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Tasia C.

Tasia C.

I literally cannot say enough great things about this amazing team! They're reliable, professional, and personable. Christie and Russell helped me sell my first home and buy my current home. I won't use anyone else!
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Dwain W.

Dwain W.

Both Christie and Russell were awesome to work with, even going as far as to help me find a good realtor to help sell my home in another state. I highly recommend them. 100%.
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Kylee R.

Kylee R.

Christie was amazing in helping us find our dream home. She really listened to what we wanted and when we were stuck trying to decide between two different houses, she asked what we liked about each and found us a house that wa...
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Sean W.

Sean W.

I can’t recommend Christie more! She went above and beyond providing guidance and knowledge from start to finish. Her willingness to negotiate, track down answers, and get through the process calmly is second to none. I truly a...
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Amanda M.

Amanda M.

Christie and Russell know what they’re doing! My husband and I have bought two homes with their assistance and expertise. I highly recommend them to anyone who is buying or selling a house.
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