Seller’s Guide

If you’ve been through the home-buying process, you already know how complicated the real estate business can be. While you can opt to sell your home yourself, it can be time-consuming and often not worth the money saved on commissions. However, if you do hire a real estate professional as your selling agent, do your homework. Ask friends and family for recommendations, interview several candidates, attend a few open houses and watch the professional in action. Do you think this person would present your house well to potential clients?

Watch "For Sale" signs in your neighborhood for the weeks and months before you're ready to put your home on the market to see which real estate professionals sell homes more quickly. You'll need an aggressive real estate agent to sell your home in a down market When interviewing candidates, ask them to prepare a “comparative marketing analysis” for your house. This might include a demographic of the neighborhood, the quality of schools in the area and a suggested list price for the property.

There are a number of factors that will affect the success of your home sale. These include: location of the home, interest rates, economic conditions, time of year, condition of the home, marketing the home, terms of the sale and accessibility to the home. Some of these are not within your control, such as the location of your home, interest rates and economic conditions. Other factors are those you'll discuss with your real estate agent to determine what would most benefit the sale of your home. If you can, waiting for a good time to sell your home – spring or fall are the most popular home buying times – also may help it sell faster.

And pricing the home properly can make a huge difference in whether a house is purchased relatively quickly or languishes on the market for months on end. To price a home properly, you and I -- if you've chosen me to be your agent -- will study the local market, research comparable properties and consider current market conditions. This is where the “comparative marketing analysis” you requested when interviewing for a listing agent will come in handy as a place to start.

Once we've decided on the market price and how we will market your home the next step is to get your house ready for visitors. Give your home a thorough cleaning. Clean the drapes, the carpets, the furniture. If you haven't already done so, toss the clutter. Remove the small items and bric-a-brac. Try as much as possible to have your home look as if "no one lives there." You also may want to hire a home stager. These professionals work with what you have to make your home as appealing as possible to potential buyers.

They can help your rooms "flow" better and are excellent at deciding which tchotchkes in your home stay on your shelves and walls and which should be stored out of sight. Outside: Keep your lawn trimmed, the rose bushes pruned and the weeds tamed. Put away the garden hose and the tools.Make sure the bulbs in your home’s exterior lighting fixtures are all in working order. Be vigilant about removing flyers, handouts and newspapers left on your front doorstep or driveway. Inside: Brighten the rooms by opening the drapes, turning on the lights, cleaning the windows

Once you have accepted an offer to buy your house, expect to make your house available to a housing inspector, a termite inspector, an appraiser and other inspectors. After seeing the results of the inspections, the buyer may request that additional work be completed before purchase, such as repairing a damaged roof or fixing a leaky faucet. You and I will discuss whether to comply with the buyer’s request or risk losing this offer. During this flurry of activity, try to keep your home in show condition. The deal has not closed and still may fall through, which may mean showing your home to more potential buyers. In the meantime, the buyer is working with a lender to secure a loan for the purchase. When the buyer has written loan approval, a closing date can be set.

There will be a final walk-through before all signatures are collected and the deal considered done. The buyer will go room by room to check that everything is in working condition and, if you had agreed to do so, any additional work requested after inspection is completed. Now you can prepare for your own move, notify your utility companies of the date to transfer your account to a new address and start packing. Congratulations, you’ve sold your home!