Home sellers can find the home selling process difficult. Were do you begin. Setting a price, staging your home, getting an offer all can feel overwhelming.
The reasons that bring a person to sell their home is as unique as the home itself. People move for a variety of reasons. Whether you need a larger home, smaller home or are relocating for work, the process is essentially the same.
Step 1
Make the decision to sell your home. I will admit to personally having difficulty doing this. Your home is such a fixture in your life that it is difficult to be emotionally unattached from the sale of your home.
Step 2
Decide whether you are able to sell your home yourself or if you need assistance to sell your home. Take into consideration that dealing with buyers can be difficult. Scheduling showings, negotiating offers, dealing with conditions can be highly stressful and having assistance that can guide you through the process can be helpful.
Step 3
If you have decided to use a Realtor, then you need to select one. I would recommend that you interview more than one person and decide which one will represent your home best. Realtors essentially offer the same services with little variations. Pick an agent you feel comfortable with, and try not to be swayed by out-of-area advertising. A local buyer purchases most homes. An agent that understands your local market, and how to best utilize the standard resources will be more effective than any out-of-town advertising.
Step 4
Showing and open house preparation is essential. I recently sold a family members house and had suggested that they "light the house up like Vegas." This simply meant that the house needed to be tidy and bright. Take advantage of any and all natural lighting. Depersonalize your home by removing knick-knack's, memento's and most personal photography from the wall.
Step 5
So you have survived all of the stressful showings and open houses, now comes an initial offer. You have three ways to deal with an offer; accept it, decline it or sign it back. From a buyers perspective they are expecting a sign-back or some form of negotiation. Negotiating an agreement for the purchase and sale of your home can be quite complex. If you are selling privately or with an agent make sure that you understand what you are signing. The only bad question is the one you don't ask.
Step 6
You now have an accepted offer. You have settled on a price, conditions and a closing date. The common conditions to be fulfilled are financing (2-10 days), insurance (1 - 5 days) "Home Inspection (1 - 5 days). For rural properties include water potability and flow rate tests (2 - 14 days). In most instances these conditions are removed without incident.
Step 7
Once the conditions have been fulfilled there will be a period where you will need to make arrangements to move out of the house. Packing and other busy work will fill the days as you prepare to move on from your home.
Step 8
Usually a day or 2 before closing you will meet with your lawyer to discuss the closing procedures and to make sure that the keys to the home are exchanged. At that time, your lawyer will discuss how the proceeds of the sale will be distributed. That often means discharging the existing mortgage, discharging construction liens and so on.
Step 9
Moving day is here. There is a mad scramble to load truck and get organized so the new buyers can move in. You have made it through the process congratulations.
