Selling a house can be a stressful and confusing process. You may want to sell your home because your financial situation has changed and you can no longer pay your mortgage. Maybe you want to sell it and buy another one. Whatever your reason for selling, it’s important that you learn how to sell your home before you get started. That’s why I have written this blog to show you the exact steps you need in order to do it well and fast.
Related: 7 Things to Know Before You Sell Your Home
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to sell a home:
1. Decide on Your Selling Strategy
The first step in our “How to Sell Your Home” guide is to choose your route. There are basically two routes one can take when selling a home, both having their benefits and drawbacks:
- For sale by owner (FSBO): With this option, you will sell your home without the help of a real estate agent. The advantage of taking this route is that you can potentially save a substantial amount of money that you would have used for real estate agent commission, which is usually about 3%-6% of the sale price. However, if you decide to go this route, you will need to have adequate knowledge and experience in the process of selling a home. You should be knowledgeable on home appraisal, pricing, listing a property on the MLS or selling your home privately, marketing, showing your home to potential buyers, and negotiations.
Related: How to Successfully Sell FSBO Homes: A Step-By-Step Guide
- Hiring a real estate agent: This route would be best if you are a first-time seller and don’t know how to sell your house or if you want to avoid all the challenges involved in selling a house. A good real estate agent will add more value to the selling process than you would be able to get on your own. They will do all the legwork and save you a lot of time and stress. As you choose a realtor to sell your home, make sure they are licensed, have experience selling houses, and have adequate knowledge of the local housing market. You may need to interview a number of them before settling on one.
Related: The Best Ways to Find a Real Estate Agent
2. Get a Home Inspection and Do Repairs
A home inspection is also an essential step that you should consider if you are learning how to sell your home. A home inspector will help to assess your entire house for any issues that may impact its value negatively. This may include structural, plumbing, electrical, air conditioning, and gas issues. The home inspector will then give you a comprehensive report of the issues he/she finds.
A number of issues may be found with your home. However, you don’t have to repair everything. Not all repairs will pay off. Instead, focus on addressing big issues like foundation, electricity, and plumbing so as to maximize the value of your home. Doing the important repairs is one way to get your home ready to sell.
3. Set a Competitive Asking Price
With all the important repairs done, you now need to price your home to sell. Regardless of what you think your home is worth, the true determining factor of the value of your home is the real estate market. If you price your home too high, no one is going to buy it. When the price is too low, you risk losing out on a lot of money.
Your real estate agent will run a comparative market analysis for you to help determine a reasonable price for your home. A comparative market analysis is a process of finding the market value of a house by comparing it with other similar houses recently sold in the same area (real estate comps). The houses should be comparable to the subject house in terms of type, size, the number of bathrooms, the number of rooms, etc. When trying to find out how much your home is worth, also consider the state of the local real estate market. Is it a seller’s market or a buyer’s market? A good real estate agent will walk you through the CMA report and help you estimate a good price for your home.
4. Stage Your Home to Sell
Once you have come up with an ideal price for your home, it’s time to get your home in top shape for sale. Therefore, you will need to stage your home to sell. It’s time to put the finishing touches on the home before showing it to potential buyers. This step is very crucial if you are thinking of how to sell your home fast. You will also make your home more valuable. Make sure your home looks inviting to your potential buyers. You can hire a professional home stager or ask your agent to help you stage your house.
Here are some home staging tips:
- Give your house a deep clean
- Make sure the home is well lit
- Repaint the walls
- Get rid of excess clutter
- Depersonalize the space
- Improve curb appeal
- Give every room a purpose
5. List and Market Your Home
Once your home is ready for sale, it’s now time to list it on multiple channels. This will ensure that it is seen by as many buyers as possible. However, before listing, you will need to get some attractive photos of your home. Unless you are skilled in photography and have a good camera, it would be wise to invest in a professional photographer rather than trying to do it yourself. Your pictures can make or break your home listing. Your realtor may have a list of good photographers he/she has worked with in the past. Apart from having quality photos, you will also need to craft an appealing listing description highlighting the best features and amenities of your home.
Property owners can list their property for sale on the Mashvisor Property Marketplace easily and for free. Your house will have the chance of being viewed by real estate agents, investors, and other potential buyers looking for properties for sale in the US housing market. It is easy to communicate with prospective buyers through the platform as well! Try it out for yourself.
You could also market your house for sale on social media channels and through traditional marketing methods like newspapers and magazines.
6. Schedule Open Houses and Private Showings
Once your home is listed, the next step of how to sell your home is to conduct showings. Most potential buyers will want to view the house in person before they make any form of commitment. Much of this will be done by your real estate agent. However, you may occasionally be needed to interact with the potential property buyer and answer questions. If your open houses and showings are planned well in advance, you don’t have to stick around. Note that being out of the house during these times allows prospective buyers to easily imagine themselves living in the home.
7. Review Offers and Negotiate
If you priced and marketed your home correctly, you should be prepared to receive a number of offers. If you are not working with a real estate agent, you will need to know how to negotiate by making counteroffers. However, you should have a settlement price in mind. Apart from the value of the home, you should also consider the costs of selling a home. This includes the agent’s commission, repairs costs, home inspection cost, attorney fees, taxes, closing costs, etc. Your agent will do a background check into the information of the potential buyer and check their credit. This is to make sure that they are able to buy the home.
8. Complete the Paperwork and Close the Sale
If you and the property buyer come to an agreement after negotiations, the next step is to complete the paperwork and close the real estate deal. You will need to hire a title company or an escrow company to manage the closing process. They will act as a third party to collect the necessary documents and payments between you and the buyer.
The Bottom line
The process of selling your home can be intimidating, especially if you want to sell your home and buy another at the same time. The decisions you make along the way could cost you or save you thousands of dollars. This step-by-step guide on how to sell your home will help you sell your home smoothly, at a good price, and fast.