Sell Your Home

7 Proven Steps to Selling Your Home:

By Dennis Elliott - Top Sacramento Realtor

When Listing Your Home For Sale, the goal is to Sell Your Home for the Maximum Sales Price, in the least amount of time possible! By following my proven 7-Step Formula, I will help you Successfully Sell Your Home for Top-Dollar, Fast!

Step 1 – Introductory Meeting

The first step in the home-selling process is to set a time for me to come see the place (COVID 19 Update: I am vaccinated and have tested negative for COVID). During our first meeting, I will go over some important information with you on what to expect with the listing process, so that there are no surprises later. I will ask you important questions to develop a timeline, and to create a game plan tailored to your specific needs. Setting a timeline for when you plan to be sold and moved is important because it allows us work backwards, ensuring that all of the steps in between can be comfortably met, without skipping steps or racing to catch up at the last minute. I will provide you with information on comparable sales in your area to help establish a listing price, and I will provide you with my own “Seller Cheat Sheet,” so that you will know exactly what you need to do to ready your home for sell.

Step 2 – Establish a Price

Pricing accurately is crucial to successfully selling your home. Pricing too high is the number one reason why homes don’t sell, but overpricing is easily prevented by accurately researching comparable homes in your area. I will carefully research recent comparable sales in your area, and during our first meeting, I will present you with a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) Report, which shows you exactly what those comparable homes look like, including interior and exterior photos, information on square footage, amenities, and price. We will use this to establish a listing price for your home.

Step 3 – Prepare Your Home

When preparing your home for sale, view your home through the eyes of a buyer, and ask yourself what you’d expect. Refer to the “Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Home for Sale ” which I will provide you with at our initial meeting, and use it as your guide. Everything you need to know about how make your home show in the best possible way, is included in the Home Seller Guide. After the home is “show-ready,” we will schedule to have professional photos taken, to showcase your home to thousands of buyers through the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and through 100's of major websites like Zillow & Realtor.com.

Step 4 – List It For Sale

Once we have established a price, and have the professional photos ready, I will create a listing in the MLS. Depending on if the home is occupied or vacant, we will include appropriate showing instructions for other Realtors who wish to show your home to their clients. I may also setup and host open house events during times that work for your schedule, in order to get interested buyers in to see the home.

Step 5 – Offers and Negotiation

When a buyer finds your home through their home search, and decides it could be the home for them, the buyer’s agent will help the buyer to write an offer, and will then send the offer to me. I will then forward the offer to you for review, and discuss your options with you. You will then decide whether to accept, reject, or counter the offer.

Step 6 – Under Contract

Once all sides have agreed to the terms, and have signed all necessary agreements, we will be under “contract.” I will contact a title company to open escrow. At this stage, you will need to sign a series of “Seller Disclosures,” which I will help you with. While under contract, the Buyer will likely order one or more inspections of the home, as part of their due diligence. It is important to be as accommodating as possible with inspections. Depending on what the inspections reveal, the Buyer may ask for repairs and / or credits. I will work with you and help advise on how to best negotiate such requests.

Step 7 – Closing

Once the Buyer has removed all contingencies, and the Buyer’s lender has issued the “clear-to-close,” you will need to sign closing docs. The signing will either take place at a location of your choosing (via mobile notary), or at your escrow officer’s title office. Once all of the funds from the buyer (and buyer’s lender) have been received to the escrow account, the title company will then issue you (and your lender if applicable) the final check or wire. Congratulations, you did it!