Selling a home is an exciting time since it generally coincides with setting off for new adventures. Regardless of the reason, the process can also be overwhelming. If you are in South Florida, an experienced realtor like Bryan Gold can help guide you through the home selling process.

 

Step 1: Explore your financial situation.

Selling your house will probably involve some spending upfront, whether it’s for repairs or professional photos. Before you go any further, you need to determine how you will pay for these costs. 

 

Step 2: Determine why you are selling and set nonnegotiables.

Your motivation for selling may determine how you proceed through the rest of the process, especially if that motivation includes a timeline. Identify your nonnegotiables. Do you need to be out by a certain date? Do you need to get a certain amount of money from the sale? Knowing this information can help you negotiate deals with potential buyers.

 

Step 3: Research the market.

Explore the best time to sell in your market, which varies based on location but is generally thought to be the first two weeks in May. Research can also help you plan how long it will take to sell your home and the average selling price of homes in your neighborhood.

 

 

Step 4: Hire a realtor.

Selling a home is complicated since it involves both the legal and financial industries, and a realtor is the best way to make sure everything is done right.

 

  • Ask for referrals and do research online. Look at how long they’ve been selling, the number of completed sales, any awards they’ve received, the quality of the images on their listings, and their online presence.

  • Interview potential candidates to find the one that best works for your goals.

  • Negotiate your contract.

  • Trust their advice. 

 

Step 5: Get a pre-sale inspection.

This step isn’t required, but it will save you from issues that may derail a sale later. Hire an inspector to check your home for potential problems. It’s also best to get the HVAC system serviced and test all your smoke alarms—little things like that show you have paid attention to detail.

 

Step 6: Make repairs and upgrades carefully.

With the inspection report and your realtor’s understanding of what buyers in the area are looking for, make repairs and upgrades. Make sure what you do has a high return on investment. Repainting, replacing an old carpet, and sprucing up the landscaping are cheap ways to improve the appearance of your house. 

 

Step 7: Clean, declutter, depersonalize, and stage the house.

Clean your house from top to bottom, and declutter as best you can. If you have pets or kids, try to minimize evidence of their belongings so that potential buyers can envision their family in the home rather than yours. 

 

Consider renting a storage pod to declutter. Don’t try to shove it all in the basement or closets since you want potential buyers to think you have plenty of storage. 

 

Remember that once you’ve done your deep clean, you need to keep the house clean because showings can happen at a moment’s notice. 

 

Step 8: Have professional photos taken of your home.

Grab buyers’ attention with high-quality photos. Most realtors either know how to take professional photos of a home or bring in a photographer. 

 

Step 9: Set a realistic price for your home.

If you have a realtor, ask for their advice on how to price your home competitively. You want it to be high enough that you get the money out of it you deserve, but if you price it too high, people may not even look at it, especially if they set limits on their online search results.

 

If you aren’t sure about their list price, check out comparative homes in the area, usually referred to as comps. Look at what houses similar to yours have sold for in recent months. You should price your home competitively with those.

 

Step 10: List your home on multiple platforms and start showing it.

Your house needs to be ready to show each day because you never know when someone will want to look at it. If you leave the house in a rush in the morning before work, don’t make the bed, and leave your dirty dishes in the sink, that won’t be attractive to a potential buyer.

 

 

Step 11: Review and negotiate offers on your home.

When people make offers on your home, you have three choices: 

 

  • Accept the offer

  • Counteroffer in writing with a 48-hour deadline

  • Decline the offer

 

When looking at offers, it’s tempting to just look at the overall price, but you should also consider some other elements of the offer:

 

  • Whether they are paying cash or financing

  • What type of financing they are using

  • The amount of down payment

  • Any contingencies they may have (such as whether their house sells)

  • Credits or personal requests they may have 

  • Proposed closing date

 

Step 12: Once you’ve accepted an offer, the buyer will have an inspection and an appraisal done.

Based on this inspection, the buyer’s realtor will give you a list of repairs the buyer would like done. Don’t argue with any safety issues, but everything else is negotiable. If you can’t get the repair done yourself, you can offer a credit for the buyer to take care of after they move in.

 

The buyer’s lender will also conduct an appraisal to ensure the home is in line with what they are paying for it. Again, make sure your home is clean and staged for this, and have your neighborhood comps on hand to justify your price.

 

Step 13: Move out and sign the paperwork.

At this point, you just have to wait for the closing date to make everything official. Pack up your belongings, and hand the keys over at the closing or afterward if you agree to a possession date after the closing date. 

 

Let Bryan Gold Help You Sell Your Home

 

As a full-time agent in South Florida, Bryan knows how to price your home right and has the connections to make sure it sells fast. Contact Bryan today to start the process.