Breaking Down the Home Selling Process

Coldwell Banker Realty - Casey Cooke

I’m often asked about the home selling process by homeowners who can be anywhere from three weeks to a year away from actually listing their house. The first step I always advise is getting in touch with a good Realtor because they’ll guide you on where to start with the important steps. At the first meeting, we’ll tour the house and talk about what’s important before going over a comparable analysis. In this analysis, we’ll look at what similar homes are currently selling for to determine the value of their home. Personally, I will have already looked at comparable homes within a one- or two-mile radius before the meeting. When going through their home, we’ll discuss the upgrades and money they’ve put into the home, and their favorite features, so we can compare it to the homes in the market analysis and come up with a value range. Once we’ve agreed on a value range, we’ll talk about marketing. We’ll go over the market plan and how the listing will be put all over the Internet, and also how we bring in a professional photographer, interior designer, and stager if necessary. If our services match what you’re looking for, we’ll put together a listing agreement but hold off on putting the home on the market. “If you have a budget to prepare the home for the market, we’ll show you how to spend it most effectively.” A common misconception comes into play here, and that’s the definition of ‘listing,’ which just means we’ve agreed to work together and signed the paperwork. However, we might hold the home off the market for as long as six months if you’re not ready to move yet. From there, we go through the house room-by-room to make suggestions on things like what you should clean up, how to stage it, how to define each room’s purpose, and the condition of the exterior. However, some homeowners don’t want to go through all that, but instead just want to sell the home as is. Some homeowners have varying budgets for these things, so we help them figure out how to spend it most effectively. After that step, the marketing crew gets to work—professional photographers, drone photography, and video could all be a part. Our team even has a professional writer who we’ll bring in to work with you to highlight the home’s best features and make it compelling. I also like to have a home pre-listing inspection performed. One of the biggest disappointments a home seller can have is receiving an offer only to have the buyer perform an inspection and uncover a bunch of issues with the home that could jeopardize the sale. Then, we’ll get the home listed and up on the multiple listing service, or MLS. We’ll display the photos and provide written narration for each one, then pump the listing out on more than 600 different websites. We’ll also do a print marketing campaign with thousands of print mailers. From there, the goal is to get a great offer and go into escrow, but we’ll discuss that in our next video. If you have any questions in the meantime or you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We’re here to help!