Selling your home can be a daunting task. It can seem overwhelming and time-consuming.
Many factors determine how to list your home, price your home, and handle the small details.
A good agent can be your best asset and will get you far. Researching and learning about the housing market, having a well thought out ad, and hiring an appraiser can help you garner the most bang for your buck.
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🔍 Get an Appraisal
By getting an appraisal done by a professional, you will have a good base point to start.
Following an appraisal, you can take into account any special features your home may have, the current market conditions, and the value of properties similar to yours in the surrounding area.
No two homes are the same. Even if they have the same square footage, the number of bedrooms, and bathrooms, if one has a better floorplan and flow, it will sell for more.
School and tax districts can also cause a fluctuation in price.
🏠 Proper Listings
It may be difficult to find a way to price your home. If you set your price too high, your home will sit on the market for a very long time.
If you set the price too low, you may get a lot of offers but could be losing out on a higher return on your investment.
Using natural price points can reach many buyers and fetch you a fair market price.
If the market is down and you are having trouble selling your home, you might want to consider using the “bonus method”.
Much like stores with buy one, get one X% off deals, homeowners can offer an incentive for purchasing their home.
Some will offer to pay the upcoming property taxes or homeowners association membership fees.
Others will take it a step further and offer membership to a nearby golf club or day spa.
🙋♂️ Choosing an Agent That Suits Your Needs
A key step in selling your home, an agent will help you through your home selling adventure.
They can provide tips and tricks to make your house picture perfect, walk you through the pricing scales, and help with closing and escrow.
A good agent will address any questions or concerns as quickly as possible while maintaining a clear line of communication.
It is important to find an agent you can trust as you will be working hand-in-hand with them during the process.
They are more experienced with the negotiation process and can more often than not get you a better price for your home than you could without an agent.
They know the ins and outs of the housing market to help you make your home appeal to a large base of buyers while also weeding out those who are just there to look.
As they deal with the mountain of paperwork required with selling homes on a regular basis, they are familiar with the inner workings of the system and can help get the process completed as quickly as possible.
🚪 Set the Scene
Open house is around the corner and your agent has informed you the home is ready to stage.
What do you do? Staging is setting a scene and creating an image. You are selling someone’s future home.
You want them to be able to walk in and feel as if they are comfortable and can visualize themselves living there.
The first step is to clean like your favorite famous person just announced they’ll be visiting your home. Scrub everything from the baseboards up, then back down again.
Never leave a room empty. However, if your furniture is dated or worn, you may want to look into renting or borrowing the furniture to set in the rooms as a display.
Freshen up the towels in the bathroom, add some new bedding to the beds, and make sure everything is painted in neutral color schemes.
If your home is visually appealing, it will be on the market for less time.
From minor details like power washing the drive and putting out potted plants to larger details like replacing fixtures and painting the walls, your home can look picture perfect for the staging process.
🏡 Marketing Your Property
Marketing could easily be considered an art form.
Finding the right angles and lighting to highlight your home inside and out could seem difficult but there are many courses online to assist with the process. Your first line of defense should be signage.
Signs can generate a lot of potential buyers who may pass your home. Some homeowners associations have rules regarding signage so check and plan accordingly.
If your home is on the waterfront, has a beautiful view of the forest, or another landscape view, you may want to consider using a drone to take pictures in an aerial format.
Aerial views are enticing to buyers looking for that little something extra.
Also, be sure to take pictures of the inside and outside of your home and consider posting a virtual tour online.
Advertisements can reach a larger client base than signs alone. You can take out ads in magazines, on websites, or in newspapers.
Newspaper ads are usually the most cost-effective with the largest reader base. The more ads you can place, the more inquiries you will get.
The more inquiries you generate the better chance of finding a buyer.
| Allen | Firewheel |
| Frisco | Little Elm |
| Prosper | McKinney |
| The Colony | West Plano |
📝 Closing and Escrow
Escrow is an account held by a neutral third party with no ties to the buyer or the seller.
In many cases, this can be a real estate agency or a holding company that will take money from the buyer and transfers it to the seller.
It works as a mitigation system that keeps each party from feeling as if they have been shortchanged during the transaction.
When an offer is received on your home, it will either be an acceptable amount or lower than you are willing to take.
If it is a price you cannot live with, reject the offer and either start marketing your home again or start a negotiation process.
If it is an offer you are pleased with, you can accept the offer and start your closing process.
The closing process will have the final paperwork signed and delivered.
An agent will help with this process as they have been trained to do so.
By using an agent, you may not need to be present during the process as you can pre-sign the deed and have it sent to the buyer.
Give Troy Copeland Real Estate Team a call today at (469) 844-TROY (8769) to learn more about local areas, discuss selling a house, or tour available homes for sale.
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