Blog > Sell Your Home in 7 Steps: A Look at the Home Selling Process
Thinking about selling your home this year? If your current home is no longer meeting your needs, and you feel like it’s time to find one that does, this blog is for you!
Selling your home can be a stressful, emotion-filled process. But while selling a home that holds so many memories can’t help but be emotional, it doesn’t have to be quite so stressful. Understanding the steps of the home selling process can ease your mind and help you have a smooth, low-stress home sale.
Here are the 7 basic steps to selling your home, from finding a great agent and getting your house ready to list, to working through the negotiation process and closing. Let’s dive in.
1. Hire a Great Real Estate Agent
The first step in your home selling journey is to find yourself a great real estate agent to help you list and sell your home.
It’s always a good idea to interview a few different real estate agents before choosing one to work with. Reach out to 3 or 4 local real estate agents and have them meet you at the home to discuss your options. Share the details of your home with them, especially anything you feel is important to highlight in your listing, and ask them any questions you have about selling your home.
Each agent will give you an estimate of what they think your home could sell for, as well as what their commission and any other fees would look like. But make sure you choose an agent based on more than price. In fact, if 2 out of 3 agents give you similar estimates for what your house could sell for, and the 3rd gives you a number that’s much higher, that’s typically a red flag.
When choosing a real estate agent, consider each agent’s credentials, experience, reputation, knowledge of the local market, and how busy they are (i.e., how much time they’ll have for you), as well as how they communicate.
2. Make Repairs and Prep Your House for Sale
Before you list your home, it’s important to make sure it gives a great first impression to potential buyers.
Do your walls, floors, or doors have smudges, scuff marks, or even dings and dents? Does the carpet need a deep clean? Are the baseboards and ceiling fans dusty? How do your window treatments look? Are all your appliances in working order? Go through your home with a fine tooth comb, trying to see it from a buyer’s perspective. Make sure it’s show ready and in tip top shape!
And don’t forget about the exterior curb appeal of your home! If the front porch needs a paint job or the landscaping could use a little freshening, do it now.
Also, now is the time to declutter and de-personalize your space. The more stuff you have in your home, the smaller it will look to a potential buyer. And the more personalized items (family photos, etc) you have, the harder it will be for buyers to picture themselves living there.
Get down to the bare minimum of belongings you need to live in your home until it sells, and pack up any non-essentials. (Bonus: this will help make the final packing and moving process go a LOT smoother!) It can help to rent a pod or storage unit to get non-essentials out of the way.
3. Have Professional Photos Taken
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when selling your home in our technology-driven world is to skip having professional listing photos taken!
In 2021, 99% of home buyers between the ages of 23 and 56 used the internet to look at homes! That means the first impression a buyer gets of your home doesn’t happen when they walk through the door…it happens when they click on your listing online.
Quality professional photos are a must in today’s market.
Before the photographer comes over, prep your home the way you would for a showing, making sure everything is clean and organized, countertops are clear, toilets are flushed and lids are closed, garbage cans are out of sight, kids’ toys and pet accessories are stashed away, and so on.
Also, turn off overhead lights and open up all window coverings: your home will look its best in natural light.
4. List Your Home!
Once you have photos done, it’s time to put your home on the market! Your real estate agent will add your home to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), and your home will begin to appear in online searches. They’ll also put up a For Sale sign and do any other marketing you agreed upon when you met with them.
For your listing, you’ll also need to fill out disclosure forms, indicating any history of issues you are aware of with the house. Your agent will provide you with the forms, and will be available if you have questions.
Once your home is on the market, you just have to wait for the showing requests to start coming through. If your home is priced accurately and in its best condition, you won’t have trouble getting showings.
Before each showing, put your best foot forward and get your home ready just as you did before the photographer came over. In addition, it’s ideal to remove your pets from the home during showings. While we love your fur babies, it’s best not to have them around during showings—both for their sake and for the sake of buyers. Showings can be stressful for pets, and some buyers may be uncomfortable with an animal in the home.
You’ll also want to go easy on the air freshener. Strong scents (even good ones) can be a big turnoff for buyers, so try your best to make your home smell clean and fresh, without strong odors.
5. Review Offers and Work Through Contingencies
Once an offer comes in, your agent will review it with you. You can then decide if you’ll accept the offer as is, give a counter offer, or reject it altogether.
The offers you get may have one or more contingencies included, such as:
- Inspection contingency. The buyer wants to have a home inspection done before proceeding with the sale. They may want to negotiate regarding any issues that show up in the inspection.
- Financing contingency. Any buyer that is using a loan to purchase a home will include this contingency in their offer. Essentially, it states that if the buyer isn’t able to get financing, the offer will be canceled.
- Appraisal contingency. Similarly, whenever a lender is involved in a home purchase, they’ll want to have an appraisal done. An appraisal ensures the sale price doesn’t exceed the value of the home.
- Sale of buyer’s property. You’ll see this one if the buyer needs to sell their current home first before buying. The deal will be dependent on their ability to sell their home.
There are other contingencies you may see as well, but these are the most common. Before an offer can proceed, you’ll need to work through the requirements of each contingency. But before you get too anxious about these contingencies, remember that your agent will be there to walk you through each step and make sure everything goes smoothly.
6. Pack, Move Out, and Clean
Once you have an accepted offer and work through any contingencies, it’s time to pack up and move out!
Now is the time to pack up anything you didn’t when you got your home ready to sell, hire or find moving help, and move to your next home. Note that in most cases you’ll need to be completely moved out by closing day, as the buyer will take ownership of the home as soon as the papers are signed.
Before closing day, you’ll also need to clean your home top to bottom. While this isn’t technically required, it’s best practice (and it’s kind). Think about how you’d want your new home to look when you move in, and do your best to get your home in that condition before you leave.
7. Closing Time!
Finally, it’s closing day! This is the day when you’ll sign the paperwork, hand over the keys to the new owner, and get paid for your sale.
In most cases, the seller pays the commission fees for both the seller’s and buyer’s side of the transaction. Also, if you’ve agreed to pay part or all of the buyer’s closing costs, that amount will come out of the proceeds as well.
You’ll also need to pay your own closing costs, which cover things like outstanding balances on the home (utilities, property taxes, HOA fees, etc), recording fees, and title fees. Closing costs can vary, but are generally around 1-3% of the home’s sale price. You should know the total of these costs a few days before closing day.
And that is the home selling process in a nutshell. If you have questions or are ready to talk about selling your home, give me a call at 612-227-5537. I’d love to help you out!
Also, don’t miss my blog on steps to the home buying process to help make buying your next home easier.