Leave a Message

Thank you for your message. We will be in touch with you shortly.

Seller's Guide

Everything You Need To Know About Putting Your Home On The Market, Accepting An Offer, And Closing On Your Home

A Step-by-Step First Time Seller's Guide

Putting your home on the market can be a stressful process, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Fortunately, with the help of an experienced agent  and this easy to follow  guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps  will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for  the best price possible.​​​​​​​

main

Step 1: Understand Why You're Selling

What do you want to accomplish with the sale of your home? Do you want to make a certain amount of money that you can put toward a larger or nicer home? Do you need to sell it as soon as possible to facilitate a move to a new city or area? Once you understand your needs, you can better craft your offer. For example, if you need to sell quickly, you might want to price your home lower than if your goal is to make a certain profit margin. Make sure you convey these needs to your realtor once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.

main

Step 2: Determine Selling Price

Knowing how to price your home is one of the most important parts of the selling process. When you set a fair price in the beginning, you’ll get the most interest from other real estate agents and prospective buyers. Overpricing your home could lead to reduced interest, and underpricing leads to receiving less than what your home is worth. Working with a real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

main

Step 3: Start Preparations

If you’ve kept your home in showroom condition since you’ve lived in it, you’re in the minority of homeowners. Once you price your home, it’s time to start getting it ready to be shown to potential buyers. This includes getting rid of clutter, depersonalizing the space so that buyers can envision themselves in the space, making any small repairs, and doing a deep clean to make sure your home is in pristine condition.

main

Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

I will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising your home. This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, or SEO advertising. My team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

main

Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. We will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you can make a counter-offer or offer other ways to bridge the gap, such as covering some or all of the closing costs, making repairs, adjusting the move-in date, or leaving some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

main

Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer is acceptable, we will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your agent.

main

Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now very close to the end of your selling journey. But first, you and the buyer must make a list of what needs to be done before closing. In some cases, your home may need to be formally inspected, surveyed, and appraised. In other cases, major or minor repairs will need to be made before the house can close. I will head up efforts to develop and execute this list, get each action item paid for by the correct party, and make sure everything is in order by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to move out of the home so the new buyer can take possession.

main

Step 8: Close

You’ve reached the last step in the seller’s process. When you close on a home you are selling, you are legally transferring ownership of the property to the new buyer. We will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your realtor to handle final details such as canceling utilities, cable, and lawn or trash services, changing the name on accounts that the new owner is retaining and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jennifer Vick & Co is the best! They go above and beyond for their clients and we are so happy that we chose them to buy and sell!

— W. Kelly

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jennifer and her team are nothing short of amazing. They are the pinnacle of professionalism and the peak of performance in an industry with more people with real estate licenses than there are drivers licenses in the state. This was not our first time selling a house and we were truly amazed at Jennifer and her team. I highly recommend her to anyone buying or selling a home. Unfortunately we have moved ...

— R. Dipanfilo

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Liz Cruz and her team did an amazing job. Extremely knowledgable, thorough, detailed and responsive. Liz went over and above her role as realtor. I highly recommend Liz or any of the team members who also assisted along the way to help you with your search!

— J. Polking

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

We worked with Jennifer on the purchase of our new home.She and her team are wonderful. They are very professional and knowledgeable. Highly recommend to anyone looking to buy or sell. You will be in very capable hands.

— J. Mansour

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

I used Jennifer Vick and her staff for two real estate transactions in the past year. First, to buy a home after I moved down from Massachusetts in May 2020. Most recently they assisted in the sale of that same home since my fiance and I have decided to relocate to SC. Everyone I worked with was professional, responsive, and most importantly to me, knew the market and how to get the sale done (from both ...

— Chris M.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

I cannot imagine how a Realtor® could be better than Jennifer Vick. Selling our home was very emotional for us, and going through it while buying another home was stressful. Jennifer took care of everything for us from answering every question, listening to every concern, guiding us through accepting the offer that was right for us, setting up the repairs needed on the house for us, and in every way goin...

— Bess C.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

What's Your Home Really Worth?

What's Your Home Really Worth?

Your Home Valuation

Thank You! We are going to prepare a customized report with information on the value of your home.
View Our Listings

Work With Us

Get assistance in determining current property value, crafting a competitive offer, writing and negotiating a contract, and much more. Contact us today.