Seller's Guide

Step 1 | Hire a Real Estate Agent

As with buying a house, a good real estate agent is crucial to a successful home sale. They know the current going rate for comparable homes in your area, ensuring that you don’t get lowballed. Good real estate agents are also master marketers, utilizing both online and offline channels to let the world know you’re selling. Your agent will also vouch prospective buyers, and schedule open houses for them. Of course, they will also guide you through the paper and legal work involved in selling real estate.

Step 2 | Fix Up Your Home

Help your home put its best foot forward by fixing issues before you sell. Curb appeal is essential as your front yard is the first thing buyers will see. Things to do include: repainting exterior walls, repairing/replacing the roof, replanting turf, and putting in a new front door.

Repainting interiors walls can also make a room look like new in no time, as does replacing old curtains or drapes. If you have faulty fixtures like heaters or plumbing, now’s the time to have those fixed as defects can drive home prices down.

Step 3 | Stage Your Home

Staging your home means making it as presentable—and desirable—to buyers as possible. The first thing to do is to declutter your home to make it look bigger. Put into storage anything you haven’t really used in the last six months.

Then depersonalize your home by removing items such as family photos or knick-knacks on the shelves. Removing personal effects makes it easier for prospective buyers to imagine themselves living in your home.

If you can afford, consider hiring an interior designer who can help update your home’s style. It’ll cost extra, but buyers are sure to appreciate this value-added service.

Step 4 | Price Properly

Pricing a home is a delicate balance—price it too low and you lose money; price it too high, and you lose prospective buyers. Ask your real estate agent for prevailing market rates, and work closely with them to decide on a final price. It might be smart to underprice your house a bit to create a bidding war, which inevitably raises the asking price to or above market rates.

Step 5 | Entertain Offers

Thanks to your real estate agent’s work, offers should start coming in. Word to the wise: don’t jump on the first one. Review other bids first, and see which buyer gives you the best deal. Do expect that buyers will negotiate for a better price; be willing to give a little discount as long as the final number is within your ideal range.

Step 6 | Go into Escrow

Once you’ve signed the purchase agreement, you enter the escrow phase. Here, an escrow officer will safely keep the downpayment until all contingencies and agreements between buyers and sellers are met. Once these are fulfilled, the monies and documents will be released.

Step 7 | Close It!

During closing, you sign all the necessary paperwork and turn over the keys to the new owners. At this stage, focus on preparing to move into your new home.