A Complete Guide to Selling your Home
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 and working with us will help ensure you have a transparent, seamless transaction. We will help guide you through all the necessary steps to sell your home quickly for the best price possible.
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 new 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 goals of selling your home, together we can strategically work to exceed them. 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. Bottom line, keeping the lines of communication open is paramount to best serving your needs.
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, lack of offers, and a less than optimal financial outcome: while underpricing could lead to leaving money on the table. Working with a Real Estate Agent is the best way to determine the right list price for your home. An experienced agent will determine what other comparable homes are selling for and evaluate the current market conditions, which is a critical factor in how pricing is determined.
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 it as their own. At times, small repairs or a deep clean might be suggested before listing the home. Depending on market conditions and your goals, you may want to consider renovations. I can discuss this option and ways to obtain considerably higher offers with no out of pocket costs to you.
We will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for optimizing the exposure of 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. Our team creates a marketing campaign that optimizes traffic to your home’s listing from day one. We pride ourselves in our technologically savvy methods of marketing your home, and keeping you in the loop each step of the way, with our custom systems, equipt with your own client portal. Just as no two homes are alike, no two marketing strategies are alike; we customize the marketing to a targeted audience, ensuring we meet your real estate goals.
My team also stands apart with a luxury division that markets to qualified buyers, in high end publications, domestically and internationally.
Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. Together we will evaluate each offer and make sure the parties making the offer are prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is low, we 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 desired items for the new buyer.
Once we deem the offer acceptable, I will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components. The necessary components include deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, closing date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the terms, a final contract will be prepared by the buyer’s agent. At that point you will sign the contract and I will send it to all parties including the attorneys, to begin attorney review (NJ Only).
By law in New Jersey, Real Estate contracts are subject to a 3 day attorney review. During this time both buyer and seller are encouraged to have their real estate attorney review and make any necessary changes to the standard state contract. When either attorney disaffirms the contract, the clock stops. Note, either party can cancel the contract during this period, with no ramifications . Once the attorneys agree on the revisions and finalize the rider, we are under contract on your home.
You are now under contract and 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 most cases, your home will 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. Your real estate attorney 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. Throughout the process, I will be doing a lot in the background making sure all parties stay on track to ensure a timely closing. 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. I have a concierge service to assist you through all steps of this process.
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. During this time, you can also make plans with us 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. Bottom line, I am here to help you, to ensure a seamless transition.
Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether you are relocating to a new city, upsizing, or downsizing; knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of, will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.
Whether you’re a first-time home buyer, upsizing, downsizing or an experienced real estate investor, Michele personally ensures that all Madison Group clients are treated with the honesty, respect, and efficiency that you deserve.
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MADISON GROUP
289 Franklin Avenue Wyckoff, NJ, 07481
