A great real estate agent for a seller can assist you with numerous tasks. They will help you prepare your home for sale, decide on a price, determine a selling strategy and negotiate with buyers. Below you will find more information on the responsibilities of a seller’s agent and what qualities to look for, so when the time comes you will know how to choose a real estate agent to sell your home.
Below are six steps that the listing agent takes to prepare your home for sale!
1. Preparing Your Home to Sell
An experienced listing agent will know how to maximize your property value so you can receive top dollar value for your home. They will be able to identify any and all improvements you should make to your home to increase the amount that it can potentially sell for. They will also be able to recommend service providers such as an inspector, handyman, painter, landscaper, etc. who will provide high-quality service to your home at a very reasonable price.
It is in your best interest to hire an inspector after the first consult to complete home and pest inspections, and depending on the property, you may also want to inspect exterior features of the home including the roof, sewer, drainage, fireplace, pool, or other key features. Depending on the amount of work, your agent will either advise you to complete the repairs or leave the home as it is for the buyer.
2. Staging Your Home to Sell
Preparing your property is an art and needs attention if you want to maximize your sale price. Your agent will assist you with staging your home so that it makes a positive first impression among potential buyers, from the time they look at the listing photos, to the moment that they walk into your home. We also offer staging furniture here at The Raines Group that we will bring into your home and decorate to make it look perfect.
In order to start staging a home, it is very important to remove all clutter to make the room appear larger and to help the buyer visualize the space. It is also important to leave a small amount of furniture in the room so that buyers can picture where their own furniture will go. This will allow the potential home buyers to picture what it would be like to move into this home.
3. Professional Photographers
Once the home is prepped and staged, it will be ready for a professional photo shoot. Keep in mind that you only have one chance to make a first impression, so it is important that you are using a professional photographer to shoot photos of your home for sale. When you work with The Raines Group real estate team to sell your home, you will receive free professional photos as part of our service. This includes both interior and exterior shots of your home that will be posted on Zillow, Flyers, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to advertise your home for sale.
4. Calculating a Price for Your Home
The next step is to determine a price before your home goes on the market. Your agent will create a comparative market analysis (CMA) to review comparable homes nearby that are currently on the market, pending, or have recently sold. This will give you more information on what people are willing to pay for homes that are similar to yours so you can set a competitive price. Some agents like to email information about their seller’s home to three to five top agents in the area to get their pricing opinion. Then your seller and agent know the comps and how much other top agents believe their buyers would pay.
5. Marketing Your Home to Potential Buyers
Once you have determined a price for your home, it is ready to go on the market. Your agent will install a sign in your yard, deliver flyers, set up a lockbox for other agents to take clients around your home, and put your home on the multiple listing services website and other real estate search sites. The Raines Group will also send information about your home to people who are searching for similar homes in your area. In addition to online marketing, your agent may recommend scheduling an open house and setting an offer deadline.
6. Closing the Deal
If you receive an offer, The Raines Group will send out an alert to anyone who has viewed or favorited your home to make sure they get one more chance to make an offer before it sells, to see if you can get a higher price. Your agent will review each offer and help you negotiate terms to get the best deal. They will also guide you through all of the paperwork and steps that need to be completed in the closing process to officially hand over your keys to the new owner. After that, your home is officially sold!
If you have any questions about selling a home, call us today at 614.855.8700!
