Are you considering selling your home?
Let me walk you through my process.
1. Find, interview and choose an experienced local real estate agent
I would be honored to represent and guide you through one of the biggest transactions you may ever make.
I have all the essential resources, strategies and marketing know-how to get maximum exposure when selling your home.
I focus my business primarily in Zionsville which gives me the ability to provide detailed local and neighborhood information and connect potential buyers and sellers through my personal sphere and contacts.
2. Prepare your home to sell
First impressions are crucial because buyers begin judging your home the moment they see it. This begins with your curb appeal!
A home that is well maintained, updated, staged and move-in ready will fetch a much higher price and usually sells much quicker.
Prior to going on the market, sellers should declutter, deep clean and stage if necessary.
Make necessary maintenance repairs and updates as needed
Check out my Getting Prepared to List.
3. Properly price your home.
Determining the best asking price for a home is one of the most important aspects of selling it.
It is important to optimally price the home to get the most exposure to potential buyers, while at the same time not leaving money on the table.
My in-depth knowledge and daily monitoring of the Zionsville market allows me to have a deep understanding of area values. I will provide a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis) that gives you the complete breakdown of your home’s value.
Accurately determining your property's value can be done by evaluating your home's size, upgrades, condition, lot size and type.
4. List your home for sale
This includes signing a listing agreement, required Indiana Sellers Disclosure and any required internal documents.
Provide a list of any upgrades, improvements, warranties, service agreements as applicable so they can easily be provided to buyers.
Provide utility providers and average costs, home owner’s association contacts, and neighborhood amenities to allow buyers to make an informed decision.
5. Marketing Your Property
The techniques used to market your home aim to maximize your home’s market exposure, and with it, the number of showings and offers you're able to get.
Professional photography, Matterport 3D tours and drone photos are all part of my Marketing Plan.
Online advertising, custom property websites, social media exposure, listing syndication to home search portals, yard sign, in house flyers, postcards, open houses and agent networking all help drive potential buyers to your home.
6. Showings and Follow Up
Showing your home to potential buyers is part of the process of getting it sold, so prepare to have visitors coming in and out while your home is listed.
One of the most important things to do is to make your home available! The easier you make it for buyers to visit your property, the more showings you will likely get and the better chance of getting an offer. If you put too many restrictions on how and when showings can take place, they won't.
It's also very important to keep your home clean and ready for showings whenever possible. This means your home is ready both inside and out when showings are scheduled. This can be challenging, especially for those with children or on short notice, but buyers do understand. Just remember to pick up after yourself and keep things stowed away whenever possible.
All showings will be conducted by cooperating agent that is working with a buyer client. They can access the property with a key from the SentriLock electronic lockbox, so we'll know when someone was in your home and exactly who they were. This also allows us to follow up with buyer's agents for feedback after each showing.
7. Negotiate Offers
When negotiating, it is important to keep in mind your situation, priorities and needs.
The best offers usually come from serious buyers that have been pre-qualified by a lender and need to move soon.
There could be multiple back and forth offers (counter offers) until a deal is reached. Once ALL parties agree to ALL the terms of the offer in writing, you've got a contract!
8. Inspection Period
Buyers generally have 10-14 days to both complete an inspection and submit the Buyer’s Inspection Response.
Buyers may have various inspections performed at this time, including: general property inspection, termite, radon, mold, structural, and more.
Home inspectors typically check the major components of a home including: exterior, driveways, roof/gutters, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, appliances, interior etc.
Buyers may also have a survey done to pinpoint the property lines and discover any encumbrances to the property.
Once inspections have been completed, the buyer may submit the Buyer’s Inspection Response, which is a detailed list of repairs they would like completed prior to closing. This may result in a second round of negotiations for repairs, price reductions and/or change in other terms of the contract.
If an agreement can be made and the buyer is satisfied, this contingency of the purchase contract has been fulfilled.
Check out my Home Inspection Preparedness so you this process goes as smooth as possible.
9. Financing and Appraisal
If a buyer is seeking a loan to purchase your home, they'll likely need time to secure the financing and have an appraisal performed.
The buyer must submit multiple documents to the lender for review by the underwriting department before final approval for the loan can be given.
The appraisal can make or break a deal. It is the bank's verification that the property is worth what they're loaning towards and helps prevent mortgage fraud. As a seller, you want the property to appraise for at least the contract price or more, otherwise the buyer may seek a reduction in price or walk away from the deal all together.
10. Prepare for closing
If you agreed to make repairs during negotiations, work on getting those completed and send copies of receipts to Stacy.
Be sure to call utility companies and shut off service effective the day after closing.
You will receive the Settlement Statement at least 3 days prior. Please review this in detail and ask any questions you may have.
As you begin to pack, please be sure not to remove any permanent fixtures i.e. light fixtures, blinds, curtain rods (you can take the curtains- just not the curtain rods), tv mounts or anything else that has been negotiated to stay in the purchase contract. If you have questions on what to take and what to leave, please let us know!
While your home is only required to be left in broom clean condition, it’s common courtesy to either clean the home yourself after you have moved all of your stuff out or have a cleaning company come and clean it.
The buyers will more than likely schedule a Final Walk Through. At this time, they will ensure all repairs have been made and the home is in the same condition as noted in the Sellers Disclosure.
Stacy is smart, driven, organized, and very personable. She went above and beyond to sell our house and made the entire process so easy! During the sale of our house we had a vacation planned. Stacy knew our time was very tight to move. She had our yard mowed, oversaw repairs while we were gone, and even got silly putty out of my carpet! She is excellent. She makes you feel like everything will be fine. What a dream realtor. This is the third home we have sold and none were as easy as this!
-- Kim Washam