Buying or Selling a Home

Selling A Home Is No Piece Of Cake: What Goes Into It

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Selling a home is no piece of cake. If anything, it's a full cake. A full chocolate cake with fabulous decorations and a whole lot of hard work that went into making it. We're not trying to get you hungry with this metaphor, we're just trying to say that there's a lot of hard work that you or a realtor has to do to get your home on the market, and even more to get it sold. If you've ever wondered what steps you have to take to get your home on the market and purchased, look no further. The best home warranty company (that's Landmark!) has each part of the process here in this article.

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Selling a Home no Piece of Cake

 

Decide What Price to List the Home

To begin, you will need to evaluate the local market to see how much you should ask for the home. A real estate agent will be able to give you a fair-market listing price based on comparable homes, which have recently sold in your neighborhood. Sometimes owners who choose to sell their home without a real estate agent will list it at a much higher price because they unintentionally factor emotional ties into the valuation of the home. Unfortunately, pricing a home above market will keep it on the market for an unusually long time. No seller wants that. Determining the correct listing price for the home is the first step in getting a home sold in a timely manner and for a good price.

 

Stage and Repair the Home

After the home has been priced, it's time to fix it up. This could mean doing major repairs, or just sprucing up the windows and walls.  You want to stage the home so that potential buyers will be able to see themselves in the home, so de-cluttering and removing anything that shows your family, will make it easier to sell the home. If there are major repairs that need to be made, patch up your home now. A newly renovated bathroom, kitchen or bedroom will allow you to list your home for a higher price, rather than reduce costs for repairs after a buyer's housing inspection. Some real estate agents even suggest getting a home inspection completed before listing the home to make sure there aren't any major repairs that need to be completed before selling a home. 

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Photograph the Home

The next part of selling a home is to photograph it. 90% of homebuyers find their homes through the internet, so you want to make sure the home can be found online, with ample pictures to boot. Some real estate agents will hire a professional real estate photographer to take pictures of the home.

List the Home

Finally, after all of the prep work, the home is ready to be put on the market! A for sale sign will go up in your yard, and you will list the home in various places. If you are working to sell the home yourself, you will have to pay money to list it in the newspaper, or online. If you write your own listing, make sure to list the perks of your home, like including an appliance warranty, or home repair insurance from the best home warranty company. If you are working with a real estate agent, they will put the home on the Multiple Listing Service database and thousands of agents and buyers will be able to see the home online.

Arrange for Visits

With all of the people seeing the home, the home will need to be shown to potential buyers. Some home sellers and realtors will create open houses for buyers who don't want to be pressured into a sale, and to increase visibility of the home. Real estate agents will also schedule for visits, and homeowners will want to leave during the scheduled time. Home buyers are skittish about talking the pros and cons of the home over with their agent if they know the seller can hear their concerns.

 

Receiving Offers

Hopefully after showing the home to potential buyers, some of them will make an offer on the home. This is when it's exceptionally nice to have a real estate agent working for the seller, as they know all of the legal concerns about counter offering and closing on a home. They also will receive any offers and act as a middleman between the buyer and the seller.

 

Negotiating Counter Offers

After an offer is received, the seller ­ their real estate agent will look at the price offered and strategize on whether they should accept the proposal or counter. If the seller wants to make a counter offer, the realtor will work with the buyer's agent to negotiate a price for which the home will sell. If the seller isn't working with a real estate agent, he or she will have to do this him or herself.

 

Negotiating with the Escrow

When an offer has been agreed upon, the home moves into the escrow period where the ownership of the home is changing hands. This is when a home inspection is completed, and when prices are negotiated again depending on repair costs. This is when it is extremely important for a buyer to ensure everything is in good shape, especially if the home will be covered with home repair insurance (a home warranty.) If the needed repair is mentioned on the home inspection and not repaired, home warranty coverage will most likely not repair it with their contract. Of course, this depends on multiple factors, so check with the best home warranty company.

 

Closing on the Home

Finally, closing on the home! The real estate agent takes care of all of the legal paperwork and will help you to get things ready to move the home over to the buyer's property. If you are selling the home yourself, you will have to either get a real estate attorney to complete this, or make sure you are meticulous with the paperwork. Congratulations, you've sold a home!

For more information on the best home warranty company, or home repair insurance, go to www.Landmarkhw.com. 

Buying or Selling a House

Looking to buy or sell a house? Are you a real estate professional seeking helpful resources to educate your clients? These articles will help walk you through the process of buying or selling a home.

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