Home Selling Guide
Selling a home is absolutely a case by case scenario. While I build a general marketing plan, every home is different, and every buyer is different. The most important thing for selling a home quick is getting people out to see the home itself through great marketing, and the correct marketing for the home. Luckily, this is what I excel at.
You can start this process out by doing both a quick and instant home valuation by clicking here. If you want more details and maybe a better valuation, I can do a custom CMA for you by clicking here. This is a quick outline to what the process looks like:
1. Let’s see the place
The first step for me is to come out and see the home. We’ll look at what’s great about the home, what’s been updated, what could use some fixing up, and overall condition of the home. We’ll do a property condition disclosure that’s required by each seller to present to prospective buyers. While an inspector will do a much more thorough job than we will, this gives us a starting point of what we can expect in cost for repairs.
2. Pull comps
Next, we need to get an idea of what your home is worth. A “comp” just means “comparable”. Other lingo for it is “CMA”, or comparative market analysis. In the end, it’s the appraiser for the buyer’s mortgage lender that determines the opinion of value for they will receive financing for, but I’ll do some CMAs will give us a good idea of what price to list it on the market for. Just know it’s not a perfect science. Each appraiser is different, some are more liberal, some are more conservative. They are simply here to give a lender an opinion of value for lending purposes. If it’s a cash offer, and the home is in high demand, sometimes you can get over asking- especially in our market.
3. Marketing
My favorite part. This is where we make the house look as awesome as possible so people will actually come out to see it. If you can get them to come to the home, then they can imagine what it would be like living there. Getting them excited to come see the home is what I do well. We need to get the home as clean as possible, and staged properly and neutrally. Then I’ll produce all the fun media and web stuff. Facebook and social media ads, the local MLS database, exclusive websites, road signs, flyers, fun open houses, exclusive mass newsletters I’ve personally built, and more are all part of the marketing to get a home sold- and sold as fast as possible with a great offer! Every home has a story to tell. I’ll help tell the best story possible so the right buyer will come along to buy it. Here are two very different marketing approaches for two very different homes. Both sold. Both sellers earned plenty return!
Many times we could absolutely receive the offering you’re looking for in a day or two. The Nashville area market can be awesome like that. Sometimes, like the farm home above, the home might sit for a bit. However, that farm house was on the market for two months before my wife and I took it over WITHOUT ONE SHOWING. That’s why marketing is important. Once we took it over, we had dozens of showings.
4. Say yes to an offer
I’ll submit every offer that comes in to you. Even the bad ones! Ha. It’s my job to make sure you know what’s going on! Once you hear the offer you want, we’ll say yes and I’ll have the buyer’s agent submit the offer in writing. Once we sign, it becomes a contract. Again, this is what I do. I have a great circle of others agents (like my wife), brokers, lenders, and advisors around me that I consult with on every deal. We’ll make sure the contract is negotiated well, to your best interest.
5. Agree on terms, and fix stuff.
This isn’t the fun part, but necessary to bank on that equity your going to get from your home sell. Every offer, even great ones, will still have terms, conditions, contingencies, all the stuff legal and contactual binding details that will have to be met. Like termites. If an inspector finds them, it’s the sellers responsibility to order a remediation. And this is very common in Tennessee. Here are a few other common contingencies written into the contract:
- Simple repairs: leaks, cracks, radon and termite remediation
- Major repairs: mold, asbestos, rotton decks, plumbing
- Improvements: new paint, new blinds, new carpet, installing hardwood
- Closing costs negotiations
- Purchase contingent upon buyers selling their home
Once all conditions and contingencies are met, we can let the buyers know we’re good to close. The hard part is over. Now the buyer’s lender goes to work and we wait on a check!
6. Move out and get paid
Well, almost all the hard stuff is over. You still have to move your stuff out! We’ll figure that out to as the transition needs to work for everyone. No one wants to be homeless or live in a hotel for a few days. But once the closing day comes, and all funding is complete, you’ll hand over the keys and they’ll be delivered to the new owners once they complete closing.