Seller's Guide

A Step-by-Step First Time Seller's Guide

Putting your home on the market can be a stressful process, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Fortunately, with my help ,an experienced agent, and this easy-to-follow guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for the best price possible.

Step 1: Understand Why You're Selling

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 nicer 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 needs, you can better craft your offer. 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. Make sure you convey these needs to your real estate agent once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.

Step 2: Determine Selling Price

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, and underpricing leads to receiving less than what your home is worth. Working with a real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

Step 3: Start Preparations

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 themselves in the space, making any small repairs, and doing a deep clean to make sure your home is in pristine condition.

Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

I will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising 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. My team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. I will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you 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 some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once I deem the offer is acceptable, I will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your agent.

Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now 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 some cases, your home may 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. I 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. A few days before the closing date, I will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. 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.

Step 8: Close

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. I will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your real estate agent 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 and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

Testimonials

John B.

Leanne was invaluable in getting the transaction completed. This was an FSBO, but we knew it would be worth it to have Leanne represent our interests and ensure any oddities in the process were handled correctly. So thankful.

Amy H.

Leanne is a one-of-a-kind expert and professional who made our home-selling process simple and seamless. She is forward-thinking, thorough, honest, and an effective communicator. We received 14 offers and she combed through eac...

Shannon H.

Leanne is a determined professional with boundless energy and vast knowledge. Working with her, you know that you have someone who is committed and capable on your side. What's more, Leanne is an incredibly kind and good-spirit...

Ann F.

Leanne Wade did a great job guiding me in preparing my home for sale. She was proactive and consistent in her communications and worked tirelessly on my behalf. My house sold very quickly and I got a great price! Thanks, Leanne...

Paul N.

Leanne did an outstanding job helping my wife and me find the right home. Her patience, encouragement, cheerfulness, optimism, expert knowledge, and professionalism helped us along at every step of the process. Her actions clea...

Steven S.

Leanne is an experienced and knowledgeable professional who made the home selling process very clear and easy. She knows how to market a home in order to get the highest return. I would highly recommend her to my friends and fa...

Margie M.

I was very happy with Leanne. She was extremely helpful at all stages of readying my home for sale and the process of actually selling it, including more than one crisis. Additionally, she is calm and steady, is not pushy or ag...

Cory R.

Leanne and her team were absolutely wonderful. They were so helpful and knowledgeable, making our home buying and selling process very quick. They were very thorough and very supportive of our process. Within a week of starting...

Maria R.

If you want someone on your team while purchasing and selling a home choose Leanne. Without a doubt choose Leanne. She went above and beyond helping us sell our home and purchase a new home. Her communication and responsiveness...

Jean W.

Leanne did a phenomenal job of guiding me through buying my first home. I came in knowing very little about the process, and she went above and beyond helping me learn to compare and contrast each property, what to look for in ...

Yasmeen J.

Great service and smooth transaction. I'll definitely be recommending your services!

David T.

Leanne was great and helped us win the bidding war.

William L.

This was our third real estate transaction with Leanne. She is incredibly people-centric, has exceptional due diligence skills, and always provides wonderful service with a genuine smile and a desire to help educate and set exp...

Michael R.

We were very happy to have had Leanne help us buy our first home! She was communicative and provided sound advice throughout the process. Not to mention she came to so many houses and sat through the entire inspection with us w...

John D.

Seamless sale of my property. Returning customers to Leanne’s services. She comes highly recommended and won’t disappoint.

Julia W.

Leanne is the best realtor I have ever worked with. She was extremely knowledgeable and attentive to each and every concern we had throughout the entire process. It is readily apparent she cares greatly about her work and best ...

Lisa V.

So grateful for all of Leanne’s help! She kept our needs in mind and found exactly the property in the area for which I was looking. Her recommendations for inspections and repairs saved us money both on the purchase and afterw...

Michelle J.

I had a great experience working with Leanne Wade and Howard Hanna. She was very knowledgeable about the market. I bought and sold in 2021 when it was very difficult to get your bid accepted. She helped me to put together a goo...

Andre V.

Leanne went above and beyond what I hoped for and expected of a real estate agent. She is thorough, dedicated, and passionate about what she does. With her help, the first offer I made on a home was accepted by the seller who h...

Yen K.

Our selling process was so smooth and it was all thanks to Leanne.

Work With Me

My repeated qualification for the Howard Hanna Champions' Club and experience as a Luxury Home Specialist are further assurances of the quality service you will receive as my client. I'm an award-winning designer with an eye for detail and use those skills to help your home put its best face forward.

Let's Connect

Follow Me on Instagram

Follow Me