Doug
Barry
LONG & FOSTER REALTORS®
Direct
410-207-4751
Office 410-823-8111
Doug@RealtyComplete.com
Direct
Line 410-207-4751 Office 410-583-5700
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The Home-Selling Process
The time frame involved with selling your house will vary depending on a variety of factors. In the most popular neighborhoods, houses are selling very quickly if they are priced right. After calculating a time frame for marketing the property, you should allow an additional two months to get the house from sales contract to settlement. Some buyers may be able to buy more quickly, but you have to prepare for the average buyer’s schedule.
Pricing the property correctly is the most important step you can take in selling your property. I will provide you with a Comparative Market Analysis to give you an idea of what similar properties in the neighborhood have sold for. I will also use this to show you what your competition in your neighborhood is doing by looking at active listings, and will show you which listings didn’t sell, so you know what listing prices are too high. Being overpriced is the most common reason why a house will not sell during the listing term. While some agents will tell you anything you want to hear, just to get your business, and then try to talk you into lowering the price after you are locked in, I promise a fair and honest evaluation right from the very beginning.
Once your house is on the market, you should be prepared to show the house at all times. While most real estate agents do try to plan their appointments ahead of time, many buyers will decide they want to see a particular house on the spur of the moment, for any number of reasons. Being able to make the house available for a showing quickly will get more buyers through your house, which will mean more competition, resulting in higher bids.
When offers come in on your property, I will help you evaluate them, so you can decide which offers provide you with the greatest overall advantages. I will provide you with a seller’s net to show you how much you will actually get in your pocket after everything is paid off. You should take into consideration not only the sale price, but also what additional items a buyer is asking you to pay and any work they might be requiring you to do on the house.
Within a week after the sales contract is ratified, the buyer will probably want to have a home inspection on the property. In some circumstances, there may be additional inspections as well. There will also be an appraisal done of the house, which is normally required by the buyer’s lender.