Selling 101: What to Expect When You’re Listing Your Home
01.
Talk to a Few Different Realtors
Real estate is a people business above all. Meet with a few agents and choose the one you feel most comfortable with. Their expertise matters, but so does how they listen, communicate, and show up for you. If you don’t enjoy talking with them, the process will feel like a drag.
02.
Choose Your Listing Agent (Hi, That’s Me!)
Once you’ve chosen your agent, we’ll confirm expectations, communication style, and timing so we’re fully aligned. From here on out, you have a partner and advocate guiding every step of your sale.
03.
Pre‑Listing Inspection & Repairs
Before we hit the market, it's optional but I always reccommend we do a pre‑listing inspection so there are no surprises when buyers do theirs. We’ll decide what to fix or improve ahead of time so small issues don’t spook buyers or derail negotiations later.
04.
Prep Your Home for Market
Once you find the one, we’ll craft a strategic offer based on market data, your goals, and the seller’s priorities to give you the best chance of having your offer accepted.
One of the most important aspects of the offer are electing the right contingencies. Contingencies: A topic we will discuss in Buying 201, but all you need to know is that there are several things that still need to happen for this deal to go through, and if for some reason we cannot satisfy them, you can cancel the escrow and get your deposit back. That's why it's important to hire the right person to guide you through this very important process.
05.
Pricing Strategy & Marketing Plan
Once your offer is accepted, the fun begins! This is the point at which you send over your earnest money deposit, and then we'll do physical inspections of the property. For single family homes, we always do a general physical, sewer and chimney (if applicable). If the physical inspector recommends follow ups with specialists, we do that next. You can add on a-la-carte inspections as well, for things like mold, radon, foundation etc. The purpose of the home inspection is not to look for potential ways to renegotiate your purchase price, but to uncover major material defects that would seriously undermine the value of your investment. If these things come up, we discuss asking the seller to fix them or credit you to fix them after closing.
Also involved during the escrow, reviewing seller disclosures, statutory disclosures, natural. hazard disclosures that may affect the property, and other due diligence items to make sure you're going into this with eyes wide open. No surprises. Full transparency.
You'll also be working hand in hand with your lender signing (A LOT) of paperwork, providing paperwork and details to secure your loan etc. Once all those steps are done, your lender will give their commitment and we can remove the mortgage contingency.
06.
Go Live: Showings, Broker Caravan & Open Houses
When we go live, your home will be on broker caravan the first Tuesday so other agents can preview it for their clients. We’ll host open houses the first weekend to build momentum and make sure we’re aligned on best practices for showing schedules so it works smoothly for your life.
Get Offers, Negotiate them, Move towards Closing
07.
Once we're in escrow the buyer will be doing most of the work, but we still have our own due diligence on our side, and I'll guide you through this every step of the way. Then closing day comes, you move out and collect your cash!