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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 the help of an experienced team of real estate agents 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.

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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 team of REALTOR once you choose one so they can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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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 team of real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate agent with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

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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.

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Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

We 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. Our 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.

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Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. We 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.

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Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer is acceptable, we 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 team of real estate agents.

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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. We 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, we 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.

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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. We 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 team of REALTOR 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.

Marc M.
Kelly W.
Seller
Creiter
Seller
Mark A.
What Our Clients Say

Ruth Ann is an extremely competent and highly professional Real Estate professional who has our absolute trust and confidence. As someone new to San Diego, Ruth Ann understood our needs, then matched us up with another great agent familiar with the area of our interest who showed us several great properties in North County and landed us in the perfect Southern California empty nest home. Not only did the...

— Marc M.

What Our Clients Say

Ruth Ann Fisher is the consummate professional! After working with other local realtors, she was a breath of fresh air knowledgeable, competent, confident, communicative, and personally and professionally committed to getting the job done! Ruth Ann always made time for us! She always shared her opinions and ideas but listened to what we had to say and valued our input! The sale of our home was a challeng...

— Kelly W.

What Our Clients Say

My husband and I have been married for over 31 years. And in those years we have purchased and sold a few homes. Each time we went through the process, it was a nightmare. At times, we thought why buy? the process was wrenching and draining so we ended up renting for a few years. In 2011 we were introduced to Ruth Ann Fisher. And our first impressions of Ruth Ann, we were wowed. Ruth Ann is a true real e...

— Seller

What Our Clients Say

When we first started looking for a house to buy, we lived 2500 miles away. Ruth ann went above and beyond. She spent hours communicating with us to find out what we were looking for. Then spent a ton of time looking for houses that fit our criteria. When she would find one she would FaceTime with us to record a walk-through so we could get an "in-person" feel for the place. We finally found a house that...

— Creiter

What Our Clients Say

I've bought and sold a lot of properties and 1000 things can go wrong. You need a strong negotiator with experience to anticipate any problems that may occur. Issues come up regularly including financing, legal documentation, home inspections, and escrow. Ruth Ann doesn't miss a beat. She knows exactly when events are to take place, has great follow-ups, and keeps you informed. That's in addition to her ...

— Seller

What Our Clients Say

Ruth is a true professional who has managed my property since I purchased and then sold it for me. Her knowledge and communication skills exceeded my expectations and I recommend her to anyone looking to buy, sell or manage real estate. FYI I have bought and sold over 30 properties myself plus financed over 1 billion dollars in mortgages so my expectations were very high. Ruth thank you very much!

— Mark A.

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Del Coronado Realty has the exclusive ability to showcase your home to over 500,000 discerning guests annually. Located in the retail corridor of the Hotel Del, just steps away from the main lobby, Del Coronado Realty is accessible seven days a week to the hotel's many patrons. As Coronado Realtors®, the team's experience and local market knowledge is unsurpassed.

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