Have you decided to sell your house but aren’t sure where to start? In this episode of Naturally NWA, I’m going to walk you through the three stages of the home selling process. By understanding the general timeline, you’ll know exactly what to expect when selling your home.
#1: The Pre-Listing Stage
If you’re anything like most people, the thought of moving is daunting. You have to think about all the steps involved, from physically moving to getting from point A to point B. The good news is that I’m going to simplify the process and show you what to expect. This will help you to start planning.
Before we can begin marketing your house, we need to make it look good. Oftentimes, this is going to involve preparing your home for sale by doing things such as decluttering and rearranging your home to show it in the best light. It is during this pre-listing stage that you begin preparing the house for sale.
This is also a crucial step to handle before you take the pictures and video, as your first showing will take place online. It’s essential to make a good first impression with potential buyers so are they’re motivated to schedule a showing. And remember, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.
It’s during this time that you may also look for areas in your home that you can improve and get a positive return on investment with. There are many simple tricks that you can use to improve your property and sell it faster and for more money. For example, if painting a room for $250 allows us to sell the house for $2,500 more, I think that’s a pretty good investment. There are probably several areas in your home that you can spruce up that will allow you to maximize your home’s selling price.
#2: Officially Listed
Once the house is ready to be shown, it’s time to get it listed. This is the second phase of the home selling process, where you’re officially listed and showing your home. We must create a buzz for your home right away to be able to take advantage of being a newly listed property, specifically during the first two weeks.
This period on the market is when we’re the most aggressive because that’s when we’re going to see the best offers for your property. The first two weeks are also when you have the best chance to sell your home for top dollar. To take advantage of this, we’ll hold open houses and other blitz-like marketing approaches online and on social media. This will help create the buzz and urgency we want.
It’s also during this time that you need to be ready to allow showings. Of course, we don’t control when a buyer wants to see your home. However, we need to be ready to accommodate them once they do.
#3: Pending/Escrow
Eventually, your property will receive an offer that you’ll hopefully accept. It’s once this process is complete that you are officially under contract and in the final stage of the home selling process: the pending or escrow stage. Don’t get comfortable just yet, though—we still have a lot of work to do. This is the part of the process where the deal gets solidified and heads to closing.
The first thing that happens is your buyer will schedule an inspection and start lining up financing if they are getting a loan. It’s your agent’s job to follow up with all parties, coordinate all inspections, and confirm that everyone is doing their job. One little mistake can cost days in a closing, so it’s essential that we stay on top of everyone as there are a lot of moving parts.
Getting Into Your New Home
I hope this gave you a glimpse of what goes on during the home selling process. Of course, there are many details here that I haven’t covered and a lot of specifics I haven’t addressed. So if you have any questions, I’d be happy to provide you the answers. I help people just like you sell their properties every day and I would be happy to assist you
So feel free to reach out to me, and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel so you never miss an episode of Naturally NWA, the one show all about Northwest Arkansas. Stay tuned to see what I feature next!