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 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.​​​​​​​

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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 REALTOR once you choose one so he or she 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 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.

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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

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.

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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 agent.

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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. 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, 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 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.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
We are writing in regards to tell you what a wonderful experience we had working with Pascale. From the beginning, we could sense Pascale’s expertise and confidence as we began the search for our new home. My husband and I have been transferred quite a few times in our career and have felt that Pascale was defiantly one of the best agents we have had and loved working with her. She took time to sit down ...

— The Kennedy Family

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
It is a recommendation for Ms. Pascale Mercier as a seller’s agent. Overall, she provided me with excellent service. I decided to use her service because I liked her thorough presentation at our first meeting. She gave me clear explanations of the current market situation, and I gained realistic expectations from the property sale and timelines. She is not only competent but also enjoys working with peop...

— Eri

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
We had been looking to move for many years and were undecided and very selective in our search which did not make it easy for any real estate agent to deal with. In addition to that, we had to go with a contingent offer which is not an advantage in this market. Pascale was really instrumental in finding workable solutions for our situation and gave us confidence in the process. After a bit less than a ye...

— Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Gustavo has the unique ability to find creative solutions to the complex problems encountered in a Real Estate transaction with the best interests of his clients as his primary goal. Gustavo utilizes the most cutting-edge technology to market properties and stays abreast of the ever-changing Real Estate Market. Gustavo's past clients are his best measure of success as they have enthusiastically referred ...

— Kevin L.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Andrea Zeman is an exceptionally good real estate professional. We have bought and sold many houses over the years, and the service that Ms. Zeman provided us was the best we have ever received. In a tough sellers' market, she was able to skillfully negotiate with the seller's realtor and get us the house that we wanted, despite the multiple bids that were on the table. Her communication skills are excel...

— Buyer & Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
This agent staged our home and explained what to fix and paint. Told us what to upgrade and what not to do and got us one of the highest prices per square foot in our whole neighborhood. She was wonderful in explaining and helping us through the entire process. Not an easy task for such a large piece of property and a big price tag. She helped us avoid many of the pitfalls and errors that might have stop...

— Seller

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At San Diego Castles Realty and Scott & Quinn Real Estate, the customer is always at the center of our business. We look forward to earning your business and will assure you that we will never take that trust for granted. Adhering to the highest standards of ethics and professionalism, we deliver on our brand promise of excellence in marketing and representation.