Sell A Home
If you’re thinking about selling your home, it’s important to understand what needs to be done to make the process as easy as possible. Choosing to work with Crystal is an amazing first step as her approach to real estate leaves every customer with a smile on their face and a home sale experience in their pocket. Getting to know each client and their home is how Crystal can make miracles happen and match sellers with their dream buyers.
Since no two houses or families are the same, Crystal goes into every new client meeting with an open mind and open ears. Not only has she helped sell homes in her backyard of Lexington and Richland counties, but she’s been able to link sellers with out-of-state buyers who are trying to cash in on remote work options.
What To Expect When Selling Your Home
Selling a home is NOT a simple process. Every home, regardless of age, needs to be showcased in its best light. Doing so may require new changes, whether that’s a simple staging improvement or a complete remodel, and having a skilled professional can make all the difference. Time is also a key factor. From first impression to final closing, the process of selling a home can take months, depending on initial needs; even longer if snags are encountered along the way. Crystal lends her expertise from vetting the buyers to navigating the hiccups and merging timelines. She’s got you covered!
If you’re needing an agent, don’t hesitate to reach out to Crystal at 803-463-6851.
Once you’ve set up who you’ll be working with, it’s time to get your ducks in a row. For some, this starts with getting a pre-sale home inspection to find any hidden concerns that would need to be addressed. Not all repairs will be necessary though, so make sure you aren’t dumping money into something that won’t actually change the end price. After the inspection, it’s time to give your home a model makeover.
1. A Listing Needs To Sell Itself
A home being sold has two types of appeal, online and curb. Curb appeal is one of the easiest selling points as you can pull right up to the property and take a look at the yard, details of the exterior and even pop in if it’s an open house. With today’s digital listing options, taking high-quality photos of the house and property can be the deciding factor on whether or not an interested party reaches out about your home or not.
You’ll also want to do a deep clean throughout the house to make it spotless. Unless someone is building a home, they’ll never have a brand new house to move into. You can help them feel like they are through presenting them with an immaculate showing. Staging is another important step as it removes the excess items and furniture from each room so that visitors can fully imagine themselves in the space. You don’t need to move out completely, just make sure personal items and non-essentials are stowed away during each showing.
2. Stay Realistic About Your Home’s Value
This is an area that Crystal spends a fair amount of time on with each client to save them from digging through mountains of spreadsheets and historical sales records. As a pricing analyst, she knows what comparable houses are going for, why they’re worth what they are and how to set your home apart from the rest. If you price your home too high, you’ll find fewer buyers even showing interest. Price it too low and you’re losing out on money that a buyer would be more than happy to pay!
An expense to be aware of that changes your bottom line is closing costs. Both the buyer and seller have closing costs with the seller typically paying for commission. As the seller, you may also end up paying for certain recording fees and possibly a transfer tax. Don’t let this worry you though as the buyer covers a majority of the closing costs which can be up to 6% of the sales price.
3. Review Every Detail of an Offer
Ideally, you’ll start getting offers rather quickly after listing your home on the market. A fresh home hitting any region’s market will catch the eye of eager buyers and investors alike, many of which have alerts set to get a notification when a new home listing goes live. This is where Crystal comes in as your advocate and guide through the selling process. Not only is she an expert on the financial and logistic side of things, but she also knows the state like the back of her hand to help connect the right buyers to your listing.
In a hot or competitive market, the seller has the advantage of being one of the few listings available to a larger group of buyers. In these situations, you’ll likely have multiple bids or offers coming in that are above the asking price. If your area has slower sales, you may not get as many offers and could possibly have to lower your price or add benefits such as covering closing costs to make it valuable enough to the buyer.
After reviewing the offers you’ve received with Crystal, you can draft a counteroffer or counterproposal. This is where you negotiate on the terms of the sale and final price. It’s important to have an expert agent on your team as counteroffers need to be made in writing and buyers typically have less than 48 hours to respond. When you provide them with a clear and concise counteroffer, they’ll be able to more quickly review it and respond to move the process along.
Once the dust has settled and both you and your buyer are happy with the terms, closing can commence and the sale can be finalized! You’re now able to move on from your previous home and buy a new one, build your dream home or retire if the time is right.