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Seller's Guide

Prestige

Everything You Need To Know About Putting Your Home
On The Market, Accepting An Offer, And Closing On Your Home.

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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 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.โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹โ€‹

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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 real estate agent once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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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 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 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 real estate agent 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.

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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.

My Testimonials

  • Ashley & Jackie

    โ€œWow! The services provided by Kip and Tamara were exceptional. We recently worked with them selling our home in Cambrian Park and the process was extremely easy with great ...โ€

  • Kelly & Amanda R.

    โ€œKip was our real estate agent for both buying and selling our home. On the selling side, he and his wife Tamara offered us helpful suggestions on how to get our home ready ...โ€

  • Buyer

    โ€œWe just bought our first home with the help of Kip! Kip was an awesome advisor throughout the entire process right from advising on mortgage approval preparedness till the ...โ€

  • Conor & Liane E.

    โ€œKip and Tamara recently helped us sell our home in San Jose prior to moving to Michigan. Not only did Kip sell our house, but he got us almost 10% over the asking price! I ...โ€

  • Corinne & Matt

    โ€œWe worked with Kip and Tamara Barnard to sell our home in Willow Glen in June/July of 2013. From the start, we got excellent service and were really pleased that we'd decid...โ€

  • David & Sali F.

    โ€œWhen my husband and I decided to sell our home in Santa Clara we immediately thought of Kip and Tamara. A few years prior, they helped us with a property evaluation when we...โ€

  • Patty G.

    โ€œKip Barnard came to my rescue after my mother passed away and I needed to sell her San Jose home. In addition to being knowledgeable about the listing and sales process, Ki...โ€

  • Evan W.

    โ€œWe have used Kip and Tam to stage and sell two houses for us in the last decade. Tamera set up the house beautifully and advised us on how to declutter and make the house a...โ€

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