A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO SELLING YOUR HOME
I will help you prepare, price, and market your Naples Southwest Florida area property. I work hard for my clients and guarantee quality service and professionalism. You can count on me to be transparent and honest every step of the process. I will show your space to qualified buyers and skillfully negotiate on your behalf to secure the best price and the quickest closing.
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Find a Realtor® you are comfortable working with. Don’t just go with the one that gives you the ‘best deal’ on commission – you get what you pay for!
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Your Realtor® should provide you with comparable sales in the area, listen to your needs with regard to closing time period, access to your home for showings and the net amount you would like from the sale of your home.
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Your Realtor® will discuss the options for listing your house and at what price, this is a mutual decision based on your emotional attachment and their expertise. They will also make suggestions about preparing your home for the sale.
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You will need to immediately begin purging your home of all of the extras – knick knacks, collections, over abundance of photos, etc. When a potential buyer walks in, they want to see themselves living there – not you. The less cluttered, the better. A good deep cleaning is always a good idea, as is changing air filers, replacing burned out lightbulbs, etc.
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Once your home is physically ready, professional photos should be taken and your home will be placed on the MLS.
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From this point on, your home should be kept in immaculate condition and be ready for potential buyers to visit with just a few hours’ notice.
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Once an offer (hopefully multiple) comes in, you and your Realtor® will evaluate it and see if it meets your needs. You can accept the offer, reject the offer completely, or counter the offer with changes that better suit you.
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The response is sent back to the buyer, who then should respond.
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If the contract is accepted as written by both parties, the buyers will make an initial deposit which will be held in esrow.
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Expect your home to go through several inspections – home, air quality, radon, septic (if that applies). At the buyer’s expense, they arrange for professional inspectors to come in and inspect without using any invasive means which would destroy any part of your home.
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Once inspection reports are complete, the buyer may come back to you, through their Realtor® and ask for repairs or credits on certain items. Depending on the type of contract used, there are many different responses you can make – your Realtor® will go over that with you.
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Once the inspection period is over and all has been agreed upon, the buyer, most times, will make an additional deposit to escrow.
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If the buyer is getting a loan, keep on top of the progress, depending on any contingencies that were in place in the initial offer, they could get out of the deal if they do not qualify for the loan.
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Once the mortgage approval period has passed – start packing. You will have to be out of the house a few days before closing for the buyer’s final walk through.
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Everything needs to be fixed as per the inspection agreement, all garbage removed from the property and everything that is supposed to be working is.
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You will sign the the closing docs either at the attorney / title company or it can be done remotely. All keys must be delivered to the closing company. All fobs and remotes should be left in the house for the new owner.
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Once you have signed and dropped off the keys; and once the buyer has signed and approved the transfer of funds – Congratulations! you have just sold your home.