Seller's Guide

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It's difficult to know when is the best time to sell, or how to get the most money for your house, but you don't need to go through the process alone. You may be wondering if prices are projected to rise or fall…or how much competition you may be facing in your market. The free eGuide below will answer many of your questions and likely bring up a few things you haven't even thought about yet. Simply fill out the form below to receive your copy of the eGuide, and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.
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A STEP-BY-STEP 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 team of real estate brokers 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 team of Real Estate Brokers once you choose one so they 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 team of real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate 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

We 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. Our 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 team of real estate agents.

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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. We 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 team of Real Estate Brokers 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
I cannot say enough good things about Michael as he is amazing. Besides knowing the rules and all the complex things that one must know in order to do the job, he is the most sincere caring person to have sell one's home. When my long time partner asked Michael to handle the sale of his home, he got more that just his home sold. Michael was concerned for the seller's well being and wanted him to be ha...

— Bernadine Anderson

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
I worked with Michael and his team on the sale of my mother's home. After more than 30 years in the house, it was a big and stressful step for us. Michael was very patient and took extra time to answer all of our questions and set expectations of the process. He was very attentive and concerned that my mom was ok every step of the way. I also needed extra help getting the house ready and the folks he rec...

— Kara Mylerberg

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
My wife and I have known Michael and his wife Stacy for several years as friends. Over that time period, we grew to appreciate Michael’s integrity as a real estate agent. It was clear he put his client's interests first and was not just interested in making a sale. When it came time for us to consider moving we selected Michael to represent us in both the sale of our existing home and the purchase of our...

— Mark W.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Michael has a ton of experience. Knowing that he has experience in selling and buying houses in the Seattle and surrounding area during multiple highs and lows on the market made me feel more confident about the information he was giving us. His experience is valuable in helping to not buy a house that will be difficult to sell later, having insight as to why a house is still on the market and when we sh...

— Michelle S.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Michael came into our lives in June 2018 when we purchased a home on Camano Island that was going into foreclosure. We didn't know anything about the process. Michael was extremely knowledgeable and handled the transaction quickly and smoothly. He even stopped us from offering over the asking price! Plus, he was fun to work with. In Feb. 2019 our son found a condo in Seattle he was interested in. We sugg...

— Jackie & Mike O.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
I was looking for a professional and competent real estate agent. Michael far exceeded those expectations in the professional way he presented his marketing plan and credentials, including the detailed explanation of how you arrived at the correct pricing of my condo. He answered my interview questions over and above what I was hoping for as far as technical expertise. He spent a large amount of time on ...

— Dorothy M.

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We pride ourselves in providing personalized solutions that bring our clients closer to their dream properties and enhance their long-term wealth. Contact us today to find out how we can be of assistance to you!

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MICHAEL SMITH REAL ESTATE BROKER

(206) 948-4027

[email protected]


525 5th Ave South, #100
Edmonds, WA 98020