A chill has finally started to blow in on the US housing market and for the first time in a number of years, year over year growth for home prices has dropped.
This reality has led many people who are considering selling property to put their foot on the gas since waiting another 2 or 3 years could mean a steep drop in the amount of money they’re going to be able to rake in.
Saying you’re going to sell your property though is a lot less difficult than actually doing it.
How do you value your home? How do you bring it to market? Do you need an agent?
All of these questions are enough to make a homeowner’s head spin.
Fortunately, selling property is simple when you take a step back and handle the process piecemeal. Below, our team’s step-by-step guide helps you do exactly that.
1. Decide If the Market Is Right to Sell
Selling your home during a down market means leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table (or more). That’s why it’s important when selling property to be honest with yourself as to whether or not the market is ripe to sell.
There are a number of ways you can make this determination. For one, reading and watching the news will give you some broad-stroke information on how the housing market is trending. You could also stay mindful of how much houses are selling for in your area and how long they’re sitting on the market.
Finally, you could hire a real estate consultant to inquire about whether or not selling now is a good idea or if a better opportunity is looming nearby.
2. Get a Valuation on Your House
If you’re ready to sell your home, great! The next step is to figure out what your home’s starting price is going to be.
Valuing your house when you’re working with an agent is usually a simple process.
You could just hop on an app like Redfin or Zillow, get a rough property estimate, and then have your agent add some practical perspective to that number to arrive at something reasonable.
If you’re going to be doing “for sale by owner,” the process could be a little trickier. You could, of course, get value estimates off of real estate apps still, but these are rarely 100% accurate.
You’ll want a property appraiser or an agent’s opinion.
Many agents will pitch you their pricing opinion for free in an effort to earn your business. Because of that, you could bring someone (or a couple of people) in to get their advice without the intention of hiring.
3. Fixing Flaws VS. Selling As-Is
With a price tag in mind, you’ll now want to go through and start itemizing your home’s flaws. Broken outlets, bad roof, damaged appliances… All of those things will affect your home’s value.
After you’ve itemized flaws, you can either fix them, leave them alone and expect that buyers will ask for price deductions, or sell as-is to an all-cash investment property buyer like this “Sell My House Fast” company.
4. Bringing Your House to Market
Finally, it’s time to bring your house to market!
Have your agent list your property in their MLS or if you’re selling by yourself, make sure any paperwork that needs to be filed with your city is in place and stick a for sale sign out front!
Declaring your home officially for sale can be a daunting process. The sooner you make your declaration though, the sooner you can make your sale and move on to the next chapter in your life!
5. Market Like Crazy
Typically, a real estate agent would handle your home’s marketing. This might include printing fliers, listing your home on popular real estate apps, social media marketing, hosting open houses, etc.
If you’re going at it alone, know that you still have a great chance of attracting attention to your property. The only drawback is that marketing can be time-consuming and if you’re selling your home while also managing a full-time job, you may find that your inability to give your home’s marketing efforts your attention will lead to your house sitting for a long time.
6. Negotiate
If your marketing efforts have gone well, you’ll start getting offers. Depending on the real estate market you’re selling in, offers could be below ask, at ask, or above ask.
Weigh the offers you receive on your own or alongside your agent. Be prepared to negotiate and budge off of your price if offers are limited.
If budging on your price isn’t an option and you’re not getting the offers you want, consider hiring an agent (if you haven’t already), firing your existing one, or waiting until the real estate market heats back up and then re-listing your property.
7. Finalizing Everything and Making The Sale
Once you and a buyer have agreed to the property terms, it’s time to get everything in writing and push the deal through. You’ll likely need a skilled agent or an attorney to draw up the necessary paperwork.
Once the paperwork is signed, your buyer’s bank will need time to review everything but so long as things were done correctly, you can expect your sale to go through within 60 days!
Wrapping Up Our Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Property
If you’re ready to move on with your life and are interested in selling a property, our recommendation is to not get overwhelmed and to simply follow our tips above.
If you take things as they come rather than get overwhelmed by the big picture, you’ll find that the selling property process will become much easier!
For more information on all things business, consumer, and money-related, check out more of our content on Small Business Brief today!
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