Getting ready to sell a home is a bit of a process.  From valuation to listing to timing the sale perfectly, there are plenty of things to get lined out from the beginning.  A good agent will have a plan and certainly will be able to guide their clients through the process fairly seamlessly.

For an experienced realtor, there’s every good chance that this process is second nature, but for new agents, it may be a little foreign.  For any agent, however, building a home selling checklist for your clients can not only put your mind at ease but can easily help guide your clients through the entire home selling adventure.  Here are some things to consider.

Home Valuation

First and foremost, you’ll need to use your experience and resources to estimate your client’s home value.  With all of the data available to you these days, this shouldn’t necessarily be too difficult, but getting it right could make or break your sale.  Make sure that the valuation estimation you give your client is in line with current market trends, and don’t be too greedy early on.

Timing the Sale

Price is obviously the number one factor affecting a home sale, but timing the sale is easily up there with one of your top priorities.  Today’s current inventory shortage of homes, rising prices, and short-lived listings make the timing of utmost importance.  Prepare the home and be ready to sell at a moment’s notice.

Dial-in the Listing Price

Home valuation is a tool towards listing price, but when it comes to actually listing a home, you’ll need to look at the most recent market data available to you and evaluate the trends of your market for the anticipated listing time.  One thing you don’t want to miss is the listing price–too high and buyers will steer clear and wait for the price to come down, too low and you’ll likely miss out on premium offers and commissions.

List Your Home

Once you’ve ascertained exactly what the listing price should be for your home, it’s time to actually list.  Listing isn’t the hardest part of the job but poor execution could miss out on offers and diminish how quickly the home may sell.  When it comes to listing, make sure you’re listing on all of your platforms simultaneously or at least in close proximity to one another.  The last thing you want is to miss listing on a highly-trafficked resource and potentially miss out on offers.

Collect and Review Offers

Besides showing, most of your work has been done to this point, but reviewing offers shouldn’t be a one-person show.  As a matter of fact, this is where you should be involving your seller the most.  Accepting the highest offer isn’t necessarily always the best policy, although it is often the accepted way of doing business.  Instead, involve your seller while you review offers and allow them to do their due diligence in choosing which offer to accept.

Closing

Closing is likely the most stressful part of the sales process for you as an agent and could cause plenty of unease with your seller if they aren’t experienced with selling a home.  Part of your job in the final hours is keeping your client at ease, but the other is making sure that the deal doesn’t fall apart in the final hours.

Be proactive by working with other parties in the real estate transactions such as attorneys, lenders, home inspectors, and others.  By preparing for some of the business dealings upfront, you can significantly lower your stress and close your sale successfully.