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You love and cherish your home. You want the next owner to fall in love with it, too--through photos, through words and through the experience of walking through your front door. But, perhaps most, you want to get the price you want.
This isn’t a small task. Selling a home requires work. It requires time. The journey isn’t always easy. There will be frustrations. But when you seal the deal and move on to your next chapter--wow, what a blissful feeling.
Below, we preview each step in your journey. We’ll discuss how to know what you want. How to understand the market and ways to make a plan. And most importantly? How to create relationships with experts and trust them to help you get the job done.
First things first: You need to know what you want in order to sell your home with minimum frustration. Why are you moving? What do you expect from the process? When should you put that For Sale sign in the yard?
Unless you bought your home last week, the housing market changed since you became a homeowner. Mortgage rates fluctuate, inventory shifts over time--these are just a few of the factors that affect the state of the market and every market is unique. Educate yourself on what to expect.
This is the most important relationship you’ll form on your home selling journey. Pick the right REALTOR® and you’ll likely get a better sales price for your house.
Find out more on how the right REALTOR® will get your the most for your home.
How much is your home worth? That’s the … $100,000 question. Whatever the number, you need to know it. Your REALTOR® will help you pinpoint the price.
Today, home buyers have unfettered access to property listings online, so you have to make a great first impression--on the internet and URL. That means you’ll have to declutter all the stuff you’ve accumulated over the years, make any necessary repairs and get your home in swoon-worthy condition.
Home buyers look at countless listings online. The best-marketed homes have beautiful photos and compelling property descriptions, so they can get likes--which can amount to buyer interest--on social media. REALTORS® may also use videos, virtual tours, texts, and audio messages. It’s time to consider how to promote your property.
Your REALTOR® will help you get your home in show-ready condition, emphasizing its assets and helping buyers envision themselves there. To help keep sellers safe, REALTORS® are also using virtual showings, relying on Zoom or Facetime to walk a buyer through your home.
You might get more than one offer, depending on your market. Assuming you’ve collaborated with your REALTOR®, you’ve likely positioned yourself to receive attractive bids. Your REALTOR® will review each offer with you to determine which is best.
To get the best deal for you, you’ll likely have to do some negotiating. Your REALTOR® will help you craft a strategic counteroffer to the buyer’s offer, factoring in not only money, but contingencies, etc.
Most purchase agreements are contingent on a home inspection. This gives the buyer the ability to inspect the home from top to bottom and request repairs. The upshot: You have some room to negotiate.Your REALTOR® will help you effectively communicate with the buyer.
Settlement, or closing, is the last step in the home selling process. This is where you sign the final paperwork, make this whole thing official and collect your check. Before that can happen though, you’ll have to prepare your home for the buyer’s final walk-through and troubleshoot any last-minute issues.
Ohio and federal law both prohibit discrimination in the buying, selling, or renting of real estate based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin. Additionally, Ohio law prohibits discrimination based on ancestry or military status. Fair housing law covers discrimination in offering, showing, selling and renting homes, apartments, condominiums, and cooperatives. Anyone who feels that he or she has been discriminated against should contact the Ohio Civil Rights Commission or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).