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A Step-by-Step First Time 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 agents and this guide, you can complete the process. Following these steps will help you get organized and sell your home for the best price.

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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 agents 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.

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 agents 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. Whether relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying life as empty-nesters, knowing your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

Shared Journeys

Sean is my favorite! He made buying my house in 2022 a breeze, so it was an obvious choice to choose him to sell my house after I got out of the Army. I was new to buying and selling, and Sean answered all questions or concerns in a manner I could understand. He’s very thorough and knowledgeable when he discussed the process of selling to me. He always kept me in the loop and updated me after every showi...

— Kennedy B.

Shared Journeys

Sean McDonough communicated with me daily, no matter what time of day it was. If I had questions late at night he would return my texts promptly. My job, as well as living in another state, kept me from being present for most of the sale, but Sean was on top of everything. He even called me every time I was sent paperwork to go over it with me so I would fully understand what I was signing. As a first-ti...

— Joshua M.

Shared Journeys

It was a pleasure to work with Sean. He made things super easy, handled all the difficult bits, sold the house quickly with rapid communication and regular updates. Would definitely recommend and use again if needed!

— Katherine M.

Shared Journeys

Sean was beyond attentive and patient with me as a first-time home buyer. Every time I questioned something or felt uneasy, Sean provided reassurance and understanding with professionalism. Even when I took a 3-4 month hiatus to better my finances, Sean was still flexible with working with me, and we reconnected like we hadn’t skipped a beat. Additionally, Sean was my wingman by connecting me with differ...

— Tim T.

Shared Journeys

Where to begin. Honestly, working with Sean was the best decision in this home-buying process. He was there every step of the way from initially thinking of purchasing a house to when I received the keys to my new home. He truly helped make buying a home a reality for me, which I didn't think would be possible at 24 years old. He did everything in his power to make it a reality and helped me not give up ...

— Jasmine S.

Shared Journeys

Mr. McDonough did the work to get us in touch with the right people to get my spouse and I the right home for us. He made the process as smooth and painless as possible and was extremely patient with our questions. As first time homebuyers, we couldn't have asked for a better realtor.

— Rj

Shared Journeys

Working with Sean was amazing! He talked me through every step of selling our home. He was professional and always there to answer my questions (hundreds of them). I would recommend Sean for your realtor needs anytime!

— Candi W.

Shared Journeys

Honestly, I thought my husband was crazy when he booked a meeting with Sean while we were visiting Raleigh for a concert. That was back in May, and we knew we wouldn't be ready to buy until the end of the year. We closed today, and I have to say I was wrong. I'm so glad we went to that meeting. Sean was a pleasure to work with. He was patient with our timeline and never put pressure on us. He was availab...

— Nicole M.

Shared Journeys

We had an amazing experience working with Sean! From start to finish, he was professional, knowledgeable, and truly had our best interests at heart. He took the time to understand our needs, answered all our questions, and guided us through every step of the buying process with patience and expertise. He’s still being super helpful even after we closed. His communication is excellent, making the entire e...

— Svetlana C.

Shared Journeys

Sean was so helpful and a pleasure to work with! I bought a property while being out of state, which could have been stressful, but Sean made the whole process easy, from putting together an acceptable offer all the way to closing. There were a few hiccups with the sellers and their agent, but he was able to resolve everything quickly. I would recommend Sean and plan on using him again in the future!

— Michelle S.

Let's Make It Happen

As your trusted real estate professionals, we provide expert guidance tailored to your unique needs. Whether you're buying, selling, or seeking advice, we’re here to ensure a smooth and successful experience.