10 Easy Steps to Sell Your Nashville Home
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Is it time to move up or move on? Once you have decided to sell your home, there are three avenues to get you where you are going: Selling to an I-Buyer, For Sale By Owner, or using a licensed Realtor. According to the National Association of Realtors, home sellers in 2020 who used a licensed realtor earned 22.3% more on their sale. The average for sale by owner home sold for $260,000 compared to the average realtor assisted sale of $318,000.
While I buyers work for homeowners in certain circumstances, and some experienced sellers may choose to list their home themselves, the steps below are for selling your home with a licensed realtor.
1.Pick a qualified realtor
The decision to hire a realtor is a highly personal one. Your realtor ultimately should be someone you trust. Ideally, your realtor has a strong understanding of the market and the community where they are working. Ultimately, your realtor is responsible for helping to market your home by telling the house's story and the neighborhood's story; a good realtor can market the home to give buyers a sense of what it's like to live in the home. If your realtor understands the community and the market, they will understand how to price and market your home for a fast and profitable sale.
2.Create a selling plan with your realtor
When you begin the selling process, you should sit down with your realtor and strategize a selling plan for your home. At your first meeting with your realtor, they should present you with a cost market analysis of your home. This cost market analysis will help you and your realtor determine the best way to prepare the house for sale, the best listing price for the home, and the most reasonable timeline to try and get the property on the market. You will also discuss selling costs with your realtor.
Your realtor's understanding of your neighborhood's current market allows them to advise you on what minor repairs or upgrades will help you get the maximum price for your sale; or if these repairs are even necessary. While homeowners often believe they need to put many repairs into a home to maximize their profits; repairs, and upgrades may be unnecessary in a seller's market. A realtor with experience selling homes in your community should be able to advise what repairs and upgrades will or will not increase the sale price based on the current local market circumstances.
3.Prepare Your Home For Sale
Before your home is ready for market, you will need to prepare your home according to the strategy you and your realtor discuss. You may need to make some necessary repairs or upgrades. You will want to give the house a deep cleaning, remove any personal items, declutter, and stage the home.
While you may not need to make any repairs; your realtor may advise you to paint the interior walls or weed and mulch flower beds. Your realtor will recommend upgrades or repairs based on market trends in your area, your style of home, and your price range. A realtor who can advise you based on these trends could save you a lot of time and money on potentially unnecessary repairs and upgrades.
Removing excess items from your home can create the appearance of a larger space. Consider taking things you will not need in the next three months to a storage facility. You can make closets appear larger by only filling a closet halfway and placing items neatly on hangers. By limiting the things in a cabinet, the cabinet seems roomier. Reducing the furniture in a room and exposing floor trim along the walls gives the room an appearance of being more prominent.
Before selling your home, you will also want to put away family photos or highly personal items. When buyers view the home, you want them to imagine themselves living in it. Additionally, you will want to put away anything highly confidential or sensitive as buyers will open closets and cabinets to see the space.
If your home is empty, consider hiring someone to stage the house. By having well-staged home furnishings, buyers can better visualize the space. Being able to experience the space as a staged home makes it easier for the buyer to imagine a life living inside of the house.
4.Take Professional Photographs
Good realtors often have relationships with preferred photographers. Erin Gillespie of EXP Nashville pays for professional photographs for every listing because good pictures help sell homes. Professional photography helps to make the best first impression; professional photos are lit and shot to most accurately showcase the home. By having an accurate and detailed listing and photographs, buyers have a higher level of interest in a property before they even schedule a showing.
5.Complete Your Selling Disclosures
During a sale, homeowners must disclose information about their property in disclosure documents. These documents are intended to provide potential buyers with any information that may negatively affect the property. Disclosures may include water damage, repairs, environmental issues, HOA information, or anything that negatively affects the home. Your realtor will provide disclosure documents and assist you in completing the disclosures.
6.List and Market Your Home
Once your home is photographed and ready to sell, your realtor will start listing your property. While homeowners can list a property on the MLS and sites like Zillow, realtors have access to a broader network to advertise properties. Your realtor will not only list your home on the MLS, but a good realtor will often promote your listing on social media. Erin Gillespie of EXP Nashville pays for social media marketing for every listing. By making sure the largest audience sees your listing, you will get the most competitive offers for your home.
7.Show Your Home
Once your house has been listed, be prepared for showings. Try to keep your home tidy and smelling fresh; keep laundry put away and the sink free of dishes. Your realtor will notify you when there is a request for a showing. Realtors save you time dealing with scheduling showings. As home-selling experts, Realtors know relevant questions to weed out serious buyers from lookie-loos; this saves homeowners the hassle of accommodating needless showings.
Realtor-listed homes attract buyers who are working with realtors. Realtors who represent buyers typically do not want to deal with a sale by owner property because they do not have a professional at the other end of the transaction. for-sale-by-owner listings may complicate the negotiation and sales process for the buyer's agent. Since the buyer's agent is paid out off the seller's agent's commission, the buyer's agents are also hesitant to work with situations where the commission is not guaranteed.
8.Review Offers and Negotiate
Once you have had a few showings, prepare to respond to offers. Your realtor's job is to advise you on the offers' quality. A skilled realtor will have first-hand knowledge of the current market circumstances in your area and can best advise you if an offer is fair or not. Your realtor can help negotiate a better price or contingencies on your behalf once offers have been made.
9.Accept An Offer and Start the Closing Process
Once you have navigated and accepted an offer, your home will go under contract. During this period, the buyer's lender will complete an appraisal. The buyer may perform an inspection and you will need to have any buyer contingencies released before the closing. This is a good time to start packing up.
10.Close the sale
Before the closing, the buyer and their agent will do a final walk-through. The final walk-through is not for any contingencies; it is to confirm that the property's condition has not changed before the closing. If everything is ready to go, the buyer's lender will wire the funds for the house to an escrow account in preparation for the closing. The buyer's Realtor will hold on to the key from the lockbox but will not give keys to the buyer until the closing table.
When you are ready to close, you will meet with a real estate attorney and your Realtor at the closing. You will need to bring a photo ID and account information to which you would like your funds wired. The buyer may be signing closing documents at a completely different location. Once you and the buyer have both signed and funds have been given to the closing attorney, your sale of the home will be official. Unless you have a "Temporary Occupancy" as part of your agreement, you should be fully moved out of the house by this time. Keys and any garage door openers should be left at the property for the buyers to retrieve. The title company (closing attorney) will take care of disbursing money to the appropriate people and will record your deed in the count
Selling your home can be an exciting time, but it can also be a significant stressor. Getting help from a licensed realtor ensures a more manageable process and maximizes the chances of getting top dollar for your property. Contact Erin Gillespie today to help sell your Nashville home or find your perfect Music City Nest.