How to sell a home in Towson

Define your needs. Why do you want to sell and what do you expect to accomplish with the sale? Does your growing family prompt your need for a larger home? Is a job opportunity in another city requiring a move? Perhaps you’re downsizing. You’ve got goals: is it more important to sell within a certain time frame, or to make a certain profit? This is the start to mapping out the best plan to achieve your goals through a pricing and marketing strategy.

Decide on price. It’s part art and part science to determine the best possible selling price for your house. The correct list price will generate the most activity from buyers, and it should be determined from the very start. Consider the condition of your home, study comparable homes selling in your neighborhood, and the state of the overall market in the immediate neighborhood. It’s hard for a seller to be unbiased when pricing their home, so expertise is invaluable at this step. We study what comparable homes are selling for, and the average time those homes are sitting on the market. For a few hundred dollars, you could have an appraisal done. Pricing is crucial: you’re always better off setting a fair market value price than setting your price too high. Studies show that homes priced higher than 3 percent of their market value take longer to sell. If your home sits on the market for too long, potential buyers may think there is something wrong with the property, and when this happens, the seller has to drop the price below market value to compete with newer, reasonably priced listings.

Prepare your home. We know and understand that most homes aren’t kept in “show” condition until it’s time to sell, but now it’s time to break out of that owner’s mindset and get your house in top shape. Need motivation? The price the buyer is willing to offer and how quickly it sells depends on the condition of your home. First impressions are the most important – it’s so important, in fact, that we hire a professional stager to help our clients take a fresh look at their home and suggest ways to make it most appealing to buyers. On the flip side, a home with too much “personality” can make it as hard to sell as those that need minor repairs and replacements.

Market smart. We always start with a marketing strategy designed specifically for a home and a seller’s goals. It’s necessary to use many ways to get the word out, including the internet, yard signs, open houses, media advertising, agent-to-agent referrals, and direct mail marketing campaigns to name a few methods. Remember, we’re out to bring in the most qualified buyers in the shortest time possible!

Receive an offer. Upon receiving a written offer from a potential buyer, we start by verifying the buyer’s financial ability to buy your home, then review the proposed contract, taking care to understand what is required of both parties to execute the transaction. Discussions and negotiations revolve around more than just the offer price – consider down payment, financing arrangements, closing fees and who will pay them, earnest money deposit, inspection rights and possible repair allowances, method of conveying the title and who will handle the closing, appliances and other items that will convey, the settlement date and any contingencies. At this point, you have three options: accept the contract as is, accept it with changes (a counteroffer), or reject it. Remember: Once both parties have signed a written offer, the document becomes legally binding, so we’re always sure to address concerns right up front .

Prepare to close. Upon an accepted offer to sell, we always start by making a calendar, and list of everything that needs to be done (by the buyer and seller) before closing. The property may need to be formally appraised, surveyed, inspected or repaired. Depending on the written contract, you may pay for all, some or none of these items. If each procedure returns acceptable results as defined by the contract, then the sale may continue. If there are problems with the home, the terms set forth in the contract will dictate your next step. You or the buyer may decide to walk away, open a new round of negotiations or proceed to closing. Keep a watchful eye on the buyer’s lending process, and monitor the title work process to make sure the necessary documents will be ready to sign on the appropriate date.

Close the deal. “Closing” refers to the meeting where ownership of the property is legally transferred to the buyer.While there are times it is necessary to mediate any last-minute issues that may arise, the transaction should have been overseen to a point where all goes smoothly, and both buyer and seller have fun at the closing table!