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Seller's Guide

Everything you need to know about putting your home on the market, accepting an offer, and closing on your home.

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 real estate agents and this easy to follow guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for the best price possible.​​​​​​​

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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 agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate agents 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.

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

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Success Stories

Testimonials

Read what our clients have to say about working with us.

"Such an amazing experience working with Lisa Rivera! She helped us buy our home 4 years ago nice and smooth & helped us sell our home in less than 24 hours almost 4 years later. She is very quick with responses, will go above and beyond to help you purchase or sell your home."
"Such an amazing experience working with Lisa Rivera! She helped us buy our home 4 years ago nice and smooth & helped us sell our home in less than 24 hours almost 4 years later. She is very quick with responses, will go above and beyond to help you purchase or sell your home."
Kayla D.
"Lisa Rivera is an absolute gem! As first-time homebuyers, we couldn't have asked for a better realtor. Lisa was incredibly patient and knowledgeable throughout the entire process. She was never pushy and took the time to explain every technical term and document so we fully understood what we were signing. This made all the difference for us as first-time buyers. Her network is top-notch too. She recommended an excellent closing attorney and home inspector. When the inspection revealed some issues, Lisa's negotiation skills really shone - she got the seller to make all necessary repairs AND secured great closing fees for us. Thanks to Lisa, we're now in our dream home with a fenced backyard for the kids and a front porch swing for the family. She didn't just help us buy a house; she helped us find our home. If you need a knowledgeable, patient, and genuinely caring realtor who will fight for your best interests, choose Lisa Rivera. You won't regret it!"
"Lisa Rivera is an absolute gem! As first-time homebuyers, we couldn't have asked for a better realtor. Lisa was incredibly patient and knowledgeable throughout the entire process. She was never pushy and took the time to explain every technical term and document so we fully understood what we were signing. This made all the difference for us as first-time buyers. Her network is top-notch too. She recommended an excellent closing attorney and home inspector. When the inspection revealed some issues, Lisa's negotiation skills really shone - she got the seller to make all necessary repairs AND secured great closing fees for us. Thanks to Lisa, we're now in our dream home with a fenced backyard for the kids and a front porch swing for the family. She didn't just help us buy a house; she helped us find our home. If you need a knowledgeable, patient, and genuinely caring realtor who will fight for your best interests, choose Lisa Rivera. You won't regret it!"
John B.
"Not only is Ms. Rivera knowledgeable about the area and properties, but also she is knowledgeable about the mortgage and real estate business in general. I had specific questions about a property I already own. She was well versed in processes and documents and instrumental in guiding for me to take the next steps. I highly recommend that you contact Lisa Rivera for all things real estate. If she doesn't know she has respectable relationships with other individuals who will partner together and get you the answers you need."
"Not only is Ms. Rivera knowledgeable about the area and properties, but also she is knowledgeable about the mortgage and real estate business in general. I had specific questions about a property I already own. She was well versed in processes and documents and instrumental in guiding for me to take the next steps. I highly recommend that you contact Lisa Rivera for all things real estate. If she doesn't know she has respectable relationships with other individuals who will partner together and get you the answers you need."
Sandra P.
"I and my fiancee started looking for a house shortly after getting engaged. We had no idea what we were doing, but Cicely was extremely helpful every step of the way! From making our first offer to meeting at houses on our schedule, to offering advice for what was best for us based on what we wanted. We never felt like she was just trying to make a sale, and she understood that this was our first time. With each offer on a house (some going nowhere), she always fought for us with the house sellers."
"I and my fiancee started looking for a house shortly after getting engaged. We had no idea what we were doing, but Cicely was extremely helpful every step of the way! From making our first offer to meeting at houses on our schedule, to offering advice for what was best for us based on what we wanted. We never felt like she was just trying to make a sale, and she understood that this was our first time. With each offer on a house (some going nowhere), she always fought for us with the house sellers."
Buyer
"Lisa was instrumental in making our move a success. Her area knowledge and overall expertise were so helpful. We were coming to NC from out of state and so we had to trust her more than if we were local and thank goodness we did, her recommendations were spot on! Whenever we make any future real estate decisions, Mrs. Rivera will be our first call!"
"Lisa was instrumental in making our move a success. Her area knowledge and overall expertise were so helpful. We were coming to NC from out of state and so we had to trust her more than if we were local and thank goodness we did, her recommendations were spot on! Whenever we make any future real estate decisions, Mrs. Rivera will be our first call!"
Cefaloni
"I've never been moved to write a review before. However, in this case, I just have to. Lisa Rivera has been remarkable. She has gone above and beyond with our family. She has made a trying and scary transition smooth. We now have more information and options than we know what to do with. I recommend her to everyone. 5 stars!"
"I've never been moved to write a review before. However, in this case, I just have to. Lisa Rivera has been remarkable. She has gone above and beyond with our family. She has made a trying and scary transition smooth. We now have more information and options than we know what to do with. I recommend her to everyone. 5 stars!"
Buyer | Seller
"She was a great very nice young lady who made me feel good about buying a house I could not ask for a better Realtor® highly recommended always on time keeping it real about housekeeping my hopes high when one house didn't work out just a good person all around and I'm so thankful her very hard worker."
"She was a great very nice young lady who made me feel good about buying a house I could not ask for a better Realtor® highly recommended always on time keeping it real about housekeeping my hopes high when one house didn't work out just a good person all around and I'm so thankful her very hard worker."
Charmagne
"Lisa was great to work with. I am a first-time home buyer and Lisa was there the whole time always ready to give you an answer and make the process as least painful as it can be. Very knowledgeable about the area and how real estate works. 100 percent would recommend."
"Lisa was great to work with. I am a first-time home buyer and Lisa was there the whole time always ready to give you an answer and make the process as least painful as it can be. Very knowledgeable about the area and how real estate works. 100 percent would recommend."
Buyer
"She was very helpful and found me a house inner matter of 3 days. Great, very professional, answered all my calls and questions. Was very happy with the results. Especially moving from out of state to a new state. She did a wonderful job what's video chats."
"She was very helpful and found me a house inner matter of 3 days. Great, very professional, answered all my calls and questions. Was very happy with the results. Especially moving from out of state to a new state. She did a wonderful job what's video chats."
Kathleen T.
"As first-time home buyers, we had tons of questions. She answered them all, if she didn't know she found out. She was very responsive and extremely supportive. We highly recommend her and plan to use her again in the future!"
"As first-time home buyers, we had tons of questions. She answered them all, if she didn't know she found out. She was very responsive and extremely supportive. We highly recommend her and plan to use her again in the future!"
Buyer
"When I first met my Realtor® I was looking for land. That day I knew she would be the one that helped me with my dreams. She never gave up. She listened to me and all my buyzillaness and was able to help me find my dream home."
"When I first met my Realtor® I was looking for land. That day I knew she would be the one that helped me with my dreams. She never gave up. She listened to me and all my buyzillaness and was able to help me find my dream home."
Buyer
"I'm looking forward to working with Sharnetta to find a home that feels like home! So excited that she's a personable professional who knows the area well I'm confident with her!"
"I'm looking forward to working with Sharnetta to find a home that feels like home! So excited that she's a personable professional who knows the area well I'm confident with her!"
Angela B.

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