The Selling Process

Steps Towards Selling Your Home

Questions? We’re here to help. Call: 512-850-4510

Selling a home is often an exciting adventure based on a new job opportunity or a growing family and sometimes not a choice but a necessity. Whatever the reason, understanding how fast you want to sell, why you want to sell your home and where you want to go next are some important steps that will help make your home selling process a smooth transaction.

Selling your current home is no small task. Rock Properties is here to help you navigate through what can be a complicated real estate transaction. To help you understand the home selling process a little better, we’ve outlined the major steps to selling your home and detailed the ways that we can help guide you through the sale to reach a successful closing. Here is a brief overview of those phases.

Getting The Most Money For Your House

Setting Your Price

The first and perhaps the most important step when selling your home is to determine the best price. Setting the right price before you list is critical to getting the most for your home and selling it quickly. Over-pricing can lead to smaller buyer pools and extended list time which reduces the number of potential offers that you may receive. The wrong price will bring disappointment and frustration while the right price will bring potential buyers and offers. There is an optimal price for every home.

In general, your home’s price should be based on the inherent features of your property such as square-footage, amenities, and comparable pricing similar homes in your neighborhood. Other factors that affect pricing are the school district, the location of your neighborhood and the local economy.

Having a professional Realtor® with experience in your neighborhood prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report gives you the facts and insight to set the best price. Rock Properties offers a CMA free of charge, without obligation, that you can request through our website. To learn more about pricing your home to sell in the quickest time without sacrificing potential profit, click here to receive a current market analysis.

Preparing Your Home to Sell

You have set your price and now it’s time to prepare your home for buyer walk-throughs. The condition of your home is equally as important as the price when it comes to completing a successful sale. It’s not necessary to put your home in perfect showroom condition, but it makes sense to take the time to de-clutter and clean your home, so that your house makes a great first impression. A potential buyer will typically only spend 15-30 minutes viewing your home, so making a good first impression can be the key to getting offers.

You want to sell your home and you want to get the most for it that you can. To prepare your home, you should look at your home from the perspective of a buyer. Start by walking through your home like you’ve never been there before and make notes of any blemishes that you see. Make sure that everything has been cleaned, walls touched up and painted as needed, shampoo the carpets and wax the hardwood floors. Make your home a blank canvas by putting away as many personal items as possible so that the potential buyer can envision themselves living there. Remove unnecessary large furniture that is not conducive to the visual appeal of your home to create clear pathways and to make your home feel more spacious.

This is the step that can take the longest but it’s important to take the time to thoroughly prepare your home so that potential buyers will get the very best impression of your home. Remember that first impressions will be a lasting impression. Your Rock Properties agent can offer thoughtful suggestions regarding the preparation and staging of your home prior to placing it on the market.

Marketing and Networking

Obtaining the best price is about getting your home in front of as many buyers as possible. A great Realtor® will have a marketing strategy that includes a combination of solid marketing and targeted media exposure. You should choose an agent who is familiar with the local market, well-prepared and has at least 2-3 years of experience in marketing homes for sale in your area. Get the most from your sale by taking advantage of the Rock Properties Austin-Round Rock sales, marketing and networking experience and resources.

Receiving and Negotiating an Offer

Local Knowledge

Congratulations, your effort has paid off, you have received an offer to purchase and now the paperwork and negotiations begin. Your Realtor® should first check to make sure that the offer is signed and in writing and that the potential buyers are qualified to purchase your home. You and your agent should review the contract and your agent should fully explain the terms so that you understand the offer while you ask any questions that you might have. After the terms of the contract are reviewed and explained and you understand what the buyer is requesting, you generally have three options:

Accept the contract as is.
Counter offer – (Accept the contract with changes).
Reject the offer.

Negotiations can take hours or days to complete depending on the strength of the offer but are a significant part of the process and fundamental to most real estate transactions. Most offers require some amount of negotiation to come to a mutual agreement. You should have a real estate agent that understands negotiation tactics as well as understands the Texas Real Estate Commission contracts inside and out.

Depending on market conditions, there could be several rounds of offers and counteroffers. If you are fortunate to be in a Seller’s Market where the inventory is low and the demand high, you may receive cash offers, multiple offers and offers above your asking price. The offer price is the usually most significant part of the negotiation but you should also consider the buyer’s timing and/or financing. Your realtor should help set the tone and pace of the negotiations and help you decide if you should wait on other offers. Stay positive and open minded during negotiations and don’t be offended by any offers. This is a large financial investment and once you sign the contract, the document becomes legally binding.

The experts at Rock Properties have negotiated hundreds of real estate transactions which benefits our sellers greatly when it comes to getting them the optimal price for their home.

Preparing to Close the Deal

Closing the deal

You made it to the closing table. At this point, the contract is signed and at the Title Company, but there are still many things yet to be done. Most every buyer will request a property Inspection report and the buyer’s loan will need to be finalized and the money transferred to the Title Company.

It is important to stay in touch with your realtor throughout the closing process to ensure that all of the paperwork and documentation are being handled efficiently and without delay. Your real estate agent will manage the process and communicate things like shutting down utilities, contacting vendors to help with repairs and ensure that all contract terms agreed upon in the final contract are completed prior to closing.

It’s now time for the final step in your home selling adventure. The closing is usually handled by a Title Company or Attorney and is the official act of legally transferring your home’s title to the new owner. Your Realtor® will be present to answer any questions and to review the paperwork. Once the buyer’s funding goes through, the Title Company will receive the funds from the buyer, file the contracts and deeds with the local governments, pay off your current mortgages, distribute any funds and the ownership officially change hands.

Contact a Professional For Your Home Consultation

Selling your home can be a complex transaction. A great agent will always know what’s going on, will stay on top of the process, will help you better understand the home selling process and will keep you informed every step of the way.

Having the right Realtor® on your side with local knowledge of home values and expertise in pricing and negotiating are important assets in obtaining the most for your house. Rock Properties has helped hundreds of clients sell their Austin-Round Rock homes and the online testimonials from our previous clients says it better than we ever could.

If you’re thinking of selling your house, don’t hesitate to call or text Rock Properties at 512-850-4510, without obligation, to learn how we can assist you in getting the most money for your house. To learn more about how using Rock Properties as your Realtor® can help you to a smooth and successful sale, just click on the contact form below to send us an email. We look forward to serving you.