Selling Your Home Soon? Here Is What To Include In Your Workbook
You and your real estate agent may have already planned your steps to sell your home quickly and for a better price. Though it looks like a great plan already, having a home selling workbook around would still benefit you during the tedious process in case you forget some crucial steps.
To ease the process of selling your home, we’ve taken out some checklists and activities to include in your workbook specifically tailored to your home selling needs.
Home Selling Workbook: What to Include
Preparation
Preparation means planning an exact date when you will sell your home. Contact your trusted real estate agent and start preparing the necessary documents. Basically, it includes the following:
- Getting the legal documents ready
- Contacting a real estate agent to help you sell your home
- Preparing a service provider contact sheet
- Getting an attorney
- Start checking in for major and minor repairs to the house
- Setting up a date for each of the selling plan activities
Renovation and Repair Upgrades
The next item in your workbook should be about renovation and repair upgrades. Of course, you don’t want to make your home look haunted or rather lousy. Having a well-refurbished home entices more buyers and is one of the factors for selling it for top dollar. Here are some ideas on what to check:
- Floor or tile cracks
- Leaky faucets
- Faded paints and plaster
- Leaky roof
- Septic tanks
- Damaged pipes
- Clogged drainage system
- Damaged water heater
- Damaged knobs
- Wall scratches
Calculation of Selling Expenses
Selling expenses are crucial to selling your home, and they often dictate how to price your home. Managing expenses by listing them and making adjustments will set the sails for selling your home for a top profit.
- Repair and renovation costs
- Professional home inspection
- Moving expenses
- Marketing and advertising costs
- Professional services costs (e.g., lawyer)
- Staging and marketing expenses
- Cost of living in the new neighborhood
- Capital gains tax
- Mortgage cost for a new home
Find Out Your Homes’ FMV and Set a Price
Finding out the Fair Market Value or FMV of your house is the first step toward pricing it efficiently. It dictates explicitly how much your home’s value is and the price you can sell it for.
- Have your agent prepare a Comparative Analysis Report (CMR)
- Consider market conditions, such as if it’s a buyer’s or seller’s market
- Determine the average cost per square foot in your area and ensure that your home is within that range
- Determine your asking price based on your FMV
- List out all your expenses during the pre-selling
Marketing
Now that you have set a price for your home, it’s time to introduce it to the market. Marketing entails costs and should be strategic; be sure that you’ve already talked to your agent about this step.
- MLS listing
- Putting up “For Sale” signs
- Putting up a listing on free websites such as craigslist.com.
- Hire professional photographers to photograph the best parts of your home.
- Sending out emails and flyers
Home Showings
Ensure that everything is cleaned up and decluttered. As much as possible, remove any personal things like family photos and portraits. Let your agent do the sales talk and handle things during home showings.
- Keeping the home already decluttered
- Setting up clear appointments with interested buyers
- Hold a private open house for local real estate agents to show them around the house and receive their feedback. Include refreshments and snacks.
- Keep a buyer info sheet for future negotiations
Dealing Offers and Negotiations
After receiving offers from your home showings, it’s time to deal with it. Either you agree, negotiate and make counter offers or decline.
- List out each buyer’s offer
- Make considerations
- Strategize on negotiations
- Decide
Close the Deal
Celebration for closing the deal comes at last. Here are some things you need to work out first:
- Preparing, reviewing, and signing closing documents
- Attending final-walkthroughs
- Signing a change of address form
- Preparing a final statement
- Giving the keys to the buyer
- Preparing for a new life at the new address
Also Read: Your Ultimate Home Selling Process Roadmap
