Seller's Guide

Why Are You Selling?

For every home buyer making that big decision to buy a home, there is a homeowner who has made the equally-big decision to sell. Deciding whether and when to sell your home is a big step that needs to be made only after careful analysis of the market and reviewing your financial circumstances and life goals. There are many reasons to sell a home and the timing and details must be right. Are you selling to buy a bigger home? Are you moving due to a job transfer? Or are you downsizing? Are you buying your first home or moving to accommodate a family member? Are you leaving San Diego altogether or moving to another City within the County? Have you spoken with your tax advisor to determine if you will have any capital gains issues? Are you a senior? Are you aware of the special tax laws that help seniors keep their property tax base low when they move to and from certain California Counties? These are a few of the questions that come up as we discuss selling with our clients. If you are not sure whether you are ready to sell, we can help you sort out your options and help you with your decision.

A unique challenge facing home sellers these days is the lack of inventory – the same phenomenon that home buyers are facing. How does this affect sellers? After all, they have the upper hand in a “seller’s market”, right? Yes, but once they sell and become a home buyer, then they are on the other end of the equation and face the same stiff competition that all buyers are facing. Sellers also have to consider things like mortgage interest rates (their current rate vs. a rate for a new loan), whether there will be capital gains tax due, and whether they can actually find suitable replacement home if they sell. There are strategies that we can help you with to tackle these challenges, and we can help you think through these issues to help you make a plan and a good real estate decision – and a good life decision.

Are You Ready to Sell Your Home?

Preparing to successfully sell your home means preparing your yourself – mentally – and preparing your home. First, you – personally – and your family must be ready and prepared to sell your home. After your you’ve prepared yourself, then you will be able to focus on the tasks of preparing your home for sale.

Preparing Yourself

Before preparing your home, you must prepare yourself to be a home seller. This sounds simple but it is not always easy to do. You are a homeowner, and you are likely very proud of your home. You likely have lots of good memories that were made in your home, celebrating holidays and other special life events with friends and family. These things surely add to the value you put on your home, but you must remember that home buyers have their own perspective and most buyers want to get a deal if possible. So, to successfully navigate the entire selling process, you’ll have to transition from being a proud homeowner to a rational home seller and be ready to deal with the negotiation process and all that comes with the escrow.

Preparing Your Home

Once you’ve decided to sell and you’ve taken on the mindset of a rational home seller, you’ll probably need to do some things to get your home market ready. It really helps to start thinking like a buyer and to understand what today’s buyers are looking for – and to take steps to enhance your home’s value before showings begin. Do you see your home as a castle? A cottage? More importantly, how will the buyers see it?!

Many people have seen home improvement or home selling shows on HDTV or other channels, so it’s not a big secret what is necessary to appeal to today’s home buyers: great curb appeal, a light and bright home with good space and layout with a clean, upgraded interior, and a nice outdoor space to enjoy. Does your home present like this now? If so, great! If not, don’t worry – we can help you get there. There will likely be some needed cleaning and sprucing up to your home, possibly taking care of repairs, and in some cases, undertaking some upgrades, and maybe some work in the yard. We will walk your property inside and out, and come up with a specific plan on exactly what to do to get your home ready for photos, video, and for buyers to start seeing your home. We will take the guesswork out of the equation so you’ll know exactly what to do so you can attract the buyers in your price range and beat out your competition. If needed, we can recommend cleaners, painters, landscapers, and contractors to help you execute your preparation plan.

This process will also involve decluttering (if needed) and start to pack. Remember, you are a rational home seller now, meaning you are committed to selling, so why not start packing? You’ll be encouraged to start packing the things you won’t need for the next few months and in the process, you’ll thin out your closets, cabinets, and garage, making these areas look bigger and less cluttered. You may also consider de-personalizing your home a little by removing some number of photos and personal things that may distract potential buyers – and their agents – from seeing your home as more of a neutral and appealing space. This can seem overwhelming, but we will help you decide what should stay and what should go.

Marketing Your Home

Once your home has been freshened up and any repairs completed, we will start the marketing process. It begins with preparing the home to look its best – and getting ready for photos and (in most cases) a professional property video. This will likely involve some level of staging – whether it involves using what you have in your home or engaging a professional home stager. The goal is to create an emotional appealing experience to your prospective buyer when they see your home – online and in person – and to make your home stand out from other listings. The goal? To cause them to react and engage, and to pursue your home over other listings. This could involve some simple rearranging of your furniture, decorations, and curtains, and perhaps bringing in a few finishing pieces like florals, other plants, pops of color, some cushions, some prints or paintings, or changing some light bulbs. Or, it could involve more extensive staging where a professional home stager is engaged to help create a look that will immediately pull in buyers. We will assess these needs with you and we will recommend top-notch stagers if needed.

Photos & Video

Once the home has been cleaned, put together and staged, we will be ready for professional photos and a video of your home. We engage San Diego’s top photographers and videographers to make your home look its absolute best. This is the centerpiece of all marketing for your home’s listing. Have you ever seen really bad real estate photos? If so, you know how that makes you react. And I’m sure you’ve seen really attractive professionally taken photos that draw you into the home and entice you – this is what we “shoot” for. That’s why we engage the best professionals in San Diego because having great listing photos and videos is a MUST for a serious home seller who wants to get top dollar and sell quickly. Once completed, we start by loading the media in the MLS and on all other syndicated real estate websites like Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, etc. Our marketing strategy also reaches qualified International buyers so ALL prospective buyers will know about your listing when it hits the market. We will also use it for our social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn, and for print materials like newspapers, postcards and glossy marketing flyers. All good marketing starts with great photos and a great property video!

Let the Showings Begin

Once the photos and video are done, we will launch the listing on the MLS and start showing your home to agents and prospective buyers. According to your preferences on showings, this can involve agent open houses (broker caravan), public open houses (typically on weekends), as well as showings by appointment. We will discuss this with you and make sure you are comfortable with these processes, and how and when your home is shown. We’ll discuss whether to use a lockbox, showing times and how to handle kids, pets, privacy and securing your valuables. The goal is to get qualified and interested home buyers in your home and to engage productive local agents who will bring in buyers who are looking for a home like yours.

Reviewing & Accepting an Offer

After showing your home to prospective buyers, the offers will start to come in. This is where we begin the negotiating process with the agents and reviewing the offers with you. A lot depends on your goals and timing and your home’s specifics as to how this process will go and how long it will take. We will share with you how we handle the process at the initial listing appointment. We are skilled negotiators and we have a great track record securing the highest price in the shortest time on the market for our home seller clients. We will negotiate price and terms, including things like repairs, rent-backs, time to close, etc. If at the end of the negotiation process, you accept one of the offers, we will get into the escrow process. During this time, we will walk you through each of the steps in great detail so you’ll know exactly what is happening at each stage.

You’ve accepted an offer to sell your home to a particular buyer – so, now what happens? There are too many details to describe here but suffice to say that the escrow process will involve completing disclosures, ensuring the buyer makes their initial deposit, completing your seller disclosures, providing access to your home for the buyer’s inspections, entertaining some possible repair requests, and finally – packing and getting ready to move!

The Next 30-45 Days

What will it take to get it all done? We will set out a detailed timeline for you as soon as escrow is opened up. You will know exactly what to expect throughout the escrow and our timeline will remove the guess work. Both you and the buyer have things to do during the escrow. You will complete extensive disclosures revealing what you know about the property; and the buyer will review your disclosures, ask questions and complete their inspections. The buyer will also apply for their mortgage (if they are getting financing), line up home owner’s insurance, and decide if they really want to complete the purchase of your home. Surprises do come up sometimes, and we can’t predict everything that will happen, but most escrows that open up will close. You can rely on our years of experience to guide you through the many steps of selling your home, and we will do our best to make this process is as smooth and stress-free as possible.

Moving & Closing

Congratulations! The day has come to move out and turn over the keys to your buyers! We will help you all the way until the end including organizing the final walk through (usually within 5 days of the escrow closing); we will ensure that the buyer has performed all obligations, make sure that you have completed all of your obligations including any agreed upon repairs, and help you stay on track with things like switching off your utilities, transferring your mail, coordinating with your movers and delivering the keys to the new buyers and their agent. There are too many details to mention them all here – but we will be there to help you with each step to ensure that you have all the help you need.

There is a basic description of how we help our sellers and is not intended to provide any tax, legal or other advice. We only reveal our “trade secrets” and prices and strategy details to our clients who hire us to market and sell their homes. If you are considering selling your home and would like a free consultation, please contact us during business hours so we can set up an appointment to discuss your situation.