Please contact me to schedule a consultation and walk-through of your home. Here is a run-down of some of the items we’ll consider together.

Please call Lisa Cannon at (210) 884-9515 or click here to email so we can get your home staged and sold!

Steps to Consider Before Listing Your Home

Define Your Needs

Write down all the reasons for selling your San Antonio home. If the reason includes a strict time frame verses a last minute thought to “test the market”, you will need to communicate this with your Real Estate Agent.

Estimate Your Costs to Sell

Your Realtor deals with transactions on a daily basis and can give you an estimate of closing costs, or what it will cost you to sell your home. Closing costs include the title fees, Realtor commissions, and ancillary items that may be negotiated in the contract. You should know what your mortgage payoff is and make sure you are up to date on any HOA dues as well. Will the proceeds cover your costs to pay off the old mortgage and give you what you need to acquire a new home?

Find the Right Real Estate Agent to Assist You in Selling Your Home

Realtors are important partners when you’re buying or selling a home. Your San Antonio Realtor can provide you with helpful information on homes and neighborhoods that aren’t easily accessible to the public. Their knowledge of the home buying process, negotiating skills, and familiarity with the area you want to live in can be extremely valuable. A Realtor will take care of many details such as marketing your home, assist in determining the list price through neighborhood comparison, give you an estimated net sheet, advise you in staging of your home, enlist a scheduling service so it is easily assessable to agents throughout the city, give feedback from showings, and negotiate the contract among various others tasks involved in the selling of a home.

Determine How Much the House Is Worth

Determine your home’s fair market value. Your Real Estate Agent will help you determine value as a courtesy, and this will assist in determining your listing price. Setting a fair asking price from the outset will generate the most activity from other Real Estate Agents and buyers. You will need to take into account the condition of your home and what comparable San Antonio homes in your neighborhood are selling for.

Prepare Your Home

The condition of your home will affect how quickly it sells and the price a buyer is willing to offer. First impressions are the most important. Your Realtor can help you take a fresh look at your home and suggest ways to make it more appealing to buyers. A home with too much “personality” is harder to sell. Removing family photos, mementos, and personalized decor will help buyers visualize the home as theirs. Make minor repairs and replacements on even small defects, such as a leaky faucet, a torn screen, or a worn doormat. These things can leave a buyer with the impression that the home has not been well cared for. Take care of any maintenance issues that may come up in an inspection report.

Receive an Offer

When you receive a written offer from a potential buyer, your San Antonio Realtor will discuss with you the terms of the contract and assist you in negotiating these terms. The contract, though not limited to this list, should include: offer price, down payment, financing arrangements, inspection rights and possible repair allowances, method of conveying the title and who will handle the closing, appliances and furnishings that will stay with the home, settlement date, contingencies, etc. As the seller, you have three options: accept the contract as is, accept it with changes (a counteroffer), or reject it. If you have any questions or concerns, be certain to address them with your Real Estate Agent right away.

Prepare to Close

Once you accept an offer to sell your house, you will need to make a list of all the things you and your buyer must do before closing. The property may need to be formally appraised, surveyed, inspected, or repaired. Your Real Estate Agent can spearhead the effort and serve as your advocate when dealing with the buyer’s agent and service providers. 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, 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. Important reminder: A few days before the closing, you will want to contact the entity that is closing the transaction and make sure the necessary documents will be ready to sign on the appropriate date. Also, begin to make arrangements for your upcoming move if you have not done so.

Close the Deal

“Closing” refers to the meeting where ownership of the property is legally transferred from the seller to the buyer. At the closing, all agreements between buyer and seller are finalized, documents are signed and exchanged, money passes to the seller, and title to the property passes to the buyer. Closings take place at the office of the title company, which issues title insurance to both buyer and lender. This insurance is issued after the title company has researched the chain of title to the property and cleared any matter that might interfere with a successful transfer of title.

Please call Lisa Cannon at (210) 884-9515 or click here to email so we can get your home staged and sold!