How to Sell your East Bay Home
Reflect on your time in the home, take a deep breath,
review this checklist, then reach out to me for
personal & professional guidance.
Prepare
You need a teammate. It’s hard to go it alone, but you don’t have to! A qualified Realtor can help guide you through the entire process. From prepping the home, hitting the right timing on the market, understanding local/state disclosures, and negotiating on your behalf - Your Realtor will help you through this transaction while increasing your proceeds from the sale.
Should you make updates prior to going on the market? It depends. Homes that are updated do garner more attention and typically a higher sales price, however, it can be a slippery slope of outgoing funds, with little return. The goal here is to only remodel the items that are going to bring you a high return on your investment. As your Realtor, I can help you decide on what you should (and more importantly, what you shouldn’t) renovate. Your Realtor may have industry relationships with contractors that can help you keep costs low.
Staging is the key to beautiful marketing. Your Realtor will be able to recommend staging companies that can professionally style your home in a way that will make potential buyers fall in love. The online presence of your home is extremely important to capture the interests of today’s buyers. Potential buyers typically decide within 90 seconds whether or not they want to see your home in person. We need to make sure we get as many people through the door as possible so they can fall in love with your home and write an offer!
Speaking of an online presence.. As your realtor, I’ll ensure your property is marketed properly by hiring a professional photographer to capture your home in the best light, getting your listing in front of some of the Bay Area’s top Realtors, & creating captivating marketing materials. This is all a part of the preparation period.
List
Provide seller insights. As a seller, you’ll be required to disclose any pertinent information regarding the property that you are aware of. As your Realtor, I will make sure you understand all of the documents required and that the disclosures are organized, complete, and provided to each buyer who shows interest in your home. I will pull the tax records, HOA documents (if applicable), any compliance certificates (if applicable - I’m looking at you Oakland). You can also gather any receipts or documentation that would be helpful for the buyers to review.
On a lighter note, you can also write a letter to potential buyers sharing with them what you’ve loved about living in the home. Maybe you fell in love with the neighborhood coffee shop or built friendly relationships with your neighbors. This is your chance to paint the picture of what it could be like to live here for potential future buyers.
Pricing your home right is absolutely vital to its success on the market. There are tons of different pricing strategies and as your agent, I’ll recommend the pricing plan that I believe will work best for your home.
Once the property is on the market, potential suitors will need to come and tour it. We’ll work together to figure out the best schedule for showings including open houses on weekends! After each open house, I’ll keep you in the loop on how many visitors we attracted and the feedback I pick up on during the open house.
Staged, photographed professionally, and ready to hit the market!
Go PENDING!
Typically, we’ll set an offer date so that all of the potential buyers will submit their offers on the same day/time. That way, we’ll be able to review them side by side to determine which offer works best. I’ll send you a breakdown of what’s in the contracts so it’s easier for you to review. From there, we’ll discuss which terms we want to negotiate (if any) and select a buyer. Of course we’re looking for the highest price, but there are so many more factors to consider and I’ll walk you through them.
Escrow
Once you’ve accepted an offer, you’re in “escrow”! The typical escrow period in the Bay Area is 21 - 30 days. You will be introduced to the escrow officer who is a third party that facilitates the transaction. They will collect the funds from the buyer and set up the signing appointments.
The inspection period. Depending on your market, either the buyer or seller hires inspectors to evaluate the roof, basement, heating and cooling systems, water heater, structure, plumbing and electrical. In our fast-moving market, many sellers provide inspections up-front as disclosures and reports. In competitive multi-offer situations, buyers who want an edge will have inspections done in advance and then agree to take the home “as-is.” Sometimes the inspections are performed during this escrow period. Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in along the way.
Negotiate. Again. You may find yourself discussing a variety of new issues that have arisen during buyer inspections. The buyer might ask you to make repairs or financial concessions.
The closing table. The buyer submits the rest of their down payment, the lender “funds”, and everyone signs their official documents. Once the escrow company records the sale, they will inform me as to when it is official. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear the good news and then it’s time to celebrate! Congratulations!