Maximizing Your Home's Value: Tips for Sellers and Buyers

Although the steps involved with buying a home or selling a home are intertwined, each side of the coin requires a different approach. Real estate agents typically play an important role in the home selling and home buying process. Many real estate agents can perform either role depending on what local clients are looking for, but there are an elite few who specialize in one or the other.

At 72SOLD, our company is focused on selling homes to qualified and motivated buyers. We excel at getting homes for sale in front of eager home buyers who are ready to make offers. Our streamlined and proven marketing approach makes our team of listing agents the smart choice for home sellers who want to sell their home as quickly as possible without sacrificing equity to close fast.

The Process of Selling a Home

Preparation

Homeowners can accomplish many of the initial home selling steps without the assistance of a real estate agent. If you’re planning to sell your home, the first thing you should do is learn a bit about your local real estate market.

Look on sites like Zillow or Redfin and find out what homes near you, of comparable size and quality, have sold for recently. You can likely determine a rough valuation based on your own informal analysis without a formal comparative market analysis (CMA).

This early stage is also the ideal time to get started on preparing your house for sale. In many cases it’s best to stick to the low-cost or free tasks you can accomplish without putting additional money into the house, like decluttering, cleaning or making minor repairs, such as replacing lightbulbs, fixing broken electrical sockets or painting rooms or the exterior.

Once you’re sure you want to sell, you should consider reaching out to an experienced real estate agency, preferably one with a record of success selling homes in your area. The team at 72SOLD is always ready to assist, and you can request our price for your home through our website.  

Marketing the Home and Receiving Offers

The first thing a listing agent will do is market the home. Several tasks fall under the marketing umbrella, including setting a list price, listing the home on the MLS, optimizing the home’s listing on online platforms and scheduling an open house. One of the challenges for sale by owner (FSBO) sellers and even some listing agents face is identifying qualified buyers predisposed to be interested in your home. 72SOLD’s proprietary process allows our agents to identify interested buyers in a matter of days and encourage them to attend an exclusive open house.

This open house is key to both beating the initial asking price and selling the home quickly. This is ideally the last step in the marketing process and should leave homebuyers with a sense of urgency. Your home should be a scarce resource that multiple buyers want, sparking a bidding war between open house attendees that can potentially lead to offers high above asking.

Closing

After offers have been reviewed and a single offer has been accepted, the home sale must be closed. This will typically involve several steps, including a home inspection, appraisal by the buyer’s mortgage company and signing all the necessary purchase agreement paperwork. Ownership is formally transferred to the buyer on closing day, at which point the seller hands over the keys to the buyer and is paid.

The Process of Buying a Home

Homebuyers should start by assessing their own financial situation. If they feel confident in their ability to secure financing and are ready to move, they should seek out mortgage preapproval.

Once the buyer is preapproved for a specific amount, they may want to contract with a buyer’s real estate agent (sometimes also referred to as a selling agent). The buyer’s agent can help them find listings, schedule viewings, negotiate with sellers and assist in closing.

After a homebuyer’s offer on a home has been accepted by a seller, they should schedule a home inspection. If the inspector finds any issues that might need to be addressed in the near future, the buyer may want to renegotiate the offer they made to account for the increased costs they’ll be acquiring with the home. Their mortgage company will also want to perform their own appraisal to ensure they’re not lending more money than the home being bought is worth.

Once inspections and appraisals are finished, the purchase can be finalized. This often includes finalizing the interest rate for the mortgage based on the final price, reviewing and signing purchase agreements, disclosures and other legal documents, and paying closing costs.

Maximize the Price on Your Home for Sale

Are you looking for a real estate agent who can sell your home quickly for a higher-than-average price? 72SOLD is committed to getting home sellers multiple offers in eight days or less. We have independent analysis showing our median sale prices are 7.8 percent higher than the other homes within a local MLS. If you want to learn more about our process, get our price for your home by filling out the form on our website.