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A Step-by-Step First Time Seller's Guide

Putting your home on the market can be a stressful process, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Fortunately, with the help of an experienced agent and this easy to follow guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for the best price possible.​​​​​​​

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Step 1: Understand Why You're Selling

What do you want to accomplish with the sale of your home? Do you want to make a certain amount of money that you can put toward a larger or nicer home? Do you need to sell it as soon as possible to facilitate a move to a new city or area? Once you understand your needs, you can better craft your offer. For example, if you need to sell quickly, you might want to price your home lower than if your goal is to make a certain profit margin. Make sure you convey these needs to your Real Estate Agent once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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Step 2: Determine Selling Price

Knowing how to price your home is one of the most important parts of the selling process. When you set a fair price in the beginning, you’ll get the most interest from other Real Estate Agents and prospective buyers. Overpricing your home could lead to reduced interest, and underpricing leads to receiving less than what your home is worth. Working with a Real Estate Agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

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Step 3: Start Preparations

If you’ve kept your home in showroom condition since you’ve lived in it, you’re in the minority of homeowners. Once you price your home, it’s time to start getting it ready to be shown to potential buyers. This includes getting rid of clutter, depersonalizing the space so that buyers can envision themselves in the space, making any small repairs, and doing a deep clean to make sure your home is in pristine condition.

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Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

I will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising your home. This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, or SEO advertising. My team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

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Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. I will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you can make a counter-offer or offer other ways to bridge the gap, such as covering some or all of the closing costs, making repairs, adjusting the move-in date, or leaving some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

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Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once I deem the offer is acceptable, I will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your agent.

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Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now very close to the end of your selling journey. But first, you and the buyer must make a list of what needs to be done before closing. In some cases, your home may need to be formally inspected, surveyed, and appraised. In other cases, major or minor repairs will need to be made before the house can close. I will head up efforts to develop and execute this list, get each action item paid for by the correct party, and make sure everything is in order by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to move out of the home so the new buyer can take possession.

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Step 8: Close

You’ve reached the last step in the seller’s process. When you close on a home you are selling, you are legally transferring ownership of the property to the new buyer. I will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your Real Estate Agent to handle final details such as canceling utilities, cable, and lawn or trash services, changing the name on accounts that the new owner is retaining and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Liz is a true professional in every way. From our initial point of contact to discuss the listing until the closing we felt like we were always her top priority. She answered every text, call, and question we had quickly and never made us feel like we were a bother. We were very impressed with her creativity in preparing open-house themes to draw in potential buyers and agents. As a result of her hard wo...

— Julie V.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

In this type of real estate environment, having a rock-star Real Estate Agent is key. Liz is spectacular at what she does, the moment we showed interest in this hot property, she immediately started talking to the seller, convincing him to get on contract almost immediately to avoid an inevitable bidding war using her superb attitude and people skills. She was on top of every transaction step, coordinati...

— Khalid N.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Liz was amazing! I have worked with Liz multiple times and everything went perfectly. She guided me through the process of purchasing a new home and selling a home. She really made a major event smooth and without drama. Liz's attention to detail, communication throughout the process, local knowledge, and great relationships with the broker community really made the process enjoyable. I personally recomm...

— Torry W.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Liz is the only reason we are in our house today. She had the connections to get us into a home coming to market before the open house which allowed us to make an offer ahead of the crowd. She pushes mercilessly for her clients while remaining incredibly fair, honest, and trustworthy with all parties involved in the transaction. You could not possibly ask for a better Real Estate Agent, neighbor, and, no...

— Buyer

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Liz is simply the best! She is smart, creative, and professional; goes above and beyond all expectations and standards; markets her properties strategically and aggressively; and negotiates for her clients tirelessly. Whether you’re a seller or a buyer, expect to get the best deal and highest customer care with Liz and she’ll exceed those expectations! She’s your next real estate agent. Look no further!

— Eun C.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Liz made the experience of selling our first home so easy and stress-free. She was knowledgeable and dedicated, keeping us updated at every step of the way. Because of her hard work, we were able to close quickly and painlessly, even while being out of state. We would absolutely recommend Liz Ciborowski to anyone looking for a spectacular buying or selling experience in South Florida! Thank you, Liz!

— Seller

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