A Step by Step breakdown of the home selling process

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Look at your home as if you were a buyer.  Are there any parts of the home that are damaged or need repair?  Some items don’t need to be taken care of but some items may be good to button up to give the best impression possible.  This is a good time to have your real estate professional do an initial walkthrough and help you evaluate the items that may need attention and the items that do not.

The listing price of your home should be based on the market around you.  What have houses in your neighborhood that are similar to yours sold for?  Were they in similar condition?  Setting an appropriate sales price will help you sell your home in a good amount of time and will also insure that there won’t be appraisal issues for the prospective buyer.  Your real estate agent will prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) taking all of these factors into consideration. 

You want to present your house in the best way possible.  Professional pictures (and plenty of them) are the best way to do that.  Your real estate agent will provide and coordinate this service for you. 

This isn’t an exciting step but it’s important.  All home sales must include a Seller's Disclosure (unless you're an exempt party) and a Lead Based Paint Disclosure.  Your agent will supply these documents to you to be completed.  Your real estate agent will also partner with a title company early in the process.  They will order what is called ‘preliminary title’.  This will make sure that there aren’t any title issues like unreleased liens or ownership issues.  If there are then this gives you plenty of time to sort them out while you get your house listed for sale.

Once your real estate agent has pictures and the necessary legal documents, you’re ready to get your home listing out there.  Your real estate agent will enter your home listing into your local Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  Once it’s in the MLS it will go out to all agents who are members and will also get added to all of the popular websites that people use for finding homes. 

Your real estate agent will coordinate showings with you & other agents.  Once your home is listed for sale, your real estate agent will start getting requests to view the property by prospective buyers’ and their agents.  They will install a lockbox and you’ll probably leave the home to give the prospective buyer time to view the home with their real estate agent. 

When the right person comes along who wants to buy your house they will put together a purchase contract that will serve as an offer.  Your real estate agent will review all of the terms, contingencies and verify that the pre-approval letter is valid and accurate.  They will also advise how to proceed based on a specific offer. 

Once you have an accepted offer, the buyer will hire a home inspector to check out the house.  They may also have the sewer line scoped with a camera, test for radon, have the water tested (if you have a well system) and have the septic system inspected.  This part of the process can be used as negotiation if there are items that need attention.  Or it will simply be for the buyers' general knowledge 

Once the inspection contingencies have been waived, the buyer will officially get their mortgage process started.  This is the part of the process that you don’t have any control over.  This part of the process will also include the completion of an appraisal.  An appraiser will reach out to your real estate agent to schedule a time to view the property, take pictures and take measurements.  This is also when the title company will update title work.  The mortgage lender will work with the buyer to gather any documents needed to get their mortgage done.  The time length of this process varies depending on the lender, time of year and overall buying climate.  Typical timing is 2 - 4 weeks to get a mortgage completed.  Your real estate agent will keep in touch with the mortgage lender throughout the process to verify that things are moving in the right direction. 

When the mortgage lender has received all of the documentation needed from the buyer and they are ready to go to closing they will issue a ‘Clear To Close’.  These are the magic words in the home selling process.  The closing is coordinated with you, the buyer, the real estate agents, the mortgage company and the title company.  All parties will want to be involved in the scheduling. 

The closing is scheduled.  You’re ready to sign the final documents and get your check!  Before you do that the title company will prepare your selling documents.  It’s important for you & your real estate agent to review the final documents to make sure that you understand the mortgage payoff, title company fees, state & county fees and anything else that appears on that final statement.  Feel free to ask questions to make sure you understand it all. 

Finally the day has arrived.  All parties are satisfied with the final result and you’re ready to sign.  Typically (this has changed during our current situation) all parties will gather at a title company or real estate office to sign the final documents.  You’ll exchange keys, get a copy of your documents and get your check.  The music plays.  The credits roll and everyone rides off into the sunset! 

Note...there are always exceptions to any process.  However, this is a typical workflow for the home selling process.  Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or check out our FAQ.