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Seller's Guide

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, I 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.

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Testimonials

Read what clients have to say about working with Shelly.

"Buying a home is never easy, but Shelly made selling two homes and combining families the best experience. With two homes listed, we started looking for "OUR" home. I'm sure Shelly thought I was crazy with the list I gave her that our new home needed to have. To be honest, I didn't think it was out there considering the time frame, budget, and checklist. Shelly was patient and kind and what seemed like the last house in town that we hadn't seen, Shelly took us to "OUR" home. Throughout the entire process, Shelly kept the lines of communication open from the moment we started looking to being there at closing. Her guidance and interest in helping us find "OUR" house went above and beyond. I will and have recommended Shelly to anyone who is looking to buy or sell. In fact, she has now become our family realtor. You can't go wrong with choosing Shelly, she will make your home-buying experience one that you won't want to forget."
"Buying a home is never easy, but Shelly made selling two homes and combining families the best experience. With two homes listed, we started looking for "OUR" home. I'm sure Shelly thought I was crazy with the list I gave her that our new home needed to have. To be honest, I didn't think it was out there considering the time frame, budget, and checklist. Shelly was patient and kind and what seemed like the last house in town that we hadn't seen, Shelly took us to "OUR" home. Throughout the entire process, Shelly kept the lines of communication open from the moment we started looking to being there at closing. Her guidance and interest in helping us find "OUR" house went above and beyond. I will and have recommended Shelly to anyone who is looking to buy or sell. In fact, she has now become our family realtor. You can't go wrong with choosing Shelly, she will make your home-buying experience one that you won't want to forget."
Buyer
"Shelly was excellent to work with on our purchase and she has been very responsive to any requests we've had after the sale. I would definitely recommend Shelly to anyone looking to purchase property in the Rockport area."
"Shelly was excellent to work with on our purchase and she has been very responsive to any requests we've had after the sale. I would definitely recommend Shelly to anyone looking to purchase property in the Rockport area."
Buyer
"Shelly represented me and my family on multiple sells as well as purchases in Rockport. Shelly knows the market well and is very responsive. She is involved in the Coastal bend and stays on top of the market. Shed be my first call if you're looking to buy or sell in the coastal bend!"
"Shelly represented me and my family on multiple sells as well as purchases in Rockport. Shelly knows the market well and is very responsive. She is involved in the Coastal bend and stays on top of the market. Shed be my first call if you're looking to buy or sell in the coastal bend!"
Dean R.
"Shelly is absolutely the best realtor. She was beyond helpful in every way as she guided us through the buying process. She is a wonderful person and realtor and we hope to work with her again in the future."
"Shelly is absolutely the best realtor. She was beyond helpful in every way as she guided us through the buying process. She is a wonderful person and realtor and we hope to work with her again in the future."
Christina P.
"Shelly Griffin has been awesome to deal with, I have used her on several transactions and have 100% confidence in her. She is straightforward forward a great negotiator and knows what she is doing. I would recommend her to anyone looking to buy or sell."
"Shelly Griffin has been awesome to deal with, I have used her on several transactions and have 100% confidence in her. She is straightforward forward a great negotiator and knows what she is doing. I would recommend her to anyone looking to buy or sell."
Scott D.
"If you are looking for a well-polished realtor to list your property, look no further! Shelly not only knows her professional role inside and out but also has an eye for interior staging to add that relaxing waterfront ambiance to call attention to your beautiful property!"
"If you are looking for a well-polished realtor to list your property, look no further! Shelly not only knows her professional role inside and out but also has an eye for interior staging to add that relaxing waterfront ambiance to call attention to your beautiful property!"
Susan B.

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