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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.

SUCCESS STORIES

Testimonials

"We were so fortunate to have found Donna Zalter PA MBA when we wanted to sell our home. As our realtor, she helped us find the perfect client to sell our house. She was very professional and very nice to work with. The best part about working with Donna was that she was always patient answering all of our questions. She also gave us always great advice! She is a great realtor, professional and caring. We loved working with her and will do it again!"
"We were so fortunate to have found Donna Zalter PA MBA when we wanted to sell our home. As our realtor, she helped us find the perfect client to sell our house. She was very professional and very nice to work with. The best part about working with Donna was that she was always patient answering all of our questions. She also gave us always great advice! She is a great realtor, professional and caring. We loved working with her and will do it again!"
Nathalie L.
"Donna jumped on finding me properties immediately after I called. I found my home within 1 day, and I was in contract within maybe a week after our initial call. She was there for every call, email, or text I had as a first-time home buyer, and I felt confident with her guidance. I would highly recommend Donna's services and cannot wait to purchase my next property with her!"
"Donna jumped on finding me properties immediately after I called. I found my home within 1 day, and I was in contract within maybe a week after our initial call. She was there for every call, email, or text I had as a first-time home buyer, and I felt confident with her guidance. I would highly recommend Donna's services and cannot wait to purchase my next property with her!"
Buyer & Seller
"A friendly and knowledgeable agent with excellent connections. Interacted with her for many years and have always walked away with a pleasant experience. She has a vast knowledge of the areas we investigated and was very helpful in making our final decision. Highly recommend using Donna if want an honest, reliable, savvy agent on your side."
"A friendly and knowledgeable agent with excellent connections. Interacted with her for many years and have always walked away with a pleasant experience. She has a vast knowledge of the areas we investigated and was very helpful in making our final decision. Highly recommend using Donna if want an honest, reliable, savvy agent on your side."
Buyer & Seller
"I've worked with many realtors over the years but none has impressed me as much as Donna Zalter PA MBA. She's an ethical, dedicated, and knowledgeable professional who works hard and does everything she can (and more than I could ever reasonably expect) to conclude successful deals. I recommend her highly and without any reservations."
"I've worked with many realtors over the years but none has impressed me as much as Donna Zalter PA MBA. She's an ethical, dedicated, and knowledgeable professional who works hard and does everything she can (and more than I could ever reasonably expect) to conclude successful deals. I recommend her highly and without any reservations."
Buyer & Seller
"I highly recommend Donna. She is smart, organized, and responsive. She gets things done quickly, efficiently, and professionally. We looked at a variety of products and she was knowledgable about everything and came prepared with proper facts and figures to make me knowledgable."
"I highly recommend Donna. She is smart, organized, and responsive. She gets things done quickly, efficiently, and professionally. We looked at a variety of products and she was knowledgable about everything and came prepared with proper facts and figures to make me knowledgable."
Eric F.
"Donna is a knowledgeable, hard-working, experienced, and personable realtor. She recently sold one of our condos in an efficient, satisfying transaction. And she has rented a number of our condos for us. We enjoy working with her and recommend her highly."
"Donna is a knowledgeable, hard-working, experienced, and personable realtor. She recently sold one of our condos in an efficient, satisfying transaction. And she has rented a number of our condos for us. We enjoy working with her and recommend her highly."
Seller
"Donna did an excellent job for us when we sold our condo. She was diligent and responsive throughout the process, and her expertise and knowledge of the market are unmatched. I would use her again, or recommend her to others, without hesitation."
"Donna did an excellent job for us when we sold our condo. She was diligent and responsive throughout the process, and her expertise and knowledge of the market are unmatched. I would use her again, or recommend her to others, without hesitation."
Seller
"Donna is an honest, hard-working, experienced, and responsible realtor who communicates effectively. She listens carefully and has excellent interpersonal skills. We use her for all our real estate transactions and recommend her highly."
"Donna is an honest, hard-working, experienced, and responsible realtor who communicates effectively. She listens carefully and has excellent interpersonal skills. We use her for all our real estate transactions and recommend her highly."
Buyer & Seller
"Donna is someone you can trust to guide you through the process of a long-distance property purchase. We worked with Donna to find a condo in Florida and would recommend her to anyone looking to do the same."
"Donna is someone you can trust to guide you through the process of a long-distance property purchase. We worked with Donna to find a condo in Florida and would recommend her to anyone looking to do the same."
Buyer
"Donna was very responsive and quick with all our questions. She lives in the Hallandale area and was very knowledgeable about the market. Thank you for all the guidance!"
"Donna was very responsive and quick with all our questions. She lives in the Hallandale area and was very knowledgeable about the market. Thank you for all the guidance!"
Buyer
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