Timeline
For Selling Your Home
Thinking of selling your home in Western North Carolina? It’s important to understand that if you expect to make money on your home, you’ve got to give yourself plenty of time to prepare, and that can mean starting to plan months ahead of the date you’d actually like to move out of your home. Here’s a timeline that covers what to expect before, during, and after you list your home in Western North Carolina.
Before Listing Your Home in Western North Carolina
To successfully sell a home, you can’t just stick a For Sale sign in the front yard; you need to put in a little pre-work first! Here’s what needs to happen before you even list your home for sale:
Home Preparation
2 months Prior
Find an Experienced Agent
This is a crucial first step! Enlisting the help of an experienced local agent who understands your needs to guide you through the process will save you time and a lot of headache – and will of course get your home sold more quickly and for more money than trying to list your home on your own.
6-8 Weeks
Make Repairs & Improvements
- WCP real estate agents will do a thorough walkthrough and make recommendations on value-boosting improvements including:
- Painting, refinishing floors
- Fixing or replacing your roof or siding,
- Installing a new door,
- Landscaping
- HVAC system repair or update
- Minor kitchen and bathroom updates
4- 8 Weeks
Set the Price
- A crucial step to ensuring the highest return when you sell your home is finding a competitive price.
- Consider the price of nearby homes that have recently sold, the prices of nearby homes currently on the market, and the condition and location of your specific home.
- Request a neighborhood sold report and work with your WCP real estate agent to find the right listing price.
1-4 Weeks
Final Prep & Staging
- Declutter the bigger collections of unused furniture and other stored items and smaller decorative items.
- Deep clean your home targeting the nooks and crannies.
- Work with WCP agent to stage your home to show neat, welcoming, and depersonalized
- Take professional photographs to highlight your home’s best features and give buyers a great impression.
The Process of Selling Your WNC Home
All right! You’ve done all the prep work, and now for the actual process of showing and selling your home. Here is what to expect once your home actually hits the market, and that For Sale sign appears in the front yard.
Market Your Home
The key to selling a home is in finding the right buyers, and that requires a lot of marketing and advertising. This is where working with a skilled agent can really pay off. Skilled listing agents are skilled marketers. They know where to find the best buyers for your home, and they have access to a wealth of resources, including online listing services, print advertising distribution, large social media followings, and even local agent networks.
Show Your Home
In addition to scheduled open houses, your home can be shown at any time, so be prepared. Keep it neat, clean, organized, and staged. Don’t leave dirty dishes or laundry lying around, be sure to dust and vacuum regularly, and promptly address any potential clutter buildups. Additionally, you should be ready to clear out of the house during showings to avoid making buyers uncomfortable.
Negotiate and Accept
If a buyer wants to buy your home, they will make you a written offer, which usually states how much they’ll pay, their mortgage amount, closing and occupancy dates, and any contingencies. You can either accept the offer or negotiate for different terms.
Negotiations can include your own contingencies, such as a first right of refusal if your buyer’s offer is contingent on selling their home, making the offer contingent on you buying another home, or adding contingencies for closing and occupancy dates or buyer financing.
Closing the Sale Of Your Home
You’ve negotiated with your buyer and accepted an offer. But it’s not time to sit back and relax just yet – there are still a few more steps to go through to ensure everything is in order before you get your check and hand over your keys.
Sign a Purchase Agreement
Once you and the buyer have agreed upon an offer, you will both sign a legal contract called a Purchase and Sale Agreement. This outlines the specific terms, conditions, and contingencies of the home sale.
Cooperate with Inspections
Next, the buyer will hire an inspector to ensure that no major repairs will be needed after they buy the house. The inspector will go through every inch of the house, paying particular attention to the roof, basement, heating and cooling systems, structure, plumbing, and electrical. If the inspector finds any needed repairs, the buyer can negotiate for the costs of the repairs.
Enter Escrow
Next, you will enter escrow. During this time, you and your agent will work with an escrow company to complete paperwork and ensure that all parts of the contract are complete.
Sign, Pay, and Finalize!
On a predetermined closing date, you and your buyer will sit down with your agents to sign all the paperwork and pay all your fees. You will relinquish your keys and your property title, and you will receive a check for the remaining balance after the remainder of your mortgage is paid to your bank. Congrats – you have sold your home!
Ready to Sell Your Home with Western Carolina Properties?
The first step is to contact us! From home staging and professional photographs to negotiations and closing paperwork, we’re here to be your home selling guide, every step of the way. Call us today to learn more about how we can help you successfully list and sell your home in Western North Carolina!
Not quite ready to sell? That’s okay. We have plenty of tools and resources to help you learn more about selling your home!