Yes, you interview agents. As silly as it sounds, this is the best way to decide if an agent can properly promote you and your property during your home sale.  Reviews, recommendations, and your gut are the tools you can use to sift through the ever growing pile of real estate agents out there to find your best fit. 

If an agent doesn't jive with you, then turn them down and move on to the next. They know it's just business; don't worry about hurting feelings. Find the right fit for you!

If you keep a tight ship then your real estate professional probably will tell you they're good to start marketing the home. High five to those that clean nonstop, but the majority of households are going to need a little TLC prior to the photographer coming in. It's a good start to simply clean your home - wipe things off, vacuum, and put things away. Try and organize as much as you can so the home doesn't look and feel cluttered. Move everything that is making the home "cluttered" to a storage unit temporarily if possible. If not, beds have space underneath, closest were made to be catch-alls, and your friends owe you one anyway. For staging tips, check out our blog article doing so. 

Outside the home, your agent may mention curb appeal. Curb appeal is the attractiveness of the home from the outside. If your siding is flaking, flowerbeds are bare, and your front porch looks like something from a horror movie, then your curb appeal is low. Buyers don't want to flock inside and look around. For the warmer months, planting some inexpensive flowers/shrubs is a great start. Adding a fresh coat of stain or paint to the porch would do wonders. Adding some outdoor furniture would be the final touch to your inviting front space. 

Each home and situation is different. If those circumstances dictate that your curb appeal is staying as is, it is what it is. Don't sweat it.

Once you have signed a listing agreement with an agent, everyone has crossed T's and dotted I's, and your home is in tip top shape it's time to market your property. It begins in the system the real estate agents use called the MLS (Multi Listing Service). This program sends your listing out to all other agents and to third party websites such as Realtor, Zillow, and Redfin.com. These sites pull the basic data and photos from the MLS listing thus allowing potential buyers that don't have an agent to see your property for sale. Only buyers working with a real estate agent have access to the listings and the data within the MLS. 

Agents can also host an open house at your property. This is a very casual type of event where buyers can walk around and view the home at their leisure without the assistance of an agent (or they may bring their own if they have one). This allows a lot of people to potentially pass through the property. More eyes = more interest for your property. Agents can host an agent only open house. This could be used as a preview so the agent can go back to their buyers adn explain the home to the ones they feel would be interested. 

Social media is another high traffic way to get your listing out to the community. You, as the seller, can also promote your listing to friends, family, colleagues to reel in a buyer. Some real estate offices (ERA Liberty does!) offer their agents programs that can send the seller a post to share out on their own social platforms. Easy and fast and promote it in a flash! 

After you have waited showing after showing, feedback comment after feedback comment, you finally get an offer... and it's FULL PRICE! Now what? You will, with your agent, look over the offer from the interested buyer. This can be done over the phone, an in-person meeting, or your agent could send you the contract via email. One way that the contract signing could be handled is by electronic signatures. Agents have the ability to create electronic documents and then send them out for initials and signatures. 

You will look at all the fine details:

• Price
• Closing date
• Any inspections
• Any seller subsidy (seller paid closing costs)
• Is there an offer expiration (how quickly do you need to respond)
• Are they pre-qualified
• Will they be a cash buyer or are they financing
• What type of financing are they going
• Do they have to sell their own home to purchase yours
• Are there any special requests

Once you have accepted, countered, or rejected their offer the buyers agent will need to be notified. Your agent will let them know and the deal either proceeds or dies. Let's say you accept the full price offer. Now you enter into a period of inspections and finalization. It can turn into a frenzy so take every day one day at a time and if need be, make a time table for yourself!

After you have waited through showings, read the feedback comments, accepted the best offer, and now you're waiting weeks for the closing. Inspections can take time especially if there are a lot of them to be done. Most of the waiting is from the buyers side. The appraisal of the property (if they are financing the purchase) is done for the buyer. Any inspections are also done for the buyer. During the inspection period, you will need to make your home accessible to the professionals coming and going. If you are unable, your agent can assist.

Let's say that you have a home inspection that needs to be satisfied. The inspection is completed, but comes back with some requested repairs. Three things can happen in this situation:

1. There was a contingency initialed in the contract that the seller would make repairs.
2. Buyers would accept the house as is, issues and all.
3. The buyers are given the ability to walk away from the contract in good faith.

Depending on which contingency is in effect dictates how you, as the seller, can answer. Let's say #1 was initialed and made part of the contract. The contract then falls back into a negotiation period as it is hashed out which repairs the seller will make. Usually, the buyers will supply a list to the seller of items they want corrected. They have X amount of days listed in the contract to respond. At times, these repairs are lender required, meaning the lender is deeming them necessary to be corrected for the buyer to receive the loan for the home. Different loan programs and types have differing strictness levels in which the standard of the home has to fall for the loan to be approved. 

Your contingencies have all been satisfied, your stuff has been moved to the new home, it's time to head to the closing! The closing Attorney will have all the paperwork ready to sign upon your arrival. This will be the time that you will meet the buyers and the buying real estate agent at the closing table. Sometimes, the buyers and sellers go to different attorneys to sign their documents for the closing and then they get forwarded to the second signing party to complete the sale. This isn't typical though.  

Once at the closing table, buyer and sellers will pass around the ALTA (American Land Title Association) or the HUD (Housing and Urban Development) to get all the necessary signatures. The seller will sign the new deed for the buyers giving them the home. Copies will be made and questions will be asked. Once the seller has signed all their documents, it's a lot less than the buyer, the seller is free to go once handing over the keys. The buyer may have a bit more documentation to sign for. 

The check to the seller can be wired to their bank or a cashable check will be given.

Congratulations! Your transaction is now complete!