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 realtor 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. We 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 we deem the offer is acceptable, we 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, we 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. We 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 realtor 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.

Testimonials

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Seller

Amy Dettore is far and away the best Realtor® I have worked with in more than 40 years and 12 real estate transactions. She is the epitome of a professional, with the instincts, expertise and skills for delivering the optimal o...
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Eric A.

Amy sold our house in less than 24hrs and helped us purchase our dream horse farm. She truly made the buying/selling process seamless and as stress-free as possible. Amy attended all appraisals and inspections for the house we ...
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Buyer

We greatly enjoyed working with Amy! She was very knowledgeable about the Real Estate process and shared a lot of very helpful tips and information. Her guidance was wonderful from start to finish! She was always responsive to ...
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Champe & Anne

My husband and I had a wonderful experience working with Amy to sell our home. Through each stage of the process, she kept us informed and updated so we could make the right decisions. She managed the staging and marketing of t...
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Arnold & Shelby

Due to a relocation for work, we had to sell our home in PA. We put it on the market right before COVID-19 and 48 hours after our open house had multiple offers. Amy helped us in negotiations during the COVID-19 pandemic, which...
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Devon L.

Amy is the ultimate professional and simply the best when selling our house. This is the second time we've worked with her as she also helped us purchase our home. We were on a tight deadline and a tight list limit to sell our ...
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Alison E.

I had a wonderful experience working with Amy on the sale of my property. This is the second time we’ve worked together and she made the entire process very easy and comfortable. I live out of state so I appreciate her attentio...
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Buyer

After having assisted with two different home purchases by our family I am very likely to recommend Amy Dettore. I recommended four different friends to work with Amy and they have also told me that they have also recommended h...
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Matt F.

Had the pleasure working with Amy Dettore on the purchase of my new home. Amy was very knowledgeable, user friendly, professional, and an absolute delight to work with. Always answered my calls, emails, texts and really went ab...
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Nancy B.

Amy was extremely knowledgeable about the area and was able to use that to compare homes with fairness during the home search. She was able to capture both my practical and emotional needs when it came to understanding what it ...
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Jennifer R.

We contacted Amy when we were considering a relocation. Not only was Amy thorough, helpful and responsive, but her compassion for our family’s move and everything we were going through provided us with confidence. Her communica...
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Judy B.

Amy is very hard working and made our down sizing nice less stressful by ensuring everything went smoothly. She knows the market and is a great negotiator. She is also well connected within the community and was able to provide...
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Buyer

Amy was great! We were first time homebuyers so having someone with as much knowledge about both the process and the market was very helpful. She got us in to see houses right when they came on the market, which in a competitiv...
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Seller

Amy is the best. She was extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of real estate and made the entire process seamless. She also went above and beyond and was doing the work of the buyer agent too in order to get to settlement....
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Hansen A.

Amy helped me buy my first home and overall I had an excellent experience. Honestly, I can not say enough good things about Amy Dettore. She worked tirelessly to get me the home I wanted. She also has extensive knowledge of the...
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Buyer

We are so glad we had Amy as our agent. She is so knowledgeable about all the process. She showed us many houses before we made decision which house we would buy. then she helped me through the purchasing process. she also has ...
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Ryan & Anne

Amy is an awesome Realtor® who really goes the extra mile for her clients. Over the course of a year she showed us many, many homes. She is knowledgeable, patient and takes the time to listen to your needs. Persistence paid off...
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Martha C.

Very dedicated to both buyer and seller. Very flexible to meet hectic schedules and so easy to work with. Amy worked double time for myself as the buyer and for the seller. Very good communication with her from start to finish.
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Buyer

Knowledgeable about the houses and neighborhoods in the area. Amy has showed us numerous houses and always takes our needs into consideration. She is professional and respected in the real estate industry.
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Michael K.

Amy Dettore did an exceptional job in representing us as sellers. She thoroughly understood the market and her advice was always well considered. Her concern was always focused on us.
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