Everything you need to know about putting your home on the market, accepting an offer, and closing on your home.
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 team of real estate agents 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.​​​​​​​
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 team of real estate agents once you choose one so they can adjust your selling price accordingly.
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 team of real estate agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate agents with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.
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.
We 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. Our 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.
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.
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 team of real estate agents.
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. We 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.
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 team of real estate agents 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.
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.
I recommend marathon reality James and his team are hands first with being helpful in all situations.
James helped my husband and I in finding a home in 2015. I can not sincerely say enough positive things about James. We were not the easiest clients to work with being that we were new to the process and had VA loan hoops to ju...
We would highly recommend James as a Relator. He works phenomenally around the buyer’s schedule to show houses, process paperwork, etc. he is also VERY knowledgeable when it comes to ideas on renovating or fixing things on your...
James was exceptional right from the start. His area knowledge and tenacity found me the perfect home almost right away. I'd highly recommend him for your home search or sale.
I couldn't say enough about the service James provided. We had to plan this move and purchase this home from 1500 miles away in another state and James made it possible! He was our eyes and ears and he made sure everything that...
James did a fine job helping us to find a house. He was knowledgeable about the market and about the VA loan process. He helped point out the good points and bad points in the houses we looked at. He was never pushy and didn't ...
James is thorough, competent and professional. He kept us abreast of all progress of his buyer as the deal progressed and negotiated each point calmly and without dramatic excess. We would love to have James bring his buyer to ...
Working with James Burton was excellent. He made our first time home buying experience extremely easy. James responded immediately to all questions and would research further if he was not aware of the exact answer. He helped s...
James was very responsive to questions and obtaining information from others. He always provided complete answers and made sure we received more than enough information. Highly recommend!
James was exceptional right from the start. His area knowledge and tenacity found me the perfect home almost right away. I'd highly recommend him for your home search or sale.
Marathon real estate was extremely helpful throughout the entire process, and always quick to respond to any questions or concerns we had in the moment. We would absolutely utilize their services again
They are awesome, responsive, very nice and always available.
2/14/2020 - Keith Gilchrist It went great. James was our advocate from the very start. He was willing to do showings any day and any time, anywhere. He was objective and always offered ideas. He is an expert with the VA loan pr...
James is a great real estate agent. He is very knowledgeable and was with us throughout every step of the home buying process up until closing. James was very responsive and would answer our questions any time day or night. He ...
Jeremiah Smith & his team at Marathon Real Estate are true local professionals. When it comes to residential real estate in the Hopkinton, MA area, Jeremiah should be your go-to. He's very knowledgeable of the market & he'll wo...
For our first home purchase, we were not able to travel to Boston to view potential properties before they were under contract. James personally visited each property we were interested in, FaceTimed us, and provided so many de...
My wife and I could not ask for a more professional, likable and knowledgable agent. James was always available to answer our questions throughout the home buying process and made us feel exceptionally comfortable. His knowledg...
Very professional and knowledgeable. Made the process for a first time homebuyer extremely easy. Lastly we were able to reach him at all hours of the day to include holidays
Mr. Burton is a committed professional in his field. Not only did he help me secure an amazing unit in a competitive location, he did not back down when negotiations could have led to an undesirable result for all parties. I tr...
I have worked with James on various different occasions and can say that he is a top notch agent! He is very thorough and forms strong relationships with any client he works with. I would highly recommend!
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