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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.

Testimonials

"Lauren did a fantastic job while guiding me through the process of selling my first home! She was very responsive, attentive and was a great resource for questions that came up. Her expertise and knowledge of the Atlanta real estate market helped me sell my home at the price point I wanted. I would highly recommend Lauren to anyone who is looking for a real estate agent!"
"Lauren did a fantastic job while guiding me through the process of selling my first home! She was very responsive, attentive and was a great resource for questions that came up. Her expertise and knowledge of the Atlanta real estate market helped me sell my home at the price point I wanted. I would highly recommend Lauren to anyone who is looking for a real estate agent!"
S. W.
"Working with Lauren was great! She was patient and not pushy as we navigated through looking for condos for our son. Very knowledgeable, and what she didn't know she found out for us pronto."
"Working with Lauren was great! She was patient and not pushy as we navigated through looking for condos for our son. Very knowledgeable, and what she didn't know she found out for us pronto."
L. P.
"Lauren was great to work with. She was always organized, punctual, and she was proactive about communicating every step of the way. During the inspection and diligence process, Lauren was super accommodating and always available. After we closed, she was at the ready with a full list of resources such as contractors, handymen, etc. I highly recommend her for any real estate transaction!"
"Lauren was great to work with. She was always organized, punctual, and she was proactive about communicating every step of the way. During the inspection and diligence process, Lauren was super accommodating and always available. After we closed, she was at the ready with a full list of resources such as contractors, handymen, etc. I highly recommend her for any real estate transaction!"
T. L.
"Thank you for sticking by me while I was unwilling to compromise what I wanted, and then when the going got so tough to closing, you also hung in there. Whether it was picking me up, going back extra times, discovering that the car would not fit, and the list goes on. I am very pleased with the house I bought, and know that it wouldn’t have happened without you."
"Thank you for sticking by me while I was unwilling to compromise what I wanted, and then when the going got so tough to closing, you also hung in there. Whether it was picking me up, going back extra times, discovering that the car would not fit, and the list goes on. I am very pleased with the house I bought, and know that it wouldn’t have happened without you."
M. W.
"Lauren Bowling was amazing to work with. I feel fortunate to have had her as my real estate agent. She always had my best interest in mind and was committed to getting me detailed answers to even the smallest of concerns. It was a pleasure working with her and I highly recommend. I am very happy with my new home and grateful to Lauren for making the process a pleasant experience."
"Lauren Bowling was amazing to work with. I feel fortunate to have had her as my real estate agent. She always had my best interest in mind and was committed to getting me detailed answers to even the smallest of concerns. It was a pleasure working with her and I highly recommend. I am very happy with my new home and grateful to Lauren for making the process a pleasant experience."
S. A.
"I worked closely with Lauren in search of a home that took 7 months of searching! She was what every agent should be and exactly what I needed - responsive, easy to reach, honest, caring, a problem solver, knowledgeable, reliable, and flexible. I absolutely loved working with Lauren, and it's important to have someone who does their job well when making such a big financial purchase. I highly recommended her as an agent when searching for or selling your next home."
"I worked closely with Lauren in search of a home that took 7 months of searching! She was what every agent should be and exactly what I needed - responsive, easy to reach, honest, caring, a problem solver, knowledgeable, reliable, and flexible. I absolutely loved working with Lauren, and it's important to have someone who does their job well when making such a big financial purchase. I highly recommended her as an agent when searching for or selling your next home."
R. E.
"Lauren was an absolute gem during my home search and closing process. She went out of her way to contact the appropriate parties when minor setbacks arose. I highly recommend utilizing Lauren and her drive to provide the best client service when searching for your next home!"
"Lauren was an absolute gem during my home search and closing process. She went out of her way to contact the appropriate parties when minor setbacks arose. I highly recommend utilizing Lauren and her drive to provide the best client service when searching for your next home!"
C. R.
"Lauren has the patience of a saint."
"Lauren has the patience of a saint."
M. T.
"Lauren recently helped me sell a condo. This was my first time being on the sale side of a real estate transaction, and she went above and beyond helping me navigate the process, negotiate, whether the back and forth with multiple buyers, staging, improvements, etc. – highly recommend Lauren for her responsiveness and professionalism."
"Lauren recently helped me sell a condo. This was my first time being on the sale side of a real estate transaction, and she went above and beyond helping me navigate the process, negotiate, whether the back and forth with multiple buyers, staging, improvements, etc. – highly recommend Lauren for her responsiveness and professionalism."
D. M.
"From the very first meeting, Lauren's vibrant personality and infectious enthusiasm made the home-buying process genuinely fun! I couldn't have imagined a better partner for this process. In several multiple offer scenarios, her strategic approach was invaluable, and she guided me toward crafting offers that stood out in a super competitive spring market but stayed within my budget. Because she knows a variety of intown neighborhoods so well, it was Lauren's "out-of-the-box" thinking and that led me to purchase a home in a neighborhood I'd never considered but am absolutely in love with!"
"From the very first meeting, Lauren's vibrant personality and infectious enthusiasm made the home-buying process genuinely fun! I couldn't have imagined a better partner for this process. In several multiple offer scenarios, her strategic approach was invaluable, and she guided me toward crafting offers that stood out in a super competitive spring market but stayed within my budget. Because she knows a variety of intown neighborhoods so well, it was Lauren's "out-of-the-box" thinking and that led me to purchase a home in a neighborhood I'd never considered but am absolutely in love with!"
D. S.

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