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

Dan M.

Dan M.

Chris always comes with his A game, is very knowledgeable, and goes above and beyond. He also responds in a timely manner. Very professional, experienced, and helpful. Highly recommend.
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Thomas J.

Thomas J.

Chris did a wonderful job of showing homes in the Summerset development of Brentwood. Highly recommended. With a shortage of homes to show Chris showed us a number of homes for four straight weeks.
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Seller

Seller

Chris helped me sell my house and buy a new one in Sonoma County. I interviewed three agents and Chris was the only one that did his homework and came prepared. His marketing was excellent and sold my house above asking in 7 da...
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Donald S.

Donald S.

I have worked with Chris, and he definitely knows how to streamline the purchase of your new home. He is proactive and works with intent and a sense of urgency to meet expectations for a great home-buying experience. I would hi...
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Seller

Seller

Chris did a fantastic job in selling our home in two weeks' time. He was very efficient and timely throughout the process from listing to closing. Always available for questions and problems and he solved quite a few for us. Th...
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Heidy M.

Heidy M.

We bought our first home and Chris was our REALTOR, I told Chris what I was looking for and he was very helpful. He understood exactly what we were looking for, and with his experience and knowledge, Chris made this process ver...
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Terry B.

Terry B.

Chris helped me sell my home, he was very responsive to my needs and concerns. The buyer of the home had an FHA loan and there were a lot of hoops to jump through. Chris was very helpful with this process and patient with my fr...
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Sandra W.

Sandra W.

When it came down to wanting to purchase a home I knew Chris was the one to call. He was patient with us and I looked at many homes trying to find the right one. Since then, I have had the opportunity to work with Chris on many...
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Buyer & Seller

Buyer & Seller

Chris is very knowledgeable in the Brentwood area. He not only helped us sell our home in Antioch, but he also found a buyer in less than a week. He also helped us find our perfect home. He is very helpful with questions and co...
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Jonathan C.

Jonathan C.

I have had the pleasure of working alongside Christopher and his knowledge and background in Real Estate is second to none. Christopher and I have worked on many transactions together and the process is always simple and smooth...
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Camille S.

Camille S.

I was home searching for approximately 5 months prior to contacting Chris. During our first meeting, he was able to show me 5-6 properties in one weekend. Within two weeks my home-buying process has begun. Chris is extremely kn...
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Sam G.

Sam G.

Knowledgeable, dedicated, and responsive. Within minutes, he gets the sale done. It was amazing working with this charismatic gentleman and I recommend you buy from him or with him. He works with you and for you. He definitely ...
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Seller

Seller

Chris recently helped with the sale of our home and I was so pleased to have him on our team. He went above and beyond to make sure the process was effortless on our side. Communication is very key in real estate and this is so...
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Aziz R.

Aziz R.

I hired Chris as my REALTOR after interviewing two others. His knowledge of the market and the sales process made me extremely comfortable during this stressful process. He marketed my property very well and was very hands-on d...
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Buyer

Buyer

Two words, amazingly awesome. Chris is more than five stars. He went over and beyond for us. He treated us like family. Showed us compassion, dedication, trust, honesty, commitment, and more. Every time he showed us a house he ...
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Irene

Irene

Chris just helped us sell our home in Brentwood. We had some contingencies to deal with as we were also in the process of buying another home. Chris was great about listening to what our major concerns were and taking all that ...
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Jenny O.

Jenny O.

This man is a S.H.A.R.K. He is sharp, helpful, accessible, reliable, and knowledgeable. In short, he's the one you want to be on your side, whether you're buying, selling, or renting a home. I've worked with him in the past, an...
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Work With Christopher

Chris attributes his success to his effective working relationships with his clients. His first priority is always open, honest communication about his client’s particular needs and lifestyle. Finding the right property, or selling a home has its rewards, but for Chris, a life-long relationship with a client brings him genuine personal satisfaction. Above all, Chris is passionate about improving the lives of his clients by helping them find properties that bring them joy and fulfillment. He understands the value of a real estate investment in a way that few can articulate, using his uncanny intuition to maximize returns for his clients. When listing a client’s home, he evaluates the market opportunities, encouraging his clients to be smart and patient to achieve the best outcome.

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