walk you through like a seller consultation, start to finish what it would look like to sell your home here in Hampton Roads and with That Fit Team. So let’s get into it. So you think about selling your home. Maybe it’s the first time you’ve sold a home. It’s good to know exactly what to expect. So from the very beginning, a lot of people go online and they’ll Google what is my home worth. And, you know, a lot of people do look at that Zillow estimate and I’ll say, you know, Zillow, they do a good job at getting their website out there. But you really are going to want to start with a real estate professional to have them do what we call in the business a CMA, otherwise known as a comparable market analysis. What we do is real estate realtors and real estate agents is we’re going to take your home, look at the data from your home, what homes have sold in your neighborhood what’s homes are pending, what’s on the market currently?
First Steps: CMA without the Awards
And if there’s not a lot of houses for sale or sold in your specific neighborhood, we’re going to go maybe about a half a mile, sometimes even a mile out to find homes that are comparable to yours that have sold so we can see what those homes have sold for, because after all, that’s what an appraiser is going to do. It’s what other agents are going to do, where they’re going to show your home and write up an offer. So in this comparable market analysis, otherwise known as a CMA, remember that we are going to look at how large your home is, how many bedrooms, how many rooms, bathrooms, finishes, do you have updates that you’ve done recently or has the does the home maybe need some updates or is everything in good repair?
And it’s really up to the buyer of what they would want. These are all things that we’ll take in consideration. Is your home a ranch, meaning all of the rooms are on one floor. Is it a two storey? Most people and most appraisers don’t actually compare a ranch home to a two story home. So something to keep in mind. Do you have brick, exterior, hardy plank, vinyl siding? These are all things that come into play to actually consider the value of your home and what we think we can market at and get the highest dollar for you in the shortest amount of time with the best terms oh yeah. We wrote a book about that. Please reach out to us. We’d love to give you a free copy of our book, but let’s get back into it. Once we have a market analysis of your home, we can do this just by looking at the data, maybe having a conversation with you about your home. But to get the most accurate information, we would really want to schedule a time to come see your home in person and actually get a feel for your home, see what condition your home is in. Maybe it has some really cool features that you just take for granted, like a fireplace or a back door deck or a patio. Or maybe you have a detached garage. These are all things or a pool. These are all things that come into play and actually will increase the value of your home. And we would certainly want to make sure that we are accounting for these wonderful features that you have.
Other features would be crown molding window treatments that you would leave in the home, your appliances. Have they been updated? Again, these are all things that we would want to consider. Once we know what we think, we can market your home and sell your home for it to help you get top dollar. Now it’s time to talk money. When you’re a buyer and you have representation, you’re really not paying for that representation. On the seller side, it’s a little bit different when you sell. Unless you’re home with a real estate brokerage, you are going to agree to actually pay a certain percent of your sales price to the buyer’s broker and the listing broker. It’s up to you guys to discuss how you want to split that.
Why do you have to Pay?
But here in Hampton Roads, the 757 of Virginia is typically going to be a 6% listing fee, and we split that up 3% to the listing brokerage and 3% to the buyer’s broker. Now you’re probably thinking, Wow, 6% is a lot of money. What do I get for that? Well, your home gets listed on the multiple listing service which is the MLS. That’s what all real estate agents use to log in and see which homes are actually available for sale. Those that’s where they send their clients homes to. From there, it goes to every single site known to man that’s out there at the tip of your fingers to Google or to search from your mobile device or laptop online. All of those apps Zillow, Redfin, Trulia, Yahoo, Realtor.com, every single site.
And then it also goes on our our real estate broker site, Fit Realty, and That Fit Team. Your listing is probably going to go out to about 20 or 30 different websites, which are available to people, to the masses out there actually searching for homes. Now, it’s really important to have a real estate team that knows how to market well because some agents will just put up a listing. They’re like, Oh, it’s three bedrooms, two baths, blah, blah, blah and not get very specific about the features of your home. We will put every feature we possibly can down to walk in closets, a walk, an attic or a pool down attic. Do you have cable hookups? These small little details actually matter when we are listing and marketing your home, so you want to make sure you have someone that knows exactly how to look for those details and how to market your home well.
We’re going to put a sign on your front lawn and actually have like a text number for people when they’re driving by. They can text and they’ll get an immediate answer with information about your home. So people driving by will get information. We do fliers, we do mailings to your neighborhood because you never know if you have a tight knit community. Someone in your neighborhood might have a friend or family member that wants to move there. And it’s a great way to build a community. And more often or not, you actually find people that buy your home, actually knew someone that lived in the neighborhood. We also do a ton of social media marketing, which you’re watching this probably on social media or YouTube.
The Importance of Marketing
And so you know firsthand that we do a really good job at getting all of our content out to people. We use things like pixel and retargeting and advertising on all social media platforms to make sure that we’re getting your listing out to the masses. Now, back to what what to expect when you are actually the seller. So once you actually come to an agreement with your agent and your broker listing price, you’re going to have what terms do you want when are you going to be? There’s so many things to actually consider. When is it ideal for you to move? Where are you going to move to? Are you going to buy a home? Do you need to figure out where you’re going to be living or like stay in your home while you’re looking for another place to live? These are all things that we actually will talk through with you during our free consultation.
There’s a lot to get prepared to help your home, be ready to go live on the market and people actually walk through, as buyers to see your home. So we’ll come during that consultation with you at your home, kind of walk through the house and see are there things that maybe we would need to make some adjustments? Should we declutter a little bit should we move some big pieces of furniture into a storage unit? Now, these are all things there you are, the decision maker. It’s totally up to you not saying you have to move half of your furniture out, but we’ll certainly give you suggestions. So your home is in best showable condition. Now we always hire professional photographer and videographer to come into your home takes about two to 3 hours, so you’re going to deep, clean and get ready for those pictures.
So it takes about four to five days really to actually be fully prepared with photos, pictures, your listing. All of our marketing information before your listing goes live. So we’ll walk you through that as well. We’ll have the photographer go through. We’ll get a video of your home, we’ll do a listing video, we’ll do a walkthrough tour to make sure that we’re marketing your home to it’s absolute best potential. Now your listing is live now what? So now I get to do an awesome job helping coordinate all of those showings. So what happens is this agents out there who are representing buyers are going to get calls and texts from their buyers saying, Hey, I want to see this house. When can we get in?
So then they reach out to me and we’ll make an appointment with you. So typically that first weekend, you want to kind of be ready to have your home available in showing condition for people to walk through your home. And then from there, it’s just basically hour by hour. So what happens is an agent’s going to call me or text me and say, Hey, can I show this house this afternoon? And I always ask for like an hour window so that you’re not gone for the whole afternoon and evening wondering what’s going on at your house. I’ll let you know exactly how many showings there are and certainly make sure that these times work for you. So coordinating these showing times is something that we do will help you with to take the worry off of you.
Got an Offer? What Next…
So best case scenario, we get an offer, maybe even multiple offers on your home. Now, it’s not always about that. Sales price. We’re going to look at all of the terms on that contract. What type of loan is the buyer going to be getting? When can they close? What is their earnest money deposit did they just put down $500 or are they putting down $5,000? That shows a little bit more seriousness and skin in the game. So we’re going to take all of these things and consideration when it comes to the offers that come in your home. Closing costs, assistance. Do they want a home inspection? What kind of inspections do they want and how long do they want this contingency? There’s a lot that goes into negotiating on your behalf, and we will walk you through every step of the way and give you suggestions on what we think will be best for you.
Now, we have a ratified offer, which means you, the seller, has agreed to the terms to what the buyer has brought, and we are all in agreement and we’re moving forward. So now it’s going to be time for the buyer to actually schedule their inspections, and we’ll walk through that with you. They’ll probably want a home inspection they’ll need a termite moisture inspection, because here in our area, lenders actually require a clear termite moisture company from a licensed company to make sure your home is free from termites and wood destroying insects or fungus and mold. So we’re going to have that inspection done in your home. And then the appraisal happens. And now in this appraisal process, an appraiser is going to go out and actually look. And what he’s looking for is how he can value your home in the market. Make sure that it is a solid home that the loan the lender is going to want to lend on.
So these are all inspections that happen in about a matter of ten to 14 days. Along the way sometimes there’s some negotiation that goes in between. So you’re going to want to be ready for that. Now, we’re moving towards closing everyone’s getting ready to close the buyer. Your agent, hopefully that’s me and my team. We are working hard to make sure that everything is lined up with the buyer’s lender and they’re doing their job to make sure everyone’s going to be closing on time. Well, how do you coordinate with a local attorney for your closing. Who’s going to represent you. They’re going to be asking for your your actual current mortgage payoff so that they have that number correctly for you at closing. So don’t be surprised if they reach out to you and ask you for some personal information and we’ll make sure that you guys are connected and you know the right person to talk to.
Call Us for all Your Real Estate Needs
We are here for you every step of the way. We will let you know when it’s time to actually call the utilities and go ahead and have those utilities turned off in your name at the proper time. Nobody wants to have utilities turned off the day before closing because the buyers are probably going to do a walkthrough and you want to have those utilities on so they can actually do their final walkthrough and go to closings. So I’ve actually had this happen before representing a buyer. We were we went to the house and all the utilities were turned off like, Whoa, you’re buying the house. You should have them put in your name. Like, No, actually it’s up to the seller. That’s you this time to have the utilities on through closing to make sure that everything’s working properly when the buyer takes possession of the home.
So the last thing you want is that to be something that delays closing. There’s so many more things that go in to selling your home. We’re here for you along every step of the way. We’ll help you coordinate with contractors. If any repairs need to be done on your home. We’ll help you negotiate make sure that you’re getting really good terms, making sure that you get good estimates so that you’re not overpaying for work that might need to be done before closing for the next owner. After you are closing on your home, we want to help you either purchase your next home or help you find find a real estate agent in a different area. If you’re moving out of the area, we would love to help you and refer someone to you. Now, if you have any questions on selling a home, we want to be there for you.
This is a really quick video, kind of a quick consultation on what to expect, but there really is a lot more that goes into it. You want to have a good professional team on your side to represent you well. Who will bulldog on your behalf and make sure that everything gets to the closing table on time and smoothly so that you can sleep well at night. Knowing that we’re here to help you. So give us a call. Reach out below. We want to help you figure out what your home could sell for, how quickly we could sell it and help you get the best terms for your home. So that’s it, you guys. We’ll see you next time. On the next video. Let us know how we can help you and serve you with all of your real estate needs.
I’m Rachel Beasley with That Fit Team. We are professionals in real estate and passionate about people. Can’t wait to talk to you soon.