Published July 5, 2023

What’s Involved When Selling a House

Written by The Norman Home Team of Keller Williams Gateway

What’s Involved When Selling a House header image.

Selling a house can be a complex and time-consuming process, but with the right preparation and understanding of the process, it can be a great experience.

Determine your home's value: The first step in selling a house is to determine its value. This can be done through a professional appraisal or by comparing it to similar homes in the area (known as "comps"). Understanding your home's value will help you to set a fair and reasonable asking price. When looking at other homes in your area, make sure to compare apples to apples. Same number of beds and baths, similar year built and similar amenities.
Prepare your home: Once you have a good idea of your home's value, it's time to start preparing it for sale. This might involve decluttering, deep cleaning, making repairs, and staging the home to make it appealing to potential buyers. Decluttering is one of the easiest ways to improve how buyers will see and value your home. They need space to image themselves living there.
List your home: After your home is in show-ready condition, it's time to list it for sale. You can do this through a real estate agent or "for sale by owner." A real estate agent can help you to market your home and negotiate offers, while selling by owner can save you money on commission fees.
Show your home: Once your home is listed, it's time to start showing it to potential buyers. This might involve open houses, private showings, and accommodating requests for virtual tours. When using a real estate agent to list the home, they will set up your home on a showing service that only licensed agents can schedule through. This is done for your safety and it helps to ensure that the buyers who want to see the house have the ability to purchase the home.
Receive offers: After showing your home, you will likely receive offers from potential buyers. It's important to review each offer carefully, considering factors such as price, closing date, contingencies, and terms. Typically contingencies in a contract are a time period for home inspections, loan approval and HOA doc review, just to name a few.
Negotiate: If you receive multiple offers, you can use them as leverage to negotiate a higher price or better terms. Your real estate agent can help you to navigate this process. If you are doing For Sale By Owner, keep in mind that the highest price might not be the best offer. Do the math to identify what your net take home proceeds will be and apply this to each offer.
Accept an offer: Once you have agreed to the terms of an offer, it's time to accept it. The buyer will typically provide a deposit, and the sale will move forward to closing. The contract will spell out if home inspections will be done, when loan approval will be due, if HOA docs are required and the closing date.
Close the sale: Closing is the final step in the selling process, where the title to the property is transferred from the seller to the buyer. This typically involves signing a lot of paperwork, utilities, and paying closing costs. Once the closing is complete, the sale is final, and the seller will receive the proceeds from the sale. A title company or title attorney will be needed to conduct the closing. All funds will be given to the title company to disburse to pay off any debts or liens on the home, such as a mortgage, and the proceeds leftover will be given to the seller.

Selling a house involves several key steps, from determining its value to preparing it for sale, listing it, and closing the sale. With the right preparation, understanding of the process, and support from a real estate agent, selling a house can be a smooth and successful experience.

If you're thinking about buying and would like a no-obligation consult to see how we can serve you, contact The Norman Home Team at 443.489.5225! Visit our website for information on all the services we provide We look forward to hearing from you and helping you achieve your goals