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 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.​​​​​​​

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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 team of REALTORS once you choose one so they 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 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.

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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

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.

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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 team of real estate agents.

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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. 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.

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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 team of REALTORS 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.

Our Testimonials

Seller

Seller

Incredible experience. Couldn't ask for more from your Realtor®. She was always there for us throughout the entire process. Very knowledgeable about every aspect when selling your home.
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Bob and Inis McConnell

Bob and Inis McConnell

"What you did was simply amazing! (We do not use the word amazing often) .... We appreciate your attention to all aspects of the remodel, listing and sale."
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John W.

John W.

Knows Denver and especially the Northwest neighborhoods. Maribeth has been my Real Estate Professional for two home purchases, both times she was able to negotiate a lower cost, and both homes have since been appreciated greatl...
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Shona Snowden

Shona Snowden

“An outstandingly helpful and hands-on team who helped us negotiate the rather complex sale of our home. They went above and beyond in everything they did. Highly recommended.”
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Bruno P.

Bruno P.

Working with Maribeth made our dream of finding a house possible. She is knowledgeable, has a good eye for quality, and takes one’s interests at heart. In an already difficult and highly competitive market, she made it her pers...
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Dan and Rose-Anne Lowen

Dan and Rose-Anne Lowen

“Thank you for letting us be the biggest pains in the asses and for sharing our journey!! We love you!
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Sharaya C.

Sharaya C.

Maribeth was a key part of our successful house-building and purchasing process. We were so grateful for her guidance as we made a million decisions required when building a home from scratch. Since we bought into a new develop...
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Rachel Badger

Rachel Badger

“Michelle expertly helped me navigate through the sale of my home a few years ago during a tricky market, while concurrently helping me find the perfect home to launch my next chapter in life. She was on top of all the details,...
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Stephanie

Stephanie

Maribeth is great at what she does. She was very thorough in gathering all the data to help me decide whether it was the right time to put my house on the market. Once I decided to do it, she and her team made my house look fan...
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Robin Richardson

Robin Richardson

We were incredibly fortunate to have Michelle as our realtor. She kept our priorities top of mind and advocated for us during all stages of the process. She has a "client focus first" mentality which comes through in every conv...
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Jana W.

Jana W.

Aloha, We met Maribeth in 2008 when we purchased our very first home and she was very delightful to work with! So much so that when my husband and I decided to put this house back on the market in 2020, she was our first choice...
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Jamie McGinnis

Jamie McGinnis

“My favorite part about having Michelle as my buyers’ agent is…. She is on MY team! She thinks of things I don’t think about - like are you sure you want to take care of a yard this big? This kitchen cabinet is too small to fit...
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Seller

Seller

We are extremely pleased to have chosen Maribeth as our Realtor® to help us sell our house in the Sunnyside neighborhood in Denver. Maribeth came highly recommended by friends and our hesitation was deciding if we wanted to go ...
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Jason S.

Jason S.

Maribeth helped us find our dream home, during the pandemic, in the craziest real estate market in recent history. Her expertise in all facets of real estate transactions was a huge asset as we navigated buying a home that was ...
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Lonna

Lonna

As a retired Realtor® myself, I know what it takes to be a 10 and Maribeth has all those qualities. She was my go-to choice when I needed someone to sell my place, as I am no longer a licensed Realtor®. When I needed her advice...
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Lorna L.

Lorna L.

We are so happy in our new home and we are so incredibly grateful to have found Maribeth! She came highly recommended by multiple friends and I can say that she lived up to her glowing reputation. From our first visit together,...
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