Refer to this handy list to get you through the selling process.

1. Calculate your selling expenses.

• List the repairs and projects you’ll have to do to get your home in selling condition and estimate the costs of hiring supplies and contractors.
• To get top dollar, consider remodeling projects and green upgrades that increase your home value.
• Expect to pay about 7-10% of the home’s sale price in closing costs, including real estate agent commissions, transfer taxes and prorated property taxes.
• Factor in these costs:
  • Professional home inspection
  • Capital gains tax
  • Mortgage payoff penalties
  • Staging and marketing expenses
  • Moving expenses
  • Costs related to getting a mortgage for new home

2. Plan your selling strategy.

• Determine how fast you need to sell your house and how much money you want to get from the sale.
• Contact your Sandord Alderfer Real Estate agent to list your home on the multiple listing service (MLS).
• Consider an auction for a quick sale in a slow market.
• Determine your home’s strengths and unique features and promote them in all advertising.

3. Prepare and state the home.

• Have a yard sale. Sell, donate or trash everything you don’t need.
• Make necessary repairs.
• Make improvements to increase your curb appeal, i.e. the home’s external attractiveness when viewed from the street.
• Hire a professional home stager or research staging tips.
• Declutter, depersonalize and decorate every room and outdoor areas so buyers can imagine themselves living in the home.
• Paint interior rooms neutral colors.
• Replace outdated lighting fixtures and window treatments.
• Keep the home in show-ready condition at all times.

4. Review purchase offers.

• For each offer, review the proposed offer price, pre-approval letter, contingencies, earnest money amount, proposed closing date and offer expiry date.
• Make counteroffers and negotiate.
• Approach each offer as an opportunity to negotiate.
• If you won’t budge on price, offer financial incentives that don’t require cash out of your pocket, such as paying for part or all of the buyer’s closing costs, repairs found during the property inspections or points.
• Offer to include furniture, appliances, window treatments or lighting fixtures.

5. Preparing for closing.

• Create a formal plan for handling home repairs, including when they should be made and who pays for them.
• Clean and prepare the home for the appraisal and home inspections.
• Choose a title company who will order a title search, request payoff information for your mortgage and other liens on the home, prepare and record documents, hold and disburse funds and prepare closing statements.
• Prepare for the final walk-through inspection.

6. Closing.

• Sign the closing documents and move out of your home.
• Keep copies of your documents for reporting the sale on federal and state tax forms.