Whether you're selling your home for the first time or the 15th time, the process can be confusing. Here is a step-by-step overview, so you know what to expect.
(Note: The following tips are for sellers in Chicago and the suburbs on Chicago's North Shore, including Evanston, Deerfield, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Highwood, Glencoe, Northbrook, Wilmette, Winnetka, Kenilworth, Skokie, Northfield, Buffalo Grove, Glenview and more. Local customs, rules and laws may vary for other areas in Illinois and in other states.)
1. Meet with a Realtor. Learn about the home-selling process and local market trends. Discuss your desired timeline. Discuss what projects, if any, you should consider doing before you put your home on the market. Your Realtor can help you focus and prioritize on the projects that will improve your home's value and/or ensure a quick sale. The sooner you meet with your Realtor the better – it's NEVER too early!
2. Prepare Your Home. Start preparing your home well before you plan to put it on the market. Karp Residential will give you a list of trusted service providers that can help with some or all of these tasks:
- Decluttering and organizing your possessions. This can take a lot of time. And, if you are downsizing, it can take even longer.
- Holding an estate sale.
- Giving furniture or heirlooms to your kids.
- Donating gently used items.
- Organizing and reviewing important documents or photos.
- Home improvement projects.
It all takes time. The sooner you get started, the easier it will be because you won't be under pressure to meet a deadline. IMPORTANT NOTE: If there is anything in your home that is NOT in working condition and you do not want to address it prior to selling, let your Realtor know so that this can be disclosed up front to prospective buyers. This can avoid post-inspection issues.
3. Pricing and Marketing. A month or two before you are ready to put your home on the market, your Realtor will prepare a Custom Market Analysis (CMA) and review it with you. The CMA will include information to help you set your asking price, based on sales of comparable homes in your neighborhood. Pricing is very important!
- The location, size and overall condition of your home must be carefully considered for pricing.
- When you are looking at comparable sales in your neighborhood, focus on homes that have sold, not homes that are still for sale. Look at unsold properties to understand the competition when you go on the market, and possibly adjust your price for a competitive advantage.
- Don't plan to lower the price later. Research shows that homes that start out with a price that is too high for the market will sit on the market longer, ultimately selling for less than similar homes.
- If you price your home high in order to have negotiation room, you will lower the number of potential buyers that see your home.
- Don't price your home based on what you need for your next purchase. Buyers make offers based on the sale of other homes in the area.
Karp Residential will also provide you with a marketing plan for your home. Once you've reviewed the CMA and the marketing plan, you should formalize your partnership with your Realtor and sign a Marketing Agreement.
4. Photos and Staging. Your Realtor will help you stage your home to show it in the best light. Then they will arrange for professional photos and ideally, floor plans. (Karp Residential does floor plans for all of the properties we sell.) If the house is empty, virtual staging (placing furniture in the photos) or actual staging by a staging company, can help buyers better visualize the space.
5. Showings and Open House. Once your home is on the market, your Realtor will arrange showings and possibly an open house for other Realtors and the public. It is important to make your home available for showings with as few limitations as possible. Also, remember to hide or remove small valuables such as jewelry or small electronics prior to all showings.
6. Offers and Negotiation. Offers aren't just about the price. Other terms such as closing date, earnest money, cash vs. mortgage, are also important considerations when reviewing an offer. Your Realtor will help you understand the implications of the terms of the offer and guide you through the negotiation of a contract. If there are multiple offers, your Realtor will help you compare the offers and decide which to accept.
7. Contract. Once the buyer and seller agree to all terms and sign the offer, it becomes a contract. The contract provides all parties with a timeline for the purchase process. This includes inspections, attorney review of the contract, and more.
8. Inspection and Attorney Review. Most buyers will hire a professional home inspector to give them an idea of the overall condition of the home. To prepare for the inspection, make sure that these things are easily accessible by the inspector: attic and/or crawl space, electrical panel, and HVAC. The contract that we use in our region of Illinois allows buyers to have 5 business days from the date the contract was signed to complete their inspection. Sometimes they will request additional time. The buyer's attorney has those same 5 business days to propose changes to the contract, and to make requests about inspection issues, if any. Then the parties have another 5 business days to finalize all the terms of the deal.
9. Closing. The day before or the day of the closing, the buyers will have a final walk-through of the house. At this point you should be completely moved out and the house should be in "broom clean" condition. (Some homeowners hire a cleaning service to clean after they move out, which is a very nice gesture for the buyers.) Your attorney can arrange for you to sign all the closing documents in advance, so you do not have to attend the closing. You can receive your proceeds via wire transfer or check.
