If you're like many homeowners here in the North Carolina mountains, your mountain home is a place you have made many memories in over the years. When it comes to the thought of selling your home, it is an emotional decision with considerable financial considerations.
Selling your home is a big deal, so it's okay to be cautious and patient about it. Just remember, if selling your mountain home is the right thing for you and your family, you need to make sure the person helping you understands how important that is.
If you're ready to make the move, you want to ensure you do it wisely. I've created this blog to help you consider important factors involved with selling your home.
Are You Ready to Sell Your Mountain Home?
Whether you're a few months or several years away from selling your home. It's important to consider a few things before putting the For Sale sign in your front yard:
- Are you emotionally ready to sell?
- Is your home ready to sell?
- Do you have adequate equity in your home to sell and cover expenses and existing mortgages?
- If you need to move into another home, have you evaluated available properties currently on the market?
What to Consider When Selling Your Home.
1. Find the right real estate agent.
In today's real estate market, real estate agents are a dime a dozen. That's why you need to make sure you choose the RIGHT agent for selling your mountain home. Find someone that shares your goals when it comes to selling your home. Make sure they are easy to get in contact with and have availability that meets your needs. Interview potential real estate agents and learn how they plan to market your home. Do they simply list the home in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or do they go the extra mile? The most successful real estate agents today utilize social media, email marketing, marketplace marketing in addition to making sure you have the best-looking property listing in the MLS.
A few questions you can ask potential real estate agents are:
- Do you use the services of professional photographers?
- Do you typically have virtual tours made of your listings?
- Where will my home be marketed outside of the MLS?
- What do you do differently than other real estate agents for your listings?
- What social media platforms will my home be promoted on?
- How do you produce virtual tours for potential buyers when they can not come to view a home?
Many homeowners consider selling their homes as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO). Sure it can save you money, but do you have the time and resources to get your home in front of the most amount of buyers? An experienced real estate agent will give your home a large online presence. Not only to potential buyers but also to fellow real estate agents that may have a buyer looking for a home like yours.
Trust me; working with the right real estate agent helps you get the most money for your home and makes the process of selling seamless and stress-free.
2. Price your home to sell.
Your home is only worth what buyers are willing to pay. Here in the mountains, we work with many subjective factors like views and water features on properties. Our homes and communities are not as cookie-cutter as those in more suburban areas. Responsible real estate agents will give Sellers a range in which they should list their home. Pricing your home on the lower side of that range will typically garner more showings and a quicker sale. Sellers that choose the higher side of that range typically see fewer showings and it's harder to get Buyers to submit an offer.
When evaluating real estate agents, make sure you get a comparative market analysis (CMA). This report compares your home to other homes near you that are comparable in size, style, and proximity to things like shopping, hospitals, and dining. Make sure the CMA includes not only what has recently sold, but what is currently on the market. Many times you are competing against what's available on the market and you want to make sure you're priced accordingly.
3. Set a realistic home-selling timeline.
Make the most of the time leading up to your home sale. If you know when you want to put your home on the market, create a to-do list of manageable tasks. Below is a list of tasks that you should consider when preparing your home to be listed:
- Interview real estate agents.
- Outline a plan to get your home ready to be shown.
- Declutter your home. Buyers need to be able to see a home and imagine their furniture in the home and how they will live in the space.
- Consider hiring a home inspector for a pre-listing inspection.
- Take care of any repairs needed that were indicated in the home inspection.
- Deep clean the home so that potential Buyers can see the home has been well cared for.
- Get your home picture-perfect so your real estate agent or a photographer can capture it in the best possible condition.
4. Consider getting a home inspection before listing.
We touched on this in the aforementioned step, but strongly consider getting a home inspection before you list your home. Nearly every Buyer is going to perform a home inspection during their due diligence inspections of the property. You will need to address any repairs either before you list the home or after you go under contract. If you have a home inspection done before you list your home and then have any indicated issues repaired, and subsequently provide proof of repairs it will make potential Buyers feel more comfortable with your home.
Another benefit of a pre-inspection is that you can choose who performs the repairs. You can shop around for the best price. If repairs are indicated in a Buyer's inspection, they will more than likely ask for you to pay for their contractor to repair those items or for a reduction of the purchase price. You will be under a tight timeline to make a decision and may end up costing yourself more money than you should. By getting the home pre-inspected and then making those repairs on your timeline, it will most likely save you money in the long run.
5. Prepare your home to sell.
Once your home is in good working order, it's time to set the stage and show off it's best features. Start off by giving the home a deep cleaning. If you do not have time, ask your real estate agent for the names of reputable cleaning companies in your area.
Next, you will want to declutter your home and create a plan to keep things organized moving forward. When you leave for work or showings each day, you want to make sure the home is always looking it's best. You never know when someone may want to schedule a last-minute showing of your home. Consider the following to make sure your home will look it's best for potential buyers:
- Everything is organized and put in the proper place.
- Kid toys are put away.
- Pet toys are put away.
- Beds are made.
- Counters are clear and the kitchen sink is empty.
- Bathrooms are clean and organized. Make sure medications can be stored in a non-obvious place.
6. List your home and be open-minded about feedback.
Home showings are hard to plan for and its important you are flexible with your schedule. As REALTORS we try to give as much notice as possible. But you never know when a Buyer may ask their agent to schedule a showing or add it to a list of homes they are looking at on a certain day. A good real estate agent will communicate with you promptly any requests for showings as well as provide you with feedback after the showing.
It is important to make sure you're ready for both showings and feedback coming at you at unannounced times. When it comes to feedback, keep an open mind and don't get offended by what Buyers say. Some feedback may seem beneficial and other feedback may be insulting. Remember, after you sell your home you will enter someone else's home and pick it apart and have your very own opinion of their home. Take all feedback with a grain of salt and discuss it openly with your real estate agent.
7. Ready yourself for offers, negotiations, inspections, and the closing process.
Negotiations between you as the Seller and a Buyer start off with an initial offer being submitted. There are a few key sections of the offer to purchase that you should pay special attention to and a good real estate agent will explain to you these they are important:
- Purchase Price
- Due Diligence Fee
- Earnest Money Deposit
- Due Diligence Date
- Settlement Date (Closing Date)
- Financing Requirements
- Sale of Another Home
- Closing Costs Paid by Seller
An offer to purchase your home involves many factors that all are nearly as important as the purchase price. Some offers may come in with a higher purchase price, but may be less strong as other offers that may be at lesser purchase price, but have great terms. Discuss with your real estate agent all the factors of an offer before agreeing and signing an offer to purchase.
After you agree upon terms and price for your home, you will enter into what is called the Due Diligence Period. During this period the Buyer will begin inspections on your property. This may include home inspections, appraisals, surveys, and tests for things like water quality and radon. The Buyer's Agent and the inspectors will communicate with your real estate to schedule times that they can enter your home. It is in your best interest to be flexible with these inspections so they can be completed as quickly as possible. If anything is indicated in these inspections, you may need to negotiate repairs or credits to the Buyer.
The final step of the selling process, after you've moved past the Due Diligence Period, is to prepare for closing. You will have an attorney prepare a deed for the transfer of your home to the Buyers on the closing day. In the weeks leading to the closing date, make sure you communicate with the attorney's office expeditiously. Provide them with any requested information. Especially when it pertains to things like mortgages, taxes, homeowners association fees (HOA Fees). Your real estate agent should assist you with getting any necessary information to the closing attorney.
Once you and your real estate agent feel comfortable that everything is a go for your closing, start packing and prepare your home for a final walkthrough by the Buyer. The home will need to be empty of any personal belongings and clean.
Sell your North Carolina mountain home faster and with less stress with REALTOR.
The best way to have a great experience selling your home is to work with an established and forward-thinking local REALTOR. They will guide you through every step of the process and make sure you sell your home for the highest price in the shortest amount of time.
If you're thinking about selling your home, give me a call today at 828-773-9852 to discuss my approach to selling homes here in the North Carolina mountains.
