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 agent 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 REALTOR once you choose one so he or she 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 real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent 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 agent.

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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 REALTOR 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.

Testimonials

Jane W.

Jane W.

Both my brother-in-law and I were co-trustees of my mom's condo and lived at the towers where she lived for 40 years until she passed away at 100 this summer. They listed it right after labor day and was nice to know that if on...
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Susan G. & Peter M.

Susan G. & Peter M.

We recently worked with the Kennedy Lynch Gold Team to purchase a townhouse in Wellesley and to sell our house in newton and had a great experience. On the buy side, they took the time to understand our needs and offered honest...
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Keren M.

Keren M.

Karen Kennedy exemplifies all of the best qualities in a power broker. I bought and sold multiple properties, thanks to her endearing personality and stellar communication skills. Karen is ethical, loyal, extremely savvy, and c...
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Claudine B.

Claudine B.

The Kennedy Lynch Gold Team helped us find the perfect house in the perfect location in Brookline during this very challenging market with very little inventory, huge demand, and soaring prices. They are seasoned professionals ...
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Kelly & Daniel S.

Kelly & Daniel S.

We can't thank you enough for the truly seamless process of selling our home from abroad we are tremendously grateful to you and your team for everything you did to bring this deal over the finish line.
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Jenn & Ben

Jenn & Ben

We cannot thank you enough for your calm demeanor and grace throughout the home-buying and selling process. You’re a gem of a human.
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David L.

David L.

Thank you, Marjorie and the Kennedy Lynch Gold Team. You all did a fantastic job, over a holiday weekend.
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Seller

Seller

We interviewed four REALTORS before selling our condo during the period of intense real estate activity. The Kennedy Lynch Gold team provided insight into a rapidly changing environment, going far beyond the standard historical...
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Seller

Seller

The Kennedy Lynch Gold Team helped with both the sale of our last home and the purchase of our new home (in different towns). Because Karen and Sandra are a team, we always felt like there was great coverage and a combined weal...
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Seller

Seller

The Kennedy Lynch Gold Team managed our condo sale expertly from start to finish. They demonstrated knowledge of the market and how to best present our unit. Not only did they handle the major aspects of the sale, but they made...
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Work With Us

Clients choose to work with The Kennedy Lynch Gold Team for their exceptional service and expertise. They offer unparalleled attention to detail, analysis of property values and market trends, and their strong base of both loyal and repeat customers is a testament to their ability to consistently satisfy client needs.

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