The Basics of Selling a Home

Articles on Home | Topics: home, house

by Irvin Estrada

The process of selling your home can differ from state to state. Before putting your house on the market, there are some important steps you must take to get the most from your investment and to protect your interests.

Step One

Get pre-approved to buy another house before you sign a contract to sell your own home. If your financial situation changed since your last purchase, it's possible that you may no longer qualify for another loan. You may also be unable to sell your house for a price that will allow you to buy another house you want. This way, you won't end up renting or buying a house you don't really want. When applying for a pre-approval, be sure the lender discloses the estimated costs required for you to purchase a new home, such as: the loan price, down payment, new insurance, title and inspections fees.

Step Two

Call your lender to check the mortgage pay off and calculate the estimated proceeds. First, you will need to subtract the mortgage pay off from the fair market value of your home. Second, you will need to subtract the costs to sell your home from the remainder in order to get an idea of the proceeds you can expect to be paid at closing.

Step Three

Determine your homes fair market value. Most real estate agents will gladly help you determine the market value as a courtesy and may also give you helpful hints to what you can do to increase the value of your house. You may also consider hiring a licensed appraiser, which you will have to pay for out of pocket, to perform an appraisal on the subject property.

Professional appraisers will provide you with a detailed report that will usually include: the neighboring property values in comparison to your own, an evaluation of the real estate market in your area, harmful issues to the property's value and any defective qualities.

Step Four

Quote of the Day

Going home must be like going to render an account.

—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924)

Estimate what it will cost you to sell your house. If you are using a real estate agent, you may have to pay their commission. If you are planning to sell by owner, then you must consider the advertising, signs, attorney fees, closing agents and other possible fees involved. These other fees may include: appraisal, inspections, surveys, taxes and home owner association fees. Real estate agents can give you a more precise estimate of the closing costs and any other fees that may be involved. Real estate agents are professionals that deal with these transactions every day and can prove to be a valuable asset to you.

Step Five

Make repairs. Whether these repairs can be done by you or by hiring a contractor, they should be completed. If there are too many repairs that need to be done, your home will be considered a fixer upper. You want to get the most out of your house and dissuade potential buyers from submitting insultingly low offers. These repairs can range from fixing a broken window, adding a fresh coat of paint, replacing or repairing the flooring, to spackling a hole in the wall. The larger repairs may include fixing a damaged roof or repairing damaged siding. Other issues that can deter a potential buyer is mold and mildew stains and odors, leaky basements, lead based paint, broken gutters, location or type of circuit breaker, plumbing problems and old or faulty electrical wiring.

Step Six

Before you show your house, do some spring cleaning, regardless of what season it actually is. Organize your shelves and closets, wash the crayons off the wall, dust off the blinds and window sills, clean away the cob webs and wash all windows and appliances. You will want to make everything as spotless as possible and remove any offensive odors and clear the clutter. You will need to present your home in a clean and appealing way to the potential buyers.

You may also need to work on the exterior part of the house by scraping and painting porches and windows or maintaining an appealing lawn. You can also add low maintenance decorative flowering plants and shrubs to dress up your yard.

Now that your home is ready to show, make it accessible to real estate agents with potential buyers at all times. Most buyers feel more comfortable being shown a house when the owner is not present. If you decide to take a walk while your house is being showed, make a note to the agent if there are any pets on the premises. You will want to be sure that your cat doesn't get out the door or that your dog is securely locked up in a crate or in the back yard. You want everything to go as smoothly as possible.

We strive to provide only the finest articles on our website. If there is a specific topic about home that you would like us to cover, please contact us here.

Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "The Basics of Selling a Home" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by FamilyBabyKids.com.

Pet Deposits Why Cleaning up after your Pet is Important
By Delbert Tanner
If you are a dog or pet owner, there are several maintenance responsibilities that come along with owning the pet. One of the important responsibilities to take is cleaning up after your pet's deposits in your yard, or in a public area as well as in your own home....

Lending a Hand: How to Help Family financially but not get taken advantage of
By Emanuel Yang
It is the nature of family to love and protect each other but how does that transfer to the financial realm? Is your family obligated to help you with your financial debts? Are you obligated to help a family member who is overwhelmed with mortgage payments or saddled with massive credit card debt? Though the answer to both of these questions is probably no, it is a much more complicated than a simple yes or no answer. You and your family are not obligated to help each other with financial problems, but most people would like to help their loved ones with a crisis if it is within their means to do so....

Unique Baby Names
By Xavier Owen
When I complain about my name no one understands. You see, no one can find anything objectionable about the name David....

Negative Family
By Reva Kramer
Dealing with negative friends can be tough, but negative family can be a nightmare. Some people will feel you owe them just because you're related....

Get more articles about home...