Angela Mokate | Realtor
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.
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 Real Estate Agent once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.
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.
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.
Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy
I'll put together a marketing plan tailored specifically to your property — because a cabin near Buena Vista and a ranch in Poncha Springs don't market the same way.
That means getting your home in front of the right buyers through a mix of social media, targeted online advertising, and agent-to-agent networking across the region. The goal is strong, focused exposure right out of the gate — the first few weeks on the market matter most, and I'll make sure your listing is working hard from day one.
Step 5: Evaluate Offers
Getting an offer is exciting — but it's just the beginning of the negotiation. I'll review every offer that comes in and make sure the buyer is pre-qualified or pre-approved before we take anything seriously. Then we'll look at the full picture together, not just the price.
If an offer comes in lower than you'd like, that doesn't mean it's a dead end. There are a lot of ways to work with it — a counter-offer, adjusting closing costs, negotiating what stays with the property, repairs, or even the timeline. Out here, some of those details, like what equipment or fixtures convey with a rural property, can carry real weight.
I'll walk you through your options and help you decide what makes the most sense for your situation.
Step 6: Accept an Offer
Once we've agreed on an offer, I'll go through the contract carefully to make sure everything is in order — deposit, down payment, financing terms, inspection rights, repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and who's covering which fees. Out here, that also means making sure anything specific to rural or mountain properties is clearly spelled out, so there are no surprises down the road.
When both parties are in agreement, we'll finalize the contract and move forward toward closing.
Step 7: Get Ready to Close
You're almost there. Once an offer is accepted, there's still a checklist to work through before closing day — and I'll manage it so nothing gets missed.
That might include a final appraisal, any agreed-upon repairs, or other items that came out of the inspection period. I'll make sure each task gets handled by the right party, on time, and without it falling back on you to track down.
A few days before closing, I'll confirm everything is in order with the title company. The one thing I'll need from you — if you haven't started already — is to make arrangements to be moved out by closing day so the buyer can take possession right away.
Step 8: Close
Closing day is the finish line. This is when ownership officially transfers to the buyer and you sign the final paperwork. I'll be there with you to walk through everything and make sure nothing is left unresolved.
Before you hand over the keys, take care of the small but important details -canceling utilities, transferring any accounts the new owner is taking over, and leaving instructions for any appliances staying with the home. It's the last step, and we'll make sure it's a clean one.
Congratulations!
You did it. Selling your home is a big deal, and now you're free to move on to whatever comes next — whether that's putting down roots somewhere new, upsizing, downsizing, or finally making that move you've been thinking about for a while.