Selling a Home
When working with sellers, I prioritize understanding your long-term goals. Before listing a home, I thoroughly discusses the next steps and whether selling will support your future goals, potential new purchases and market conditions in your desired location, whether selling will truly be beneficial or if alternative solutions should be considered.
By having these critical conversations in advance, I ensure that you are never left in a situation where you sell your home without a viable next step.
My Favorite Types of Sellers
First Time Sellers
Our goal is to get the best price for your home based upon the local market. I will visit with you about your goals both financial and timeline. If there are any special things to consider we will definitely discuss. Throughout the process we will evaluate how we are doing and what challenges we could meet in a transaction with a buyer.
Open communication is critical and every little question is important.
Life Transitions
There are a lot of reasons that someone would need to sell their home. Some are celebrations, and some present more challenging times. Whatever life brings your way, I’m here to help you along the way.
I have the patience to listen to your story and help navigate the transition that meets your needs.
Don’t worry, I won’t give up on you! Together we will get through this!
Decedent’s Estate
The loss of a loved one is emotionally overwhelming, and navigating the sale of their property can feel like an added burden. Whether the home is part of a probated estate, held in a trust, or jointly owned, there are important considerations that must be handled carefully—and often on a timeline set by the court.
My role is to help reduce stress by guiding you through the real estate process with clarity, compassion, and respect for your family’s wishes.
The Selling Process
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Connect
First step is for me to visit the property and talk with you about your goals, including your next step after the sale.
I want to make sure selling this property gets you the ability to go forward. You’ll be able to show me your property and point out the special things that make it desirable.
We will also discuss any concerns that you have about the process as well as about the property.
Of course, we’ll walk through the property together. You can point out your favorite features. This visit should take less than an hour, depending on questions.
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Review Pricing Details
I will go to work to provide you with a complete CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) that will give us a detailed look at the market over the previous 3 to 6 months. We will concentrate on the “sold” comparable properties as those will give us hard numbers of what a buyer actually paid for the comparable property, The listings that are currently on the market will help us with the actual “placement” of your home on today’s market.
Once we have an idea of what price we will be listing, I will provide you with an “Estimated Net Sheet” showing various scenarios with a prospective buyer. The reason for this is that I want you to know ahead of time what offer you will accept and what you will not accept.
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List
Once we have determined the list price, then I prepare all necessary documents and review with you prior to signing. Your listing will be placed on the Multiple List Service for our area.
My professional photographer will be scheduled based your convenience. Don’t worry—I pay for the photography! The photo shoot will take place, & photos will be edited. I will then load everything onto our listing system as well as onto your property’s website.
I also provide your listing with a website that is your property address, so it is easy to remember and easy to share. This part is so exciting!
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Market
Once on the local area MLS, your listing will automatically be available to view on countless websites.
My marketing professional will make sure our listing is posted on Social Media in order to further promote your listing.
Additional marketing opportunities include a Tour Day for local REALTORS® and the option for us to hold Open Houses at your discretion.
You will be in control of when you will allow showings, and I work with you to accommodate any additional needs such as working from home or keeping your pets safe.
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Sell
Any and all offers will be presented to you and we will review them together.
I will help you navigate through the terms of each offer, compare what works for you and what may not.
I will work up an “Estimated Net Sheet” for each offer, which will help you as we consider each one.
It is your choice to accept, deny or counter an offer. I’ll help navigate negotiations, and work towards an agreement.
Once we have accepted an offer, I will take you through the next steps of the process, including inspections or other components of the offer, and working closely with the title company.
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Closing and Buyer's Possession
Much care will be taken to coordinate buyer’s possession of the property. Generally the assumption would be that you have vacated the property and that you have left it in acceptable condition. A buyer’s possession is dependent on the actual wording of the Buy/Sell, which defines the time of possession.
The two options on the Buy/Sell are, (1) for the buyer to have possession at the time the documents are signed, and the funds have arrived at the title company, or, (2) For possession to be at the time the transaction is recorded with the county.
This information is provided at the time you receive an offer on your home. We will discuss these options and you can definitely counter the offer to state the terms of possession that meet your needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
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I will do a Comparative Market Analysis on your property. This will give you information about the recently sold properties in your area as well as those currently on the market. We will use the “sold data” to determine the list price range. The active listings will help us with our placement within current market so we can stand out and attract buyers to your property. And, we will be able to review all of this before finalizing any listing documents!
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First we will look at the presentation of your home, how it looks when you drive up and walk to the door. Then, what can help attract buyers? Or, what will cause a buyer to run and not look? Are the carpets stained, is there a bad odor? We will discuss the items you feel are in need of repair. Are those items that would be better left to a buyer’s choice. There’s lots to talk about here!
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Seldom will a big remodel or repair bring you 100% Return on Investment (ROI) when you sell. The highest return items are Kitchen or Bath remodels, depending on the quality of the fixtures and the quality of the work. Yes, I have seen DIY projects that will do the opposite! Quality updates will most likely put you into a better price range when you list. And, a buyer may be more inclined to purchase a house that had been well maintained and updated.
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I do one specific monthly print publication, the Capital City Connections. Realtor Tours and Open Houses are absolutely available at your discretion. With our Regional MLS, your property will be available on every company website what provides an MLS search. This includes all the major Real Estate agencies in the area and many of the smaller ones. In addition, YOUR property will have an EXCLUSIVE WEBSITE that can be found simply by using the property address. This is very exciting so we’ll talk about how I can make that happen!
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I have a great professional photographer and the cost of his services are covered by me. You will not be charged extra for this. Depending on location, drone photos and videos are available. The personalized website will be set at your property address and will include all photos, videos (virtual tour), computer generated layout of each floor, room measurements and measuring tools, and special documents such as property taxes and other important disclosures… All accessible through the property’s personalized website!
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It’s important to bring up the topic of “Fair Housing” as it is illegal to discriminate based upon protected class. For anyone who is able to purchase, we will always show the home and entertain offers. I make sure my buyers are able to purchase at the price of the properties we view. All REALTORS® should do the same and only show property to pre-qualified buyers.
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Be sure to see my special “Partnership Acknowledgement” in the Curated Resources section of this website for the agreement we will sign as we begin working together.