When Selling Your Home

What are homes selling for in your community?  Please feel free to contact us to see what neighborhood homes are selling for or to receive a more-detailed analysis of the value of your home. If you're considering selling your property, we would be pleased to have the opportunity to speak with you about how we can help.  See the information below to answer questions you have about pricing, marketing, negotiating and what to expect as a Seller.

Determining a “Sellable” Sales Price
Getting the Highest Price for Your Home
Photos, Virtual Tours, Videos and Creating a “Script”
Helping to “Sell” Your Home
Negotiating for You
The Escrow Process
Closing Costs

Determining a "Sellable" Sales Price

We can provide you with a market snapshot detailing active, pending and sold homes in your community, their associated prices and average days on the market.  With that information, we can then determine a fair price for your home and get it to market quickly.  Pricing your property correctly is perhaps the most important aspect of the sales process; doing so will attract more traffic to your property, and potentially, the right buyer for your home.


Getting the Highest Price for Your Home

Curb appeal is key and can make a difference whether people stop and take a flyer, call their agent to inquire about your property or just drive right by.  To increase the curb appeal of your home, keep your landscaping in tip-top shape by trimming plants and shrubs, keep your yard green and inviting, and plant flowers in pots and beds. Light your porch and yard in the evenings, also keeping accent lights on in your home during the nighttime hours to make it warm and inviting.

Although it sounds like a small thing, try to keep your garage door closed as much as possible, keep the front of your house uncluttered and your front porch swept clean and dirt-free.  Make sure to wipe any fingerprints or dust from your front door as that is, truly, one of a potential buyer’s first impressions.

Staging your home is a very important aspect of the sales process. Many buyers will stay in your home and view it for a longer period of time if it's staged appropriately, makes them feel comfortable, and is presented in the most effective manner.  Tucking away family photos, removing personal items and any excess accessories, in essence “depersonalizing” your home, will make it easier for potential buyers to be able to picture your home as theirs.

We partner with several reputable home-staging companies offering a wide range of services.  From completely furnishing and accessorizing your property, to simply readying your home for its photo shoot, professional staging consultants can assist you in ensuring top dollar for your home.


Photos, Virtual Tours, Videos and Creating a "Script"

With so many of today's buyers beginning their home-buying process by searching the internet, having your home professionally photographed is a must.  If a Buyer is searching the internet for properties and isn't captivated by your photos within the first four seconds of viewing, they will quickly move on to the next property.   

Having your home marketed professionally is the key to catching buyers quickly; some of the tools we employ to capture and keep those buyers are photographs, taken both during the day and at night, virtual tours, narrated and scripted videos, and single property websites.  We'll work with you to make sure your property looks its best prior to photos and will also walk-thru your home with you and, together, create a “script” to be used during showings that details the high points of your home’s features on a room by room basis.  You know this best and we want to make sure that the home’s attributes are given the attention they deserve. From there, This script will also be used for the video that will be developed which will be another key tool used in marketing your property. 


Helping to "Sell" Your Home

When many agents obtain a new listing, a contract is signed, the property is placed on the MLS and a lockbox is attached to the property;  the Listing Agent may not be seen Seller again until an offer is being presented by an outside agent.  As your agent, we would do our best to be present at every possible showing to personally show and "sell" your home to potential buyers and their agents.  After having worked with you to develop our marketing tools and becomming acquainted with every detail of your property, we know best how to highlight and accentuate the "positives" about your property.

It's great for a buyer's agent to be there, but the listing agent should be present to "sell" your property, as well.  Pointing out the high points of the listing, detailing what makes your property special, and answering questions about the neighborhood and surrounding areas are what the listing agent knows best about your property.


The Title, Escrow, and Transaction Processes

Having thorough and professional providers as partners in these fields ensures that we provide you with a smooth  and seamless transaction.  Our affiliated title and escrow companies and our in-house Transaction Coordinator help us to make sure our clients receive the best services the industry has to offer.  Please visit our affiliates' websites for additional information, Orange Coast Title and Coachella Valley Escrow.


Closing Costs

Although the list below may not be complete, it does capture many of the costs associated with the sale of your property:

• Title Insurance Fees which are usually based on the sales price of the property
• Escrow and processing fees, an estimate of which can be provided by your escrow agent
• Broker’s Commission is usually a full-service fee and usually costs between 5% and 6% of the sales price, with a portion going to the Listing Office and a portion to the Selling Office
• Local/city property transfer tax, county transfer tax, state transfer tax and any unpaid real estate taxes or liens against the property
• Home inspections fees can be paid by both/either the buyer and seller.  Traditionally the Buyer pays for the home inspection fee and the Seller pays for other required inspections, such as wood-destroying pests and other inspections as requested by the Buyer 
• HOA Document and Transfer fees, determined on a community-by-community basis and may also include a fee based on the sales price of the property 
• Miscellaneous fees, which can accrue from correcting problems noticed during the home inspection, and can also include items not listed or detailed in the items above