Guide
The home seller’s guide
How a sale runs from the first conversation to closing, and where your decisions make the most difference.
8 steps · 8 minute read
Selling a home comes down to three things you control: the condition the house is in, the price you ask, and how easy you make it for buyers to see it. Everything else follows from those.
This guide walks through a sale in order. Every home and every contract is different, so treat it as the map, not the route.
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Step 1: Start with a conversation
Before anything is signed, talk through your timing, where you are moving next, and what you need from the sale. If you are also buying, the order of the two matters and is worth planning early.
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Step 2: Understand what your home is worth
A list price comes from recent sales of similar homes nearby, the condition of yours, and how quickly homes are selling right now. Your agent prepares that comparison and walks you through it.
Pricing too high rarely helps. A home that sits unsold gets noticed for that reason, and it often ends up selling for less than it would have at the right price from the start.
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Step 3: Sign a listing agreement
The listing agreement sets how long the listing runs, what the agent will do to market the home, and how the agent is paid. Agent compensation is negotiable.
Read it before you sign, and ask about anything that is unclear, including how the agreement can end.
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Step 4: Prepare the home
Fix what a buyer’s inspector will find: leaks, broken fixtures, anything that does not work. Clean, declutter and let the light in. Big renovations before a sale rarely pay for themselves.
A pre-listing inspection can surface surprises while you still have time to deal with them on your terms.
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Step 5: Photos, listing and showings
Most buyers see the photos before they see the house, and the photos decide who books a showing. Professional photography and a clear description of the home are worth the effort.
Keep the house ready to show, and be flexible about times. Every showing you turn away is a buyer who may not come back.
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Step 6: Complete your disclosures
Sellers must tell buyers about known problems with the property, on the forms your state requires. Honest, complete disclosure protects you after the sale. When in doubt, disclose, and ask a real estate attorney about anything unusual.
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Step 7: Review offers and negotiate
Compare offers on more than price: how the buyer is paying, the contingencies they keep, the deposit, and the closing date. A lower offer with fewer conditions can be the stronger one.
You can accept, reject or counter. Your agent explains what each offer really means and the risk it carries.
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Step 8: Escrow and closing
After you accept, the buyer inspects, the appraisal is done and the buyer’s loan is approved. Expect repair requests; decide which to agree to, which to credit and which to decline.
At closing you sign the transfer documents, the payoff of any loan on the home is handled, and the proceeds are sent to you. Then you hand over the keys.
The short version
- Price from recent comparable sales, not from hope.
- Fix what an inspector will find; skip the big renovation.
- Agent compensation is negotiable and set in the listing agreement.
- Compare offers on terms as well as price.
This is general information, not advice about your situation. Zoila Moscoso can tell you what applies to you.
Talk it through with ZoilaRead next
The home buyer’s guide
Every stage of buying a home, in the order it happens, and what you decide at each one.
Telling a buyer market from a seller market
The signals that tell you which one you are in, and what changes about how you offer.
Negotiating as a buyer
What there is to negotiate besides price, and when your leverage is actually highest.
Closing day, and the walkthrough before it
What to bring, what to check the day before, and when you actually get the keys.