Seller's Guide

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.​​​​​​​

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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 realtor once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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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.

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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.

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Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

I will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising your home. This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, or SEO advertising. My team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

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Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. We will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you can make a counter-offer or offer other ways to bridge the gap, such as covering some or all of the closing costs, making repairs, adjusting the move-in date, or leaving some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

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Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer is acceptable, we will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your agent.

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Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now very close to the end of your selling journey. But first, you and the buyer must make a list of what needs to be done before closing. In some cases, your home may need to be formally inspected, surveyed, and appraised. In other cases, major or minor repairs will need to be made before the house can close. I will head up efforts to develop and execute this list, get each action item paid for by the correct party, and make sure everything is in order by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to move out of the home so the new buyer can take possession.

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Step 8: Close

You’ve reached the last step in the seller’s process. When you close on a home you are selling, you are legally transferring ownership of the property to the new buyer. We will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your realtor to handle final details such as canceling utilities, cable, and lawn or trash services, changing the name on accounts that the new owner is retaining and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

Our Testimonials

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Amy B.

We would 100% recommend Matt and Emily to anyone looking to buy or sell a house. When we started preparing to buy a home, we were expecting to be working with a stereotypical sleazy Realtor®, which in no way reflected what we g...
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Buyer

You would be hard-pressed to find a better Realtor® anywhere, much less such a talented and cohesive pair of Realtors® in Matt and Emily Booth. Real Estate is a highly intricate and detail-oriented business, despite the popular...
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Alexander T.

When searching for a home, the best decision I ever made was deciding to work with Matt and Emily Booth. Without their advice and constant dedication, I am confident that I would not have ended up in the house of my family's dr...
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Adam A.

I am so thankful that Matt and Emily were recommended to us, I’m convinced if we had used any other team we would not have the home we have today. This is our first home and they were able to help guide us every step of the way...
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Dan H.

Emily and her team helped us purchase this property and then sell the same property in 2017. We have bought and sold Real Estate before and found that Emily and her team were outstanding throughout the entire process. She did a...
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Matt F.

Our most recent transaction was our 4th with Emily. She knows her craft and it shows in everything she does. Emily treats every interaction as crucial to the success of the transaction. Her attention to detail brings a sense of...
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Seller

Emily helped us find and secure our first home in Hillsboro, OR. Our experience with her and her team has been nothing short of stellar. Most recently, she helped to accommodate and sell the same house that she helped us buy ev...
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Buyer

From the moment we hit 'Contact Agent' on the app, Matt and Emily Booth have been outstanding in the process. They called us immediately to introduce themselves. We were shown houses the same day, despite the fact it was rainin...
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Seller

Emily and Matt walked us through every step of selling our home, as we are being relocated to another state. From talking strategy to optimize marketing our home best in this market to making sure we had all the details, we nee...
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Seller

We found Emily Booth to exhibit the highest level of professionalism as she journeyed with us to a successful sale. Emily is tenacious in her research of facts and circumstances. Her direct approach with a buyer, Realtors®, and...
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Kyle F.

Matt and Emily were great to work with through our home buying and selling experience. They understood our unique situation and even offered some unique solutions to challenges that we faced along the way. When I was getting be...
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Buyer

She's the best. She will get you the best outcome and ease away any stress you are feeling with your move. The flyer for our home was beautiful and got us multiple offers all over asking. It was done so well that we are plannin...
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Jorge

My experience with the whole process of buying our first home was amazing, and that is thanks to Emily and Matt. Their communication skills were outstanding, always on top and ahead of the whole process. Emily and Matt, thank y...
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Seller

We are so thankful for Emily and Matt as they helped us sell our condo during a time of potential assessment. They came up with a sales plan that was honest with potential buyers but also created interest. This allowed for a qu...
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David S.

Emily and her team provided the most professional and knowledgeable Real Estate service I could ask for. Emily advised me on fix-up, staging, negotiation, and closing from start to finish. Very responsive and dedicated. I highl...
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Grace S.

Matt and Emily were fantastic to work with. They answered our millions of questions and took great care in helping us narrow down our options to find just the right home. They went above and beyond in being there to help us thr...
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Hansteen G.

I have used Emily twice as a Realtor® and would use her again, were I to sell my house. Emily is knowledgeable, honest, and helpful. Any questions I had were promptly answered. I highly recommend her to either buy or sell a house.
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Buyer & Seller

Emily is very responsive and accommodating to my needs. She never rushed me to make a decision and was very helpful in providing guidance when I needed it. I would highly recommend Emily to anyone looking to buy or sell a home.
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Buyer

We couldn't be more pleased with Emily and Matt. We had a very complicated investment property purchase that Matt and Emily were amazing in navigating the nitty-gritty. We will definitely use them for our Real Estate endeavors.
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Buyer | Seller

Matt and Emily were fantastic and I am confident that without their representation, the transaction would not have closed. They did an excellent job.
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