What Happens When I List My House?
What Happens When I List My House?
First in a series of articles on “What happens when I list my house?” One of the questions I was asked this week is “Should sellers be present for showings?” The question was posed by a super bright young couple who had just listed their home for sale. It dawned on me, that in the rush to get their home on the (red hot) Atlanta market, I had failed to give them the basics on listing a house for sale.
We quickly brought the young couple up to speed – they both work in very demanding jobs and don’t have a lot of extra time to spend with the sales process. But for those who have never sold a house before, here are the basics on what happens when I list my house:
Pre-Listing Activities: Under this category are all the things that go on before you actually put your home on the market. I typically make a visit to your home and we go over each item in detail
Repairs: if you have major repairs that need to be done, I recommend affordable and dependable contractors who can make the repairs and not hijack your wallet.
Staging: While in your home we take a look at the home as if we were buyers seeing it for the first time. I usually make recommendations about removing clutter, clearing countertops, removing wallpaper, cleaning up the landscape, trimming the shrubs etc. If the project is bigger than I can tackle, I bring in a professional stager to work with the seller. If the house is vacant, I recommend a professional stager who can put furniture in the home and make it look like someone lives there. This is not as expensive as it sounds. And it works!
Documents: We go over the listing agreement and then discuss list price. I will have all the comparables that have sold in the neighborhood in the past 6 months (and probably a lot further back than that). We will discuss how they compare to your home and then we look at a price point for the listing. Sellers always make the final decision on pricing. I am here to advise sellers but I do not make the actual pricing decision. We also look at the “sellers disclosure statement” and I leave that document to be completed by the seller when they have more time.
Photos: Probably the most important pre-listing activity is getting good photos for the property. Photos are the most important element of marketing – other than price. Fortunately, I work with a pro and photos of my listings stand out.
House Inventory: We make a room by room inventory of the house features so we can write great marketing copy and respond correctly to buyer questions when they come up.
Contact Sally English and the English Team if you are thinking about listing your Atlanta Georgia home. Call or text Sally English 404-229-2995. You can send us an email HERE.
POST LISTING ACTIVITIES: Coming up next in our series on “What Happens When I List My House?”
