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 team of real estate agents 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.​​​​​​​

main

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 team of real estate agents once you choose one so they can adjust your selling price accordingly.

main

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 team of real estate agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate agents with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

main

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.

main

Develop a Marketing Strategy

We 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. Our 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.

main

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.

main

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 team of real estate agents.

main

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. We 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.

main

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 team of real estate agents 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

See why our clients love working with us
RSW, Inc.

RSW, Inc.

I’ve worked with many agents over the years, Wells and Ryon are the best of the bunch! Bonnie Wells has attention to detail that few can match. Her enthusiasm for real estate is apparent upon your first meeting. Bonnie goes abo...
Read More
Micky & Jen S.

Micky & Jen S.

We worked with Bonnie and Lindsay to purchase our first beach house. From the beginning, it was clear they had the feel of the market and guided us through the process effectively. Our process ended up competitive and their kno...
Read More
Tom & Kathleen L.

Tom & Kathleen L.

Bonnie Wells has been our broker for the past 20 years and we highly recommend her. She has the utmost integrity, she knows the market, is realistic on value, and is highly respected among her peers in the northeast. Bonnie wor...
Read More
Maggie D.

Maggie D.

I have sold homes several times in the past, Bonnie Wells is, by far, the best realtor I have had. Her marketing efforts went above and beyond anything I could have imagined. She produced a very professionally done video, and m...
Read More
Neil & Roula C.

Neil & Roula C.

I wholeheartedly recommend real estate broker, Bonnie Wells. She is an incredibly hard-working, ethical, dedicated, charming, intelligent, and tenacious person. She used all of her well-honed skills to ensure that our home-buyi...
Read More
Steve W.

Steve W.

Bonnie Wells is the best in the business. She helped me sell two homes in Paramus NJ and buy a condo in Beach Haven NJ. One of these homes was a one-off, energy-efficient, earth shelter design that was referred to as a “knockdo...
Read More
Eileen & Kevin D.

Eileen & Kevin D.

Working with Bonnie Wells is seamless and productive. She is knowledgeable, candid, hardworking, and always available. More, she is kind and helpful and, just all-around wonderful! Even during moments of stress (inevitable in b...
Read More
Bob & Patty G.

Bob & Patty G.

Bonnie Wells' attention to detail in advertising our home was outstanding! The brochures for our home were absolutely beautiful. Bonnie is a hard-working realtor and will go the extra mile to get your house sold. Thank you Bonn...
Read More
Sondra B.

Sondra B.

Simply the best in home sales and rental management. When a renter trashed our home, Bonnie came to the rescue. She was able to get it cleaned, repaired, and in pristine condition in record time and we didn't miss a beat. You w...
Read More
Bob Y.

Bob Y.

Bonnie Wells and her team are amazing! I haven't rented in LBI in a long time but when I saw Bonnie's website and spoke to her on the phone I knew she was a "Rockstar" in what she does. Everything from start to finish was handl...
Read More

Comprehensive Real Estate Expertise

Follow Us

Work With Us

Our Clients have made us one of the top selling teams in the market we serve, resulting in hundreds of millions in closed real estate transactions. Experience the difference a great real estate team can make.