The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your House

The most difficult process in a person’s life is buying a house. You will need to save enough money to pay your deposit, demonstrate your financial ability, and search for a home within your budget.

This process can seem overwhelming and take many years. This complicated step becomes more difficult when you are ready to move on.

It can be difficult to sell your house.

We have created a guide to make this more enjoyable than walking through the woods.

11 Steps to Selling Your House in 2022

1. Figure out your financial situation.
2. Consider your next move.
3. Choose a real estate agent.
4. Prepare your home for sale
5. Establish a time frame.
6. Get a pre-sale home inspection.
7. Professional photos.
8. Be realistic about the price.
9. Negotiate offers and review them.
10. Accept the offer, and then close.
11. Close the sale and get out.

1. Plan your finances

You must first understand your financial situation before you can do anything. You need to understand what you have to work with, whether you are selling your home to make it more manageable or expanding to accommodate your growing family.

You should first determine the value of your home and how much mortgage you still owe. This information can be retrieved from your mortgage company.

They can also tell you the original value of your home and what you have remaining to pay. We care most about the "left-to-pay" aspect of this matter.

While it is better to make a profit on your home, you will most likely need to sell it in order for the remaining mortgage payment to be paid.

Once you know how much you have remaining on your mortgage, an estate agent can give you a rough estimate of the cost of your home.

These estimates are usually free but you may have to pay a fee depending upon where you live. The following calculations will help you determine how much your home is worth and how much you must pay to get it off the market.

Home Value – Remaining Mortgage Valu = Profit. The more money in the Profit section, you will have more freedom in searching for your next home.

2. Consider your next move.

This estimated profit will help you decide whether renting or buying is the right choice for you. Depending on your location, buying a house is usually the best option.

In fact, 58% are cheaper than renting a three-bedroom home. If you've owned a house before, you need to have a sufficient deposit by selling it so that you can make a down payment on the next one.

But price is not always the most important thing. Renting a room in retirement villages is a good option for seniors. These villages offer entertainment and safety features as well as support for older people.

Are you planning to purchase a smaller home or a more expensive one if you are looking to save money?

You can make the right decision about which options are best for you by knowing how much profit (or lack thereof) you will get from selling your house.

3. Choose a real estate agent

You should look for the following 3 things when choosing an estate agent: their knowledge and location in your area, their success rate and their attitude towards selling.

Agents may only want to get you the best price for your house. They can make a profit by working on commission.

If your primary goal is to sell the house for a fair price and before a specific date, waiting for the highest payment will not be helpful.

In many cases, profit is more important than time. Perhaps you are moving across the country and require quick funding to get your new job.

You may need to borrow money to pay off debts. You may also be part of a group and need the money to pay off a debt.

You can avoid frustration and confusion by finding an estate agent who shares your same approach. The agent's success rate, which is a measure of their ability to sell homes, is crucial.

To get a better understanding of the management style of each estate agency, look at reviews left by other sellers. Knowing the area is crucial for selling in that area.

Google Maps is a great way to find unique information about the area that can make it a selling point for estate agents.

You can convince buyers with great information such as a local bakery, hidden public gardens, rock climbing centers, and other soft play areas that the location of your home is ideal.

4. Prepare your home for sale

There are three main ways to prepare your house for sale. Your home should be staged to make it look promising. It must also be tidy and attractive from the outside.

These concepts can be difficult to grasp, so let's help you understand them.

Your home should be staged well

You are creating a false reality by staging your home. This is where you remove any less-popular aspects of your personal aesthetic, and replace them with something that is more universally loved.

A person can visualize their home if they see something familiar. You might be Instagram famous for your witchcore aesthetic, which includes bottles and skulls. However, your home will only appeal if it is part of the witchcore subculture.

This unfamiliar design will make everyone feel disconnected from the spaces and make it difficult for them to imagine themselves living there.

You can make your home more appealing by staging it to increase the connection with people.

Tidy up

Tidying up does not mean emptying the vacuum cleaner and duster. However, you should still clean your home before each visit. It's about clearing out clutter and giving your home a new lease of life.

Your home should look like it could be easily moved into by the next occupant. Broken tiles must be repaired, walls painted fresh, and clutter should be removed from the area.

Potential homeowners who can see the areas that need to be fixed up will either ask for a lower price or reject the house due to the work required.

Clearing out the space is the best way to make your home "move-in ready". Potential buyers will notice a storage problem and be more concerned about whether their items will fit.

A potential buyer will have trouble picturing the space accurately as it will appear smaller than it is. A potential buyer will also know there are hidden issues with every home.

However, 60% of buyers confess to concealing problems with their homes, and 65% admit that they don't show the problem but downplay its severity.

Most of the problems that second-time buyers will face are hidden. They will not be as concerned about the problems they don't see.

Watermarks indicate leaks. Items on the floor may suggest that it hasn’t been cleaned in some time. If the tiles are cracked, what’s the oven like?

Keep in mind curb appeal

Curb appeal refers to a home that looks good from the outside. A pedestrian walks past your home and sees your building from the street.

You can make your home more appealing from the outside by having the walls cleaned and re-painting the surfaces. You should pay attention to the windows.

Windows are what draw our attention. If you see chips in the wood or paint flakes, your home will appear uncared-for.

5. Establish a timeline

Selling your home can take time. The process may take only 2 months for the fortunate, but it can take up to 6 months to one year for the majority of people to sell their home.

Clean-up is an important part of the process. It is important that you are satisfied with the way your home is presented before an estate agent can value it.

Fix your oven, change your lights, paint your walls and re-carpet your floors. It will not only save you time but also add value to your house.

First, estimate the time it will take to clean up your home. This DIY project may consume your weekends and evenings.

Once you are happy, begin searching for agents who share your approach to the selling process.

The agent will take photographs of the stage and inform you when the first viewings will be held. You will have to maintain your home until it is sold.

It is also important to estimate how long you are willing to stay in this state of perfection. You may also want to look into why your house is taking so long for you to sell.

6. Get a pre-sale home inspection

An engineer can perform pre-sale home inspections. An engineer will inspect your home and determine if there are any structural or mechanical problems.

You are more likely to discover faults in older homes because the pipes or wires are not strong enough to handle your electrical use.

The inspections are a few hundred dollars. However, you can add the results of the inspection to the listing information of the estate agent to give buyers a clear understanding of the building.

It expedites the process and demonstrates honesty to buyers.

7. Professional photos

Real estate agents can take professional photos that will show your property in its best light. The equipment will allow them to position the camera in the corners of rooms, thus maximizing the space.

They will also know how to position the cameras so that the room's height and potential are shown. Although it may seem easy to take a photograph, a professional is necessary in order to show potential buyers the images.

You will lose interest if you are unable to create a beautiful, realistic version of your home.

8. Be realistic about the price

Multiple factors are used to create a realistic price for your house. They can generally be divided into two concepts: First, how many homes are in the same area?

What are the best and worst aspects of your home? If the homes in your neighborhood are $500,000 but your home needs more work, then it is impossible to expect the same price.

Another example is a home similar in another area. Because of the differences in location, it may be worth less or more than yours. The real estate agent or mortgage broker will help you determine a reasonable price.

You should also look at other listings in the area. Potential buyers may view your home as too expensive if they know of a neighbor who has a better home to sell but have a lower value than you.

9. Examine and negotiate offers

You will most likely receive offers that are not in line with your original proposal when your home goes on the market. An attorney or estate agent can help you to understand what offers are available and which ones to accept.

You may receive offers that are higher than your asking price if there is lots of competition in your local area. However, offers in slower-paced areas may be lower.

You have to decide for your self if the price is right for you. Refer to the section on Finances. Make sure that you are able to pay the mortgage.

You can always make a counteroffer if the offer isn't right for you. You can agree to the price, but the transaction must be completed quickly (one month), or you could include furniture.

To help narrow down your choices, you might receive multiple offers.

• The offer – What a person is willing to pay you should be considered, but not the only one.
• What are they charging? Cash can be difficult to transport but you'll get the funds quickly. Finance is simple to show, but it requires communication between lenders and banks.
• Credit history If someone is trying to purchase a home and has poor credit, it may be difficult to get a mortgage. This could make the process more complicated than necessary.
• Are they all in a single chain? If they are trying to purchase your home in a series, it means that they are selling their house to another person. They might also be selling their house, meaning that you can all rely on one another to complete the mortgage process.

The whole chain can collapse if one of the members fails. No-chain offers, which are offered from the parent's home, renting or buying upfront, are the fastest and most secure.

It is more difficult to sell your home if the chain is too long.

• The closing date suggested – Finally, when do they believe they can close the deal? If you value time, a quick sale might be more important to you than a large financial payment.

10. Accept the offer, and close the deal

Your real estate agent will remove your home from the market once you accept an offer. Your mortgage advisor, real-estate agent, and attorney will communicate with the buyer.

The down payment request will be made in writing. They must also submit a payment plan to allow the process to proceed. You can choose to make a mortgage loan, or direct payments.

Underwriting and diligence

Your attorney will inspect the finances of the buyer during due diligence. This stage will determine if the buyer is unable to pay their agreed payment.

It could be because of a limit from the mortgage broker. In this case, a lower offer may be made. It could also be because of a problem with the buyer's finances, in which case your offer will be rejected completely and you will have to restart the process.

You don't have to do anything during this process. Everything is in the bank’s hands.

Sign title and escrow documents

After everything is approved, you will receive a title and an escrow document that you can sign. You will need proof of ID, usually a driver's licence or passport that contains photo evidence.

You will sign the documents with a legal witness. The public records will prove that you no longer have the house once the documents are signed. The new owners have taken over the ownership of the home.

The finances for the purchase will be sent to you as soon as possible. This usually means that you will be sent a portion of the purchase to your mortgage lender to close down the account, and then the rest to your debit accounts.

11. Close the sale and get out

You need to verify that everything is correct when you look at the details of your offer. While your attorney will be able to go over all details, it is a good idea to also read the fine print.

Check out the settlement statement

When you close the deal, it is important to review the settlement statement. This document will contain the work that your estate agent did for you house to be sold.

These costs include taxes, the agent's commission, the pre-listing inspection, the appraisal fees and the home warranty.

This will be included if the estate agent staged and prepped your home. These fees will be listed in the settlement statement.

The seller will pay most of the cost, while some states require that the buyer pays for additional items.

Receive your home sale proceeds

Typically, your mortgage lender will receive your payment after you have received your payment from the sale. You won't accidentally spend large amounts of money and forget to pay your mortgage.

Once the mortgage is paid, the remainder will be sent to your bank account. The entire amount will be sent to your bank account if you do not have a mortgage.

If the amount does not cover your mortgage, you can talk to your lender about a plan that will work for you.

This could reduce your monthly payments, but it could also mean that you have to pay more time.

Find out if you will owe any taxes on the sale

You can avoid capital gains in most states by waiting until five years have passed since the purchase of your home. The scheme won't work if you don't live in your home for 5 years.

Taxes can be ignored if capital gains exceed $250,000 or $500,000 if you meet these criteria. Talk to your attorney or accountant to verify the taxes that you will need to pay to ensure you don't make any mistakes in this area.

Transfer utilities

You do not want your utilities shut off during the move, nor do you want to pay a late fee for the transfer.

Most companies and banks don't process documents on weekends. This means that if you have your house released on Friday, the data may not reach the utilities until Monday.

The house will remain under your name during that period. If you don't pay for the additional days, you may be charged a late payment fee.

You should close the account within the next business day of the transfer to ensure that no black marks are left on your name.

A few utility companies offer a special service for moving houses that allows you to start the process up to a month before it officially begins.

The accounts will automatically change without any hassle on the day of the move. Ask your utility company if they offer this service.

Forward your mail and change your address

You should make an address change with USPS at least two weeks prior to your move. This will redirect all mail to your new address automatically on the day of the move.

After you have moved, it is important to update all your documents with your new address. Begin with legal documents like driving licenses and passports. Next, move to lenders such banks and insurance companies.

You can then look through all mail sent to you via a redirection and make changes to your address.

Next steps

You might believe that the whole process is complete once you have moved in to your new home. It's not, sorry.

All of your financial information should be kept safe, such as in a filing cabinet or actual safe. You don't want your tax returns to state that you haven’t paid your dues.

This is true for all financial information. You should aim to keep your financial information safe for seven years and then dispose of it.

Companies cannot sue you for debts that are more than seven years old because of the statute of limitations. You should ensure that you have all the documentation necessary to support your financial transactions.

Summary

The information provided above will help you avoid becoming lost or confused when selling your home. You will be prepared for whatever the next step of the process may bring when your attorney or estate agent takes you to them.

As a seller, the most important thing is to clean up your home. This means painting the walls, removing weeds and clearing clutter to improve curb appeal.

You will need to be as hands-on as possible when preparing for potential buyers. Your home will sell faster if it is well-presented.

FAQ's

Have more questions? We have the answers.