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: Select Your Realtor® - The Sue Smith Team

Experience You Can Count On!  Sue Smith and The Sue Smith Team understands that selling a home is more than just a transaction -- it is likely the most important financial decision made in your lifetime. That’s why our team of high producing, experienced Real Estate sales professionals are dedicated to providing exceptional, personalized service for all our clients. We take pride in the relationships we build and work relentlessly on our client’s behalf to help them achieve their real estate goals. Our team of experts has a proven track record of significant Real Estate sales representing the best and brightest in the industry.  We strive to lead the field in research, innovation, strong property to include virtual showings and tours, and consumer education. With more than 34 years of regional Real Estate knowledge and a reputation for results, integrity and service, The Sue Smith Team is the local Real Estate expert team.

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Step 2: 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 3: 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.  We are experienced and can help you determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

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Step 4: 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 5: Develop a Marketing Strategy

We will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for marketing your home.  This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through professional photos, video, drone photography, social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, MLS Listing and SEO advertising.  Our team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first few weeks after becoming a client.

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Step 6: 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 7: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer 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 8: 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.

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Step 9: 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 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.

Sue Smith and The Sue Smith Team's philosophy is simple: Help you build wealth by finding your place in the world.  We don’t measure success through achievements or awards, but rather through the satisfaction of our clients.  The Sue Smith Team are your trusted Real Estate Advisors.

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

Lisa and Ryan

Lisa and Ryan

Bryan + the entire Sue Smith team were the MOST incredible partners we could have hoped for when relocating to Northern Virginia
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Leigh H.

Leigh H.

From the first phone call I knew this woman was at the top of her game. Knowledgeable, super organized, compassionate, and personable are just a few of the adjectives that I would use to describe Sue.
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Brian B.

Brian B.

Sue and her team are absolutely incredible! The team's dedication, hard-work and efficiency are the reasons we were able to sell our home. From the beginning Sue was warm, welcoming and positive - something we valued and needed...
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Anju S.

Anju S.

Heran is a very professional and has tremendous patience. She made our house hunting stress free. Great communication and very responsive. We had very specific needs, and she showed us a lot of houses. Helped us to make our dec...
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Adam S.

Adam S.

We have both bought a house and now sold a house with the Sue Smith team. If you are searching for the best Realtor® in the area, look no further because Sue is the real deal She and her team make the process of buying and sell...
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Arras A.

Arras A.

Sue and her entire Compass team, especially Bryan and Krissy, were absolutely exceptional during our recent home purchase. In an extremely competitive market, their expertise allowed not only a successful purchase but also an e...
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Chuck & Shari H.

Chuck & Shari H.

In short, Bryan Smith knows the area, knows his business, and knows how to close a deal for his clients. His guidance was a major reason we only had to make an offer on one house. Having worked with 5 agents in multiple states ...
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Daniel J.

Daniel J.

Heran is the best real estate agent! She was my selling and buying agent when we moved this summer. She was professional and diligent. She truly worked hard day and night, weekdays and weekends. I highly recommend Heran and the...
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Nazma S.

Nazma S.

Heran was a gift! She guided us through the purchase process and made everything very easy. She was so patient and went beyond her ways to help us find the perfect house. I think she knew before we did that she found us our hom...
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Ben M.

Ben M.

There isn’t a word to describe the experience I had with Sold By Sue - The Sue Smith Team. It was amazing. No stone was left unturned. From A-Z, they were on top of it. They made an exciting, but stressful time for me so specia...
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Matt C.

Matt C.

Bryan was there and truly present on all calls - with a positive attitude, a true showing of empathy, and a wealth of knowledge on the process and sometimes tediousness of buying a home. Bryan treats real estate truly as a care...
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Anand P.

Anand P.

It was a pleasure to work with Heran for our recent home search and purchase. She is very patient showing us around 10-15 homes and was very diligent in ensuring we make the best use of our time during home showings. She is ver...
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Leslie B.

Leslie B.

Selling a home can be an incredibly stressful process but Sue and her team make it almost pleasurable! Sue is a real estate professional's professional. Her knowledge, experience, guidance and communication skills are truly exc...
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Jeni F.

Jeni F.

Heran was like a gift sent from god. I would go out of my way to actively recommend her to anyone. She helped us buy our home as first time home buyers, and was knowledgeable, patient, and put our interest as #1 priority at all...
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Ryan D.

Ryan D.

Heran was instrumental in helping my family and I conduct a cross country move. She went out of her way to show us our home and provide information about the community where we wanted to live. She responded to our requests day ...
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Roger S.

Roger S.

Her communication was great on both updates and ensuring we had plenty of lead time for items we needed to complete. The house sale was due to loss in the family. Sue understood was able to make what would normally be a sad and...
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Ron & Lisa S.

Ron & Lisa S.

Bryan patiently answered our (million) questions, helped set up several weekends worth of showings, and was an overall wealth of knowledge about the surrounding area. When we found "the" home, Bryan helped guide us to write a f...
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Megan M.

Megan M.

Sue Smith gets our highest recommendation. She and her team have given outstanding service from start to finish in the sale of our home and purchase of another. Her marketing is innovative and thorough, her availability seeming...
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Brandi G.

Brandi G.

Sue was fantastic and, without hesitation, we would recommend her to anyone buying or selling a home. We were buyers and, while the market was challenging, Sue was confident and encouraging throughout our time with her. We appr...
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Leanna L.

Leanna L.

Sue Smith and her team are truly the best! Throughout what can be a stressful process, especially as a first-time home buyer and navigating this crazy competitive market, Sue guided me every step of the way! Sue is professional...
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We don’t measure success through achievements or awards, but rather through the satisfaction of our clients. The Sue Smith Team are your trusted Real Estate Advisors.

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