First-Time Home Seller Resources For Those In Washington State

Odigo Real Estate Club Serves Skagit, King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties

When you purchased your home in Washington State, was it an extensive process that required plenty of planning and research? Selling the home will be no different, but involving the right experts will help you prepare your home to get top dollar in the housing market. Access to first-time home seller resources sees you through the process for confidence and peace of mind from start to finish.

That’s where Odigo Real Estate Club’s more than ten years of experience comes in, as a team with the top 1% of sales volume nationwide. Trust we’ll offer you the best advice and help you make the right decisions as you make your current house someone else’s and move forward.

Find the Right Agent

Once you decide to move on from your current abode, the first step to making the moving process a reality is finding a professionally trained and experienced agent. If you have any family members or friends who have recently gone through a move, their transition may have been a positive experience. If so, ask them for referrals.

Once you receive a few names, call each agent with your list of questions and get to know which answers match your expectations. For instance, ask what sets the team apart from other agencies, what marketing tools they use, and how the current marketing trends could affect your selling process. You can also ask them about their costs and success rates.

Once you find the right agency, work with them to uncover your selling needs. The agents may help you find clarity on the following:

• Why you want to sell your home (your goals) and whether it’s a good reason
• The listing price you want to put your house on the market for a certain profit margin
• The time frame you want to sell your home within
• Inventory shifts, mortgage rate fluctuations, and other marketing factors that may affect your selling efforts

Uncover the Ideal Timeline and Price Point

Your selling timeline depends on your selling goals. If you’re in a rush to sell your home, think about why. Perhaps your family is rapidly growing, and you need a larger space, or you recently found out that you need to relocate for work.

Quick sales may not receive high offers, depending on the current market value. So, if you’re not in a rush, ask your agent about the most opportune time to sell to get the most from your home. Once you uncover your timeline and ideal selling date, your agent will likely begin comparative marketing analysis work that includes For Sale by Owner homes or foreclosed and bank-owned ones.

A market analysis is crucial since a low asking price leaves you with a smaller profit margin. A high asking price places your house on the market for far longer (often with no offers). A fair price will help you compete with comparable homes in the area and generate more interest from buyers or investors.

Prepare Your Washington Home for the Big Move

In some cases, a slight home improvement could get you top dollar.

Doing Home Improvement

If you have an outdated HVAC unit that has low energy efficiency and cooling capacity, homebuyers may uncover it during an inspection and realize they’ll have to put in a new system if they were to purchase your home.

Will that hefty cost deter them from purchasing your house? Maybe. First-time home seller resources will tell you to remedy some of the following issues:

• A damaged or leaking rooftop
• Faulty plumbing that raises bills and causes water damage
• Replacing worn or poorly insulated doors and windows
• Adding new high-end flooring material
• Switching to LED lighting for cost-effectiveness

On the other hand, updating a system that doesn’t need replacing just yet lowers your margin of profit. Inspect your home first to determine what needs updating and what doesn’t.

Once You’re Ready To Sell

Once you’ve completed the necessary renovations that improve curb appeal and property value, clear out your personal objects. That way, the space looks clean, and the potential buyers can imagine their own stuff in each room.

Empty shelves, remove furniture (if you’re selling your home unfurnished), and store boxes elsewhere. Less clutter during open house showings works better.

Market to Potential Homebuyers With Ease

Next, it’s time to get the word out to find your buyer. According to the National Association of Realtors, roughly 95% of all individuals find their next home via the Internet these days, so any first impressions you make may not be in person.

Ensure your online profile is up to par with professional photos, videos, and virtual tours of your home’s interior and exterior. If these buyers like what they see online, they’ll likely come to your open house. You can market your home on social media but also take your efforts offline in the following ways to reach more people:

• Agent-to-agent referrals
• Yard signs
• Direct mail marketing campaigns
• Local multiple listing service

Sort Through Offers

As the offers start rolling in, your agent combs through them to ensure the potential buyers are all prequalified and preapproved. They’ll also look for contingency clauses and other factors that could keep the sale from going through. In some cases, the most attractive offers come with clauses that make the highest bid far from the best one, so your agent must do the hard work of sorting them.

Once you find an offer you can work with, Odigo Real Estate Club’s first-time home seller resources advise hiring a real estate attorney to create and read through all contracts. In the contract, they’ll outline what both parties should know and what the sale requires, which includes the following:

• Property’s legal description
• Deposit and down payment amount
• Offer price
• Settlement date
• Any contingencies
• Move-out or move-in dates
• And much more

After the attorney finalizes the contract, you or the buyer can accept, reject, or make a counteroffer (in which case the contract needs amending.) Once both parties sign, the contract becomes legally and financially binding.

Complete Due Diligence

Before closing the deal, the buyer walks through your home with an inspector to ensure everything is in order. If they find faults with the house, they’ll use it as a contingency point and pull out of the contract. If this occurs, make necessary repairs or replacements to pass the next inspection and clear the title.

After one final walkthrough, if everything is up to par, you can begin making plans to move out by the given date.

Close the Sale

To officially close the sale, the last step includes you and the buyer paying closing costs. You may also have to cover other costs like escrow fees and transfer taxes as you review your settlement statement.

Finally, do the following to successfully close the sale:

• Transfer utilities over to the new homeowners
• Change your address
• Forward your mail before you move into your new home