Your home is likely to be your most valuable asset. The average net worth of a homeowner is $225,000 compared with just $6,300 for a renter, according to a survey of consumer finances.* CapCenter began in 1997 from a desire to save our clients thousands of dollars in the home buying, selling, and financing processes. By combining mortgage and realty under one roof, we are able to provide clients with an easier, less stressful experience.
Our team has helped more than 46,000 clients
We guide you through the process with full transparency, excited to answer your questions along the way. We currently offer services in the mid-Atlantic region, striving to make homeownership a simple, painless, and money-saving process. In this guide, we'll give you an overview of selling your home using CapCenter.
Having clearly defined goals before you begin can be the difference between a seller's remorse and a satisfying end to an otherwise hectic process.
Start by asking yourself a few questions:
- What are my priorities?
- Am I looking to sell as quickly as possible or maximize the sale price?
- Do I need to upsize or downsize?
- What exactly do I need in terms of square footage?
- Am I moving to a different area? Is it in or out of state?
Then doing a little research
Once you have established goals, it's time to turn your attention to the centerpiece of the transaction—your home! Your listing agent will help you set an asking price, but it is a good idea to start with a little independent research into your home's value and area comps. This helps set expectations and empowers you to ask your listing agent all the right questions.
Everything you're doing here is a conversation you will have with your listing agent. You can skip this step and go straight to finding a listing agent, but coming into the conversation with as much knowledge as possible affords you and your agent a running start.
Estimating your home's value
There are a lot of home value estimator tools to choose from and you may need to use a couple of different ones to get an idea of value range and area comps. You may also need to find a separate tool to estimate net proceeds. CapCenter's free home value calculator is unique in that it does all this work for you. Simply put in your address, and the calculator will quickly return three values for your home — low, median, and high — and show you a list of relevant area comps based on lot size, square footage, neighborhood, etc. Then, you can input your remaining principal balance into the same calculator to estimate your net proceeds.
Step 2: Hire a CapCenter Listing Agent
Now it's time to bring in the experts. We consult with clients for months and even years before they're ready for formal representation.
We'll help you navigate questions like:
- When is the best time of year to sell?
- How much time is needed to prepare your home for listing?
- What is the relative value of cosmetic vs. comprehensive investments in the home?
- Should I sell before I buy?
Your agent will have a detailed conversation with you based on your goals and understanding of the market. They will assist you with any questions you've come up with while conducting your research and assemble an action plan to get you everything you want out of your home sale.
CapCenter agents are at the top of the market in experience and as salaried professionals, you can be assured that your interests will always be aligned with your lead agent. We also put our ever-growing resources behind our team to make sure that we unequivocally produce the best client outcomes.
Hiring CapCenter starts with a formal meeting at the home to be sold. At the first formal meeting, we can really start to zero in on your personal plan for success.
Multiple Listing Service (MLS)
A crucial tool that CapCenter agents use is the historical sales data logged in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). How do seller concessions — a critical piece not tracked outside the MLS — impact effective sales values? How much are well-priced homes selling over the list price? What data are other agents using to guide their clients as they compete for a home? CapCenter agents have access to all of this information to help determine the value of your home.
You may be aware of a couple of things that could use repair around the house. Depending on what it is, it may affect the marketability of your home and may influence your asking price.
Consult with your CapCenter listing agent regarding which of these repairs should be tended to before listing. We'll help map out any upgrades that may have an outsized impact on your top-line price while protecting your downside by finding any low-effort repairs that may get flagged in an inspection.
When it comes time to stage your house, it is ultimately up to you how far you would like to take it. If you hire a professional, they will guide you from start to finish, making sure to showcase your home's beauty and potential to prospective buyers. If you would rather do it yourself, that is totally fine! Here are a couple of things that will help get you on your way!
Declutter the house
You want your house to feel warm and livable, but you don't want to distract potential buyers with extra things lying around and a cluttered closet. Having everything as open as possible showcases your house's living space. In some cases, decluttering may include renting a storage unit to clear closets and open floor space.
Paint and deep clean the house
If you must paint, colors should remain neutral. Light greys, beiges, and off-whites make the space in a house look more open. These colors also make your house look clean and fresh.
Depending on the state of your house, deep cleaning could be extensive or minimal. At the very least, you want to make sure your carpets and floors are in peak condition — steam cleaning, grout scrubbing — and your windows and walls are washed. Depending on the buildup, you may also consider pressure washing walkways and the exterior of your home.
Buy more light bulbs
When you are showing your house, it should be fully lit up. This includes making sure all light fixtures are functional, which means having working light bulbs. You don't want to hide all the hard work that went into preparing the house.
Step 4: List & Market Your Home
Once your house is ready and you've determined an asking price, your CapCenter listing agent will order photos and register your house with the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). All CapCenter agents are trained on how to use timing and technique to not simply market but to create a market for your home.
Industry data tells us that Wednesday and Thursday are when most buyers are searching for new listings online. We target these days to bring your home live. We also know your listing will get four times more traffic in its first week on the market than it will in any week after that, so we'll develop a plan to capitalize on this surge of interest. We tailor each plan to the individual home and seller but generally include a mix of the following.
Internet/Web listings
We'll make sure your home is visible on the MLS and other user-managed websites.
Open houses
Though not as popular as they used to be, we'll probably suggest hosting an open house on the first Sunday afternoon that your house is on the market. It's an efficient way to get a bunch of agents and potential buyers to look at your home in a short period of time.
Agent showings
We'll be available for agent showings whenever requested by potential buyers.
Print ads
With the prevalence of internet shopping, print ads have lost some of their lusters, but we'll collaborate with you to decide whether this is a good idea for you.
Social media
We'll blast your new listing across our social media platforms, targeting people in the area.
Promotional handouts
We'll create attractive handouts with your home's data and details. Handouts help to reinforce the memory of your home with buyers who view multiple properties.
Once we have the attention of buyers, it's time to drive demand and create urgency. Leveraging off-market coming soon features in the MLS, hitting important listing dates, showing delays, and hosting open houses are all ways to drive up demand while also managing your time out of the house and the need to constantly police yourself in a staged home.
Urgency is created by getting as many people as possible into your home at the same time, which often results in an offer, or offers, with great pricing and terms.
One important thing to keep in mind is that the quality of the offer is in the details. Some sellers will receive a quick offer, others may get several.
Still, some homeowners will receive none — but they will have interest or feedback that might eventually lead to an offer. Your CapCenter agent is adept at converting interest into offers and generating the best pricing and terms.
In the case of a multi-offer scenario, our sellers should seek to maximize their net and understand how concessions, financing types, and inspection contingencies might create a financial impact. Your agent will be able to quantify the risk of each buyer contingency, allowing you to make an objective decision. As an experienced partner, your agent can manage the back-and-forth, negotiating a happy price and contingency medium.
Review every offer you receive and respond in a timely manner. Many offers won't have an expiration date or may give the seller some runway to decide. When a seller is expecting multiple offers, they might have the leverage to set a contract review deadline. Act with purpose within contract deadlines whether it's accepting or countering by driving to the price and terms you intend to stick to. Negotiating with purpose sets the tone for potential downstream negotiations when a buyer might seek concessions following inspections.
Locking down a buyer at the point of the initial offer is often only the first negotiation. Most home sales will include a thorough home inspection stage.
Step 6: Home Inspection & Counteroffer
Terms around the home inspection are another thing that can vary and is likely to be outlined in the offer. Once both sides reach an agreement, the deal continues to close!
A competent inspector will provide:
A common timeline for a buyer to complete their home inspection is between 5 and 10 days after you accept the offer. The home inspection process, from walk-through to write-up, is usually complete within a couple of days. Home inspections are not always required, and it is possible — particularly in very fast-moving markets — that a buyer waives the inspection to stand out against other offers.
While this can oftentimes be a fretful moment for the seller — it's important to remember that the home inspection gives the buyer confidence in what they are buying. Chances are your prospective purchasers aren't going to blow the deal up over leaky faucets!
If it does, however, result in protracted negotiations, having an experienced partner by your side can be especially crucial at this stage.
Closing typically takes between 30 and 45 days. This allows enough time for the borrower to get final approval for a mortgage loan and all other involved parties—title company, county records department, etc.—to complete the necessary paperwork and make the transfer of the property official.
Dick Jeffress
Dick Jeffress : Apr 13, 2023 3:29:51 PM
