Sellers

5 Steps to Selling A Home

#1: Select A Realtor

Our Team will discuss a pricing strategy, preparing your home for sale and a marketing plan that provides extensive exposure in our market. Steps through this process include:

1. Inspect the property for condition and updates.
2. May suggest a home inspection prior to listing to address any items that may cause concern and use for marketing the home and reducing negotiations down the line.
3. Create a to do list to maximize the value and minimize the days on the market.
4. Stage if necessary.
5. Set out a roll out schedule – agree on asking price
Have professional photography on home
Create marketing materials
Provide safety materials for showings if applicable
Email blast to all MLS realtor members
Facebook post – new on the market
Google ad
6. Showings – by appointment
Call agent or team member for scheduling
Leave lights on or add note to shut off after showing
In Covid times – Adults only for showings
Feedback provided within 24 hours
7. Market Reports provided every 14 days monitoring market activity, sales, back on the market and new competing properties.

#2: Price the Home

Time is money when selling your home.
Homes get their maximum price in the first 30 days

Where do you find the value of your home?

Zillow:

does not have access to Montana Home Sale Prices, Montana is a non-disclosure state and that information is not of public record.

Find your home value online:

Again, Montana is a non-disclosure state so these sites don’t
Have access to sale prices.

Tax Assessor:
Property tax assessors are a consistent source in determining home
Values but will always be slightly behind of the current market.

Realtors provide the most accurate analysis of value.
We have access to current sold prices of homes and can narrow this down by
neighborhood or subdivision. We also can react to the market much faster in helping a seller determine their home’s value.

#3: Preparing the Home
Getting your home ready to sell takes preparation. Walking through your home like you are the buyer and seeing it for the first time gives you perspective, take notes of what you think a buyer would question or notice. Clearing out clutter, removing family photos, packing items up you don’t need every day clears out closets and remove big furniture or if you have a lot of furniture take it to storage. Less is best.

1. Clean & clean & clean again, this includes bathrooms, baseboard, countertops, kitchen sinks, cabinet handles and behind, windows, appliances, faucets
2. Smells can be a turn off, be aware of pet odors etc.
3. Remove clutter, the stack of mail on the counter, everyone’s shoes at the door, the make up on the bathroom counter.
4. Keep it simple, decorate minimally.
5. Neutral colors allow Buyers to visualize themselves in the house rather than discuss how they have to paint the vibrant colors gone.
6. Put away personal items like family photos, clear the refrigerator of personal pictures.
7. Store oversized furniture or excessive furniture.
8. Open the curtains or shades and let the light shine in. Most everyone feels better in a bright light living area.
9. Plants and flowers don’t overdo. Potted plants are nice here and there but don’t line a wall with them. Fresh flowers on the dining room table is a nice touch, adds to the ambience of the room.
10. Organize closets and anything you can put in storage is a good idea. Then buyers see there is plenty of room for their items.
11. Most rooms need a purpose otherwise the buyer will question what it’s for. So, if you have a nook somewhere put a small desk there or a reading chair with light.
12. When entering the home make sure it flows easily and buyers don’t have to dodge through tight spaces.
13. The fix it list, just get it done. Items found most often are loose toilets & faucets, leaking faucets, cracked window glass, loose railing, missing light bulbs, broken lock, window hardware, service furnace, negative drainage.
14. Curb appeal is so important. Buyers will drive by properties first to see if they want to view inside. If the exterior of the home and yard are in disrepair or uncared for, they will pass on it. Clean up the walkway, clean the front door, trim any shrubs, mow the lawn, weed the flower beds, add color to a dull entry with freshly planted flowers. Scrape and paint any peeling paint, stage the back patio or deck for a relaxing getaway.

#4: Marketing
Below are a number of marketing facets we use to create the greatest exposure for your home when you’re selling.

1. Email Campaigns to our current client sphere: This works well as our clients refer Buyers to its on a continual basis. When we create an email with photos of yoirr home highlighting the amenities your home offers it will always generate lnterest from our client group.
2. Email Campaigns to Realtors: Ensuring your home gets vlewed by the killings Realtors by emailing each realtor in Billings details on your home including photos
3. Social Media: We all know the benefit of marketing properties on Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, Billings Real Estate site, etc. These posts almost become mundane at times so we are always thinking ont of the box to see how to reach more people with your property and create an urgency to view your home.
4. Google Ads: Another tool we use to create the exposure you want as a seller selling in today’s market. This has a great outreach to target specific states we see lncreased activity in moves to Montana.
5. Networking: Being a member of The Billings Multiple Listing Service is a given but as members of the association the importance of being involved, vohinteering on committees and participating in the local realtor association activities allows for more face-to-face meeting and communication on otn properties for sale.
6. Videos: An excellent tool to show potential buyers your home by showcasing interesting features and creating a visual that Buyers respond to.
7. Print: Not as necessary as in past markets but still another viable tool to increase exposure for yorn- home.

#5: Contract to close

Once your home is under contract there is a schedule of events that take place. Below puts these items in order of what happens next:

1. Accepted contract by both Seller & Buyer
2. Hopefully as a seller you have tentatively set up your moving plan, now schedule movers and acquire any help you need with packing and your move.
3. Inspection contingency dates addressing when the inspection must be completed and when both seller and buyer need to agree on the inspection items.
4. The appraisal gets ordered once the inspection contingency is agreed upon. It can take up to two to three weeks for an appraiser to walk thru the property and gather the necessary information to draft the appraisal and submit it to the lender. If it is a cash sale, buyers usually waive the appraisal as it is not required and only for the lender if there is financing.
5. Confirm day and time of closing.
6. Call utilities to terminate service the day of closing.
7. Clean house once everything is moved out of house.
8. Know Buyers will do a walk through a day or two prior to closing day.
9. Show up to closing and sign documents.
10. Proceeds from your selling is done once the sale is of record so you may not receive the sale proceeds until the next day or following Monday if closing takes place on a Friday.