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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 team of real estate agents 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: 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 team of real estate agents once you choose one so they can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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Step 2: 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 team of real estate agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate agents with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

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Step 3: 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 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

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

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Step 5: 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 6: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer is 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 team of real estate agents.

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Step 7: 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 8: 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 with your team of real estate agents 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.

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.

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Testimonials

"The Holzl team did an amazing job selling our house! From start to finish, the entire team communicated both effectively and timely. Carie really knows the market and helped us to best price our home given market conditions and our need to sell quickly. Katie did an amazing job staging our house! It looked like a model home, and I'm sure that's what helped our home sell in 3 days! Lori pulled everything together, making sure that we had all the information we needed along the way and keeping us informed of important dates and progress toward closing. I really cannot recommend this team enough! Thank you!"
"The Holzl team did an amazing job selling our house! From start to finish, the entire team communicated both effectively and timely. Carie really knows the market and helped us to best price our home given market conditions and our need to sell quickly. Katie did an amazing job staging our house! It looked like a model home, and I'm sure that's what helped our home sell in 3 days! Lori pulled everything together, making sure that we had all the information we needed along the way and keeping us informed of important dates and progress toward closing. I really cannot recommend this team enough! Thank you!"
Leah K.
"We cannot recommend using Holzl Homes enough. We had a wonderful buying experience using Carie and her team. They were responsive, informative, and always made sure our best interests were at heart. Carie really knows what she is doing and it is apparent in her work. Even during this incredibly crazy housing market, they were quick to respond, and Carie and Lori always made sure all of our questions were answered and we knew what was going on in the process. We would gladly use them again if we ever buy or sell another home."
"We cannot recommend using Holzl Homes enough. We had a wonderful buying experience using Carie and her team. They were responsive, informative, and always made sure our best interests were at heart. Carie really knows what she is doing and it is apparent in her work. Even during this incredibly crazy housing market, they were quick to respond, and Carie and Lori always made sure all of our questions were answered and we knew what was going on in the process. We would gladly use them again if we ever buy or sell another home."
Emily K.
"We purchased a home without seeing it until closing, which of course is a risk. However, Carie and her team made this process extremely simple and stress-free. They were professional, and responsive, and were able to recommend multiple excellent service providers to complete the home purchase while we were remote. We highly recommend Carie and her team for anyone looking for a stress-free purchase process."
"We purchased a home without seeing it until closing, which of course is a risk. However, Carie and her team made this process extremely simple and stress-free. They were professional, and responsive, and were able to recommend multiple excellent service providers to complete the home purchase while we were remote. We highly recommend Carie and her team for anyone looking for a stress-free purchase process."
Allison M.
"Outstanding, professional, and friendly service! The entire team was helpful with our needs and very responsive and friendly. They provided the guidance needed in a trusting and empathetic way. Highly recommended!"
"Outstanding, professional, and friendly service! The entire team was helpful with our needs and very responsive and friendly. They provided the guidance needed in a trusting and empathetic way. Highly recommended!"
Michael D.
"Carie and her entire team are excellent! They are always available, answer the phone, and respond quickly. Carie's knowledge of the market and guidance is top-notch. Everything from the proper price point to a perfect stager is perfection. Highly recommended!"
"Carie and her entire team are excellent! They are always available, answer the phone, and respond quickly. Carie's knowledge of the market and guidance is top-notch. Everything from the proper price point to a perfect stager is perfection. Highly recommended!"
Seller
"Carie and her team are the best of the best. Their service model sets them far above anyone we have worked with before. They are proactive and quick to respond. We put them on a tight timeline and they executed without a hitch. We will recommend them to anyone we know!"
"Carie and her team are the best of the best. Their service model sets them far above anyone we have worked with before. They are proactive and quick to respond. We put them on a tight timeline and they executed without a hitch. We will recommend them to anyone we know!"
Seller
"This team works like a well-oiled machine! Katie staged our house to make it look amazing bringing in her furniture and accessories. Lori and Siri coordinated weekly email status updates to keep us informed throughout the sale process. Christa worked the open house and brought good qualified offers to us. We closed with a local attorney that Holzl uses on the house sale at our kitchen table which was very convenient for us!"
"This team works like a well-oiled machine! Katie staged our house to make it look amazing bringing in her furniture and accessories. Lori and Siri coordinated weekly email status updates to keep us informed throughout the sale process. Christa worked the open house and brought good qualified offers to us. We closed with a local attorney that Holzl uses on the house sale at our kitchen table which was very convenient for us!"
Buyer & Seller
"This was my first time selling a property. Carie and her team did a great job. They know the market and trends so well. They made great recommendations for some inexpensive updates to modernize my dated condo. They staged it very nicely and made it look great and it sold in under 2 weeks for close to the asking price. I was out of town for most of the process, and to call it painless would be an understatement. I highly recommend the Holzl team!"
"This was my first time selling a property. Carie and her team did a great job. They know the market and trends so well. They made great recommendations for some inexpensive updates to modernize my dated condo. They staged it very nicely and made it look great and it sold in under 2 weeks for close to the asking price. I was out of town for most of the process, and to call it painless would be an understatement. I highly recommend the Holzl team!"
Seller
"Carie and her team helped us sell two townhomes & purchase a house all in Geneva. They’re the absolute best. Everyone communicates so incredibly well, they do excellent staging to help speed the sale of your home & they provide support in all areas of the sale/purchase process. I always recommend Holzl Homes to anyone who is looking to buy or sell a home!"
"Carie and her team helped us sell two townhomes & purchase a house all in Geneva. They’re the absolute best. Everyone communicates so incredibly well, they do excellent staging to help speed the sale of your home & they provide support in all areas of the sale/purchase process. I always recommend Holzl Homes to anyone who is looking to buy or sell a home!"
Buyer & Seller
"Carie Holzl and Team is the Best! The team was thorough, professional, and great to work with. They care about their clients and, at the highest level, educate and empower us to make the very best opportunities in selling our homes. The Holzl Team was always available for questions and did a great job communicating at every step of the process, creating an experience I will soon not forget. I would highly recommend the Holzl Team to anyone who wants to experience seeing excellence in motion."
"Carie Holzl and Team is the Best! The team was thorough, professional, and great to work with. They care about their clients and, at the highest level, educate and empower us to make the very best opportunities in selling our homes. The Holzl Team was always available for questions and did a great job communicating at every step of the process, creating an experience I will soon not forget. I would highly recommend the Holzl Team to anyone who wants to experience seeing excellence in motion."
Todd G.

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