Seller's Guide

Everything you need to know about putting your home on the market, accepting an offer, and closing on your home.

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: 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 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 real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent 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

I 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. My 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 agent.

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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. I 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 realtor 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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MICHELLE C.

MICHELLE C.

Words cannot express our gratitude to Kristen for securing us our first home. We found her by chance, referred to us by another agent we randomly contacted from an advertisement on another real estate app. Said the agent did no...
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SHELLY M.

Kristin changed our lives. My husband and I had become exhausted from looking at countless homes that weren’t right for our family. Then covid hit and we hit the brakes on our new home dreams because we didn’t think we would be...
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ZACK R.

Kristen is a joy to work with. We found Kristen by accident, but we are so thankful we met her. From showing homes to answering calls and questions, she always made time for us. I was amazed at how quickly Kristen responded to ...
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GENE T.

Kristen is very responsive, very knowledgeable, and has a good sense of humor to go along with her many skills. She very quickly understood our need to acquire a condo in the Monterey area and helped us focus. She is very quick...
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MELISSA M.

We were so lucky to find Kristen as our real estate agent to find a home in Carmel! She was referred by a friend who she also helped find a home. We appreciated Kristen's excellent knowledge of the Carmel area and the entire Mo...
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GARRETT K.

GARRETT K.

Kristin helped us buy our current home and sell our previous home. She was great, on top of her stuff, and coordinated every detail for us. The home we were selling was one we had poured our whole heart into, but our family had...
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TAHNEE J.

TAHNEE J.

My husband and I were relatively new to the Monterey area and unsure about neighborhoods. Kristen is a local who helped with any questions regarding our concerns. This was our first time purchasing a home. She was very clear an...
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KAREN L.

KAREN L.

Kristen did a phenomenal job helping us find and buy the right home for us in Monterey. So glad that Zillow connected us. Kristen carefully listened to our needs and showed us condos that she thought best suited us. When a home...
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BUYER

BUYER

My husband and I have bought and sold properties from our own to the estates of our parents! Kristen was amazing. In the middle of the process of our loan, the lender gave us an unreasonable interest rate. Kristen was able to t...
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BIANCA N.

BIANCA N.

Kristen makes the buying/selling process so much easier than I could've imagined. I've used her for both and wouldn't want anyone one else in the area. She's super knowledgeable and always made herself available for any questio...
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BUYER

BUYER

Kristen is an incredibly driven, resourceful, and talented REALTOR. I cannot recommend her enough. If given the opportunity, you will not be disappointed in your experience with having her buy or sell you your home. She knows t...
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BIANCA N.

BIANCA N.

As first-time home buyers, my husband and I could not have gotten any luckier to have gotten to work with Kristen. She was extremely knowledgeable about the market and area we were looking to buy into and she was always sweet a...
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BUYER

BUYER

Kristen went above and beyond throughout the home-buying process. I was a first-time home buyer and due to Covid, I could not travel to Monterey. She helped me find a house and took care of everything including arranging inspec...
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BUYER

BUYER

Top-notch service from start to finish in helping me find the right home. A dedicated professional who treated my home purchase as if I was a VIP client. Gave great referrals for assistance with finance and shared her expertise...
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BUYER

BUYER

Kristen our REALTOR was a gem. Polite, approachable, extremely helpful, and knowledgeable. Assisted us through a change of lenders halfway through our purchase. She responded within minutes to calls and texts. Not pushy at all ...
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DAVID G.

DAVID G.

Superlative agent who guided me through the purchase of my new home. Faced with some complexity in the purchase of our new home she was up to the challenge. Outstanding and friendly service who was a pleasure to deal with on al...
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BUYER

BUYER

Thoroughly familiar with the Carmel and Monterey area. Always on top of things and available. Her cheerful personality made it a pleasure to work with her. Thanks to her alertness, diligence, and negotiating skills we were able...
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JOY A.

JOY A.

She is so nice to work with. As first-time buyers, we needed an agent that is willing to explain to us everything. She is very patient. Listened to her her buyer’s need, and gave us inputs and suggestions. She advocated for us ...
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TAWNI T.

TAWNI T.

Very helpful in buying our home. Christina offered a great deal of knowledge about the process and kept me from being overwhelmed with all that is normal in-house buying. I’m so grateful to have her as our agent. Honestly could...
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JEOVANNI ALICEA A.

JEOVANNI ALICEA A.

Kristen is a professional agent with vast knowledge and expertise, who will work diligently to find a perfect fit for her clients. Kristen helped me and my wife in both buying and selling our home, and I can’t be any happier th...
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