1. Meet with Your 1% Real Estate Broker. Why meet with me first? Because I can save you a ton of time and energy by guiding you on what you need to do to prepare your home for sale and what you don’t need to do. You don’t want to waste money on what won’t garner you more tours or a better offer. You don’t want to waste precious time on that either, especially if we’re well into summer (i.e., nearing the end of the selling season). Plus, I can save you money by listing AND SELLING your home for 1.5% TOTAL, when I work with the buyer too. Why would you want to risk spending more??? If you’re not sure what that means, contact me. I’m happy to chat with you about it! Hearing negative talk about 1% or so-called discount brokers from full-commission firms or agents? HA! Check out Dispelling Myths About 1% Agents.
2. Prequalify to Buy Your Next Home. If you’ll need to finance your next home, get ready now. Knowing what you’ll qualify for helps you and me shop for your next home while we have your home on the market. When you’re shopping for a home loan, remember you can get quotes from several lenders without harming your credit. But first, check your credit report and have erroneous detrimental items removed too. Don’t have old credit accounts removed IF you still have credit available and no negative remarks on them. They help your credit score! Read How to Increase Your Credit Score too.
3. Pre-inspect Your Home. If you have the skills to do so, inspect your home for defects and repair them now. They will come up later during a home inspection, often costing sellers thousands of dollars in price reduction, delays, or the death of the deal! Go throughout your home with fresh “buyers” eyes. When I’m your 1% listing agent, I can help.
4. De-clutter & Squeaky Clean Your Home. A wise woman once told me, “Other people’s dirt is grosser than your own.” In other words, we take our own household grime for granted. Trust me that buyers become Martha Stewart when they’re touring your home! Get rid of extra furniture you don’t need and deep clean and keep clean your home throughout the entire selling process.
5. Price Correctly – Accept Professional Counsel. For the love of G-d, listen to your broker when it comes to pricing! Over pricing is the #1 mistake of FSBO (For Sale By Owner) listings. Remember that I’m objective about your home; homeowners typically are not. You built memories there. You made upgrades based on your tastes. You decorated it. Maybe even really love your home. Even if you were never happy with your house, there’s that desire to make the most money from it and that tends to affect objectivity. Case in point: a former seller sprung it on me at the last minute that he wanted to list his home for nearly $100,000 over the most likely market value. We listed in the spring (best season to sell), barely anyone toured it, and we received two offers at the market price I expected. We headed into the holiday season (worst season to sell) and it sat on the market as unsold FSBO into February. Sad! You don’t hire an attorney and expect to know more than she does, right? Trust your broker if that’s her full-time career, like it is for me. 😊
That’s it! I do the rest: Professional photography, online and offline marketing, signage, lockbox, and most important, negotiating the contract so deals don’t die.
Get Daisy’s 1% Listing Packet Now
I created my 1% Listing Packet so it’s short and easy to follow In it, I go over the 5 things sellers must do to sell their home fast and for the best price. A handy 1-page pre-showing guide is included. I also go over the most common questions I get about selling properties. It’s super helpful. Ask for it now by filling out the form below.
Daisy Casillas 