Home Seller’s Guide
Looking to sell a home in Charleston? COASTAL LUXURY HOMES can help you through every step in the process!
Know the Market
If you are planning to sell your home there are a number of questions that you should ask. How many homes are currently for sale in the Charleston market? Is the home inventory increasing or decreasing? Is there any new construction in the area? Is the average number of days on the market increasing or decreasing? This information is very important as it will help determine the appropriate sales strategy for your home.
Price the Home to Sell
Do you want to price your home to list it and let it sit on the market or to sell it? The secret to selling your home quickly is to price it right from the beginning. There may be very legitimate reasons why you want to price your home at a higher selling price, but at the end of the day the market dictates what it will pay. The best way to determine the optimal selling price is to perform a comparative market analysis (CMA) that compares your home to recent comparable home sales in the area.
Prep the Home
The objective of this step is to make your home look as good as it possible can to a potential buyer. This means cleaning so there’s no dust or dirt, shining up appliances and fixtures, organizing any messes, painting to hide cracks or dirty walls, completing minor repairs and staging your home so it shows like a model. While you can do many of these updates yourself, you may want to hire recommended professionals to help and even arrange for professional staging.
Photograph and/or Video the Home
Since most home viewing activity is online these days, it’s critical that the virtual tour of your home creates a very favorable first impression. If your home doesn’t look great online, there’s a strong likelihood a prospective buyer will not stop by for a showing. Professional photography is the only way to go when it comes to making your home look great online. For larger, higher-end homes you may also want to hire a professional videographer who can create a video that will walk a prospective buyer through your home without even setting foot in it.
Marketing your Home
There’s more to selling a home than just listing it in the MLS. Internet marketing plays a major role in the sales cycle. The vast majority of buyers start their home search online. Our goal is to make your listing very visible by including it in all of the online real estate websites so that it will reach the largest number of potential buyers. We’ll feature your listing on social media including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as well. We’ll further promote your listing through email blasts to targeted audiences and post the listing internally within our company that will make it available to roughly 500 associates (and their buyer clients) in Charleston. We also market by direct mail using flyers, postcards, and brochures. Finally, we’ll host open houses and set up showings for buyers interested in your home.
Consider the Feedback
Once your home is on the market, you will receive regular updates throughout the process. We will get feedback from the buyer’s agent after a showing or from guests during an open house. This feedback is very important and needs to be considered because it’s from potential buyers. It could result in making some unplanned improvements or in adjusting the selling strategy.
Negotiate to Win
You’ve received an offer, but should you accept it or counteroffer? We will help you negotiate the final sales price with the buyer. Negotiations are stressful and may be intense, but you can feel confident that we will look out for your best interests and try to secure the highest selling price possible.
