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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 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 real estate agent 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. I 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 I deem the offer is acceptable, I 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, I 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. I 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 real estate agent 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.

Testimonials

"I really enjoyed working with Valerie, Greg, and her team on the sale of our University City home in San Diego. We decided to work with Valerie, Greg, and her team due to the sales strategy she uses and the genuine care she has for her customers. Valerie, Greg, and her team kept us informed every step of the way as they executed their strategy utilizing state-of-the-art technologies and staging to market our home. We are very pleased with the outcome and highly recommend Valerie, Greg and her team for the sale or purchase of real-estate."
"I really enjoyed working with Valerie, Greg, and her team on the sale of our University City home in San Diego. We decided to work with Valerie, Greg, and her team due to the sales strategy she uses and the genuine care she has for her customers. Valerie, Greg, and her team kept us informed every step of the way as they executed their strategy utilizing state-of-the-art technologies and staging to market our home. We are very pleased with the outcome and highly recommend Valerie, Greg and her team for the sale or purchase of real-estate."
Fred C.
"As first-time home buyers in the challenging market of San Diego, we could not have asked for a better real estate agent to guide us through finding our home and ensuring escrow went smoothly. Greg's expertise, responsiveness, patience, and warm nature were invaluable during this process. His networking and connections among other agents in the San Diego area also gave us the upper hand in closing on an amazing house in a competitive market. We are so happy we found Greg and could not recommend him and his team more."
"As first-time home buyers in the challenging market of San Diego, we could not have asked for a better real estate agent to guide us through finding our home and ensuring escrow went smoothly. Greg's expertise, responsiveness, patience, and warm nature were invaluable during this process. His networking and connections among other agents in the San Diego area also gave us the upper hand in closing on an amazing house in a competitive market. We are so happy we found Greg and could not recommend him and his team more."
Janette N.
"Greg helped get me into a great place at UC! He's very personable, attentive, and knowledgeable - smooth sailing the whole way, especially for a first-time home buyer!"
"Greg helped get me into a great place at UC! He's very personable, attentive, and knowledgeable - smooth sailing the whole way, especially for a first-time home buyer!"
Michael
"Greg was absolutely amazing to work with! We were lucky enough to be referred to Greg by a friend. The first time previewed the property with Greg he was very professional and educated us on the area and the pros and cons of each area. The San Diego coastal market is very competitive, Greg found a house that checked all the boxes and had been on the market for 4 days. This house received 8 offers, and with Greg's guidance, he helped us strategize to be the chosen offer. Greg communicated throughout the transaction; we always knew what was going on. We were not local so during the transaction Greg met and invested his time with all the different inspectors. Even after the transaction was completed, Greg helped us settle in. We feel we can call Greg a friend now, he truly is one of the best realtors we have had the privilege of working with. He is hard-working, compassionate, and thorough. Greg is a 5-star realtor."
"Greg was absolutely amazing to work with! We were lucky enough to be referred to Greg by a friend. The first time previewed the property with Greg he was very professional and educated us on the area and the pros and cons of each area. The San Diego coastal market is very competitive, Greg found a house that checked all the boxes and had been on the market for 4 days. This house received 8 offers, and with Greg's guidance, he helped us strategize to be the chosen offer. Greg communicated throughout the transaction; we always knew what was going on. We were not local so during the transaction Greg met and invested his time with all the different inspectors. Even after the transaction was completed, Greg helped us settle in. We feel we can call Greg a friend now, he truly is one of the best realtors we have had the privilege of working with. He is hard-working, compassionate, and thorough. Greg is a 5-star realtor."
Cristi D.
"Greg Bergen was an excellent real estate agent for us when we purchased our property. Greg was super helpful, really eager to help, and did a ton of research for us. Greg, along with everyone on the Compass team, really supports their clients and you quickly realize you have a valued partner throughout the process. Greg is detail-oriented, an engaged listener, and really knowledgeable. Greg was always accessible and always adding value throughout the long process. Greg was fantastic and we highly recommend him."
"Greg Bergen was an excellent real estate agent for us when we purchased our property. Greg was super helpful, really eager to help, and did a ton of research for us. Greg, along with everyone on the Compass team, really supports their clients and you quickly realize you have a valued partner throughout the process. Greg is detail-oriented, an engaged listener, and really knowledgeable. Greg was always accessible and always adding value throughout the long process. Greg was fantastic and we highly recommend him."
Peter O.
"When we met Greg at an Open House, we connected with him and decided to reach out to see if he would be interested in taking us on as new clients. The first meeting when he shared what he had to offer was straightforward, personable, and professional. Greg made the house viewing process fun and seamless. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him. Greg is truly knowledgeable about many neighborhoods as we looked all over SD- Del Cerro, San Carlos, Scripps Ranch, South Park, Mission Hills, Clairemont, Bay Ho, before finally finding our home in Bay Park. He made the closing process easy and made many visits to the property to ensure things were going accordingly with the inspection and with getting renovation quotes. We highly recommend Greg and would happily work with him again!"
"When we met Greg at an Open House, we connected with him and decided to reach out to see if he would be interested in taking us on as new clients. The first meeting when he shared what he had to offer was straightforward, personable, and professional. Greg made the house viewing process fun and seamless. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him. Greg is truly knowledgeable about many neighborhoods as we looked all over SD- Del Cerro, San Carlos, Scripps Ranch, South Park, Mission Hills, Clairemont, Bay Ho, before finally finding our home in Bay Park. He made the closing process easy and made many visits to the property to ensure things were going accordingly with the inspection and with getting renovation quotes. We highly recommend Greg and would happily work with him again!"
David P.
"My husband and I recently purchased a condo, and Greg showed great attention to detail throughout the process. Greg was always available to answer questions we had, was very patient, was knowledgeable, and was very transparent during the transaction. We would highly recommend working with Greg as the customer service/experience was excellent; you would be in great hands throughout your house hunt! Thank you for all your work, Greg!"
"My husband and I recently purchased a condo, and Greg showed great attention to detail throughout the process. Greg was always available to answer questions we had, was very patient, was knowledgeable, and was very transparent during the transaction. We would highly recommend working with Greg as the customer service/experience was excellent; you would be in great hands throughout your house hunt! Thank you for all your work, Greg!"
Ericka A.
"Greg and Valerie were top-notch in our recent purchase. We had a difficult transaction with a sale in another state and a purchase in a new state. They not only helped to provide feedback and support on our purchase but also worked directly with the selling realtor in another state. In addition, their great reputation and strong results proved a great purchase price, easy transactions, and fantastic connections to vendors, banks, escrow firms, and more. We are incredibly grateful for their partnership and will continue to use them in the future. We highly recommend Greg who has become a lifelong friend for us!"
"Greg and Valerie were top-notch in our recent purchase. We had a difficult transaction with a sale in another state and a purchase in a new state. They not only helped to provide feedback and support on our purchase but also worked directly with the selling realtor in another state. In addition, their great reputation and strong results proved a great purchase price, easy transactions, and fantastic connections to vendors, banks, escrow firms, and more. We are incredibly grateful for their partnership and will continue to use them in the future. We highly recommend Greg who has become a lifelong friend for us!"
Tessi D.
"Greg was superb in all facets of selling three homes for us. He is smart, enthusiastic, efficient, and a pleasure to work with. The process was smooth and easy. The listing was high quality and the homes sold quickly. I only had to visit the homes one time during the entire process! Quick and painless. I trust Greg and his team! Thanks!"
"Greg was superb in all facets of selling three homes for us. He is smart, enthusiastic, efficient, and a pleasure to work with. The process was smooth and easy. The listing was high quality and the homes sold quickly. I only had to visit the homes one time during the entire process! Quick and painless. I trust Greg and his team! Thanks!"
Matthew B.
"Greg was absolutely amazing to work with! We were lucky enough to be referred to Greg by a friend. The first-time previewing property with Greg, he was very professional and educated us on the area and the pros and cons of each area. The San Diego coastal market is extremely competitive, Greg found a house that checked all the boxes and had been on the market for 4 days. This house received eight offers, and with Gregs guidance, he helped us strategize to be the chosen offer. Greg communicated throughout the transaction; we always knew what was going on. We were not local so during the transaction Greg met and invested his time with all the different inspectors. Even after the transaction was completed, Greg helped us settle in. We feel we can call Greg a friend now, he truly is one of the best realtors we have had the privilege of working with. He is hard working, compassionate, and thorough. Greg is a 5-star realtor."
"Greg was absolutely amazing to work with! We were lucky enough to be referred to Greg by a friend. The first-time previewing property with Greg, he was very professional and educated us on the area and the pros and cons of each area. The San Diego coastal market is extremely competitive, Greg found a house that checked all the boxes and had been on the market for 4 days. This house received eight offers, and with Gregs guidance, he helped us strategize to be the chosen offer. Greg communicated throughout the transaction; we always knew what was going on. We were not local so during the transaction Greg met and invested his time with all the different inspectors. Even after the transaction was completed, Greg helped us settle in. We feel we can call Greg a friend now, he truly is one of the best realtors we have had the privilege of working with. He is hard working, compassionate, and thorough. Greg is a 5-star realtor."
Cristi D.

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