Selling Your Home - Greenville, SC

There are five major steps in the selling process:

  • Pricing your home
  • Staging your home
  • Marketing your home
  • Negotitating and finalizing a contract
  • Closing

Let's take a deeper look at each step.

Pricing

According to research by the National Association for Realtors, home sellers want the most assistance in pricing their home competively. Why is pricing your home so important? First, you don't have the time to "start high" and then lower the price later. Research shows that a home has the most activity in the first 60 days it is on the market. Secondly, if it is overpriced for the area or for the property condition then buyers will rule it out and move on to the next home. If the buyer does come back after you have been on the market for a while and have lowered the price then they will start to think you are desperate to sell. This is when the "low-ball" offers start to come. Thirdly, you must price ahead of where the Greenville, SC real estate market is heading. Is it going up or down? No matter which direction the market is going it is very hard to catch up. Fourth, the appraised value must be in line with the contract price or there will be gap between the appraised value and the contract price.

What are some steps Dave Edwards Realty takes to price a home correctly:

  • Research the national, state, and local real estate market
  • Research and compare past sales for your neighborhood
  • Review current homes on the market - this includes the data and in-person visits
  • Evaluate any economic factors - new developments, companies, etc coming to the area
  • Factor in any upgrades or improvements that have been done to the property
  • Review foreclosures or short sales in the area
  • Review the time on market for other properties that have sold
  • Evaluate any incentives that might be offered to the purchaser
  • And more...

Staging

First impressions will either turn a buyer off to your property or invite them to take a closer look. Most of us do not keep our homes in "showroom" condition so we need to do some work before making it available to the public. Dave Edwards Realty will advise you on the steps you need to take. Some areas that we would review:

  • Landscaping - "Curb appeal"
  • Deciding which furniture to keep, rearrange, or move.
  • Evaluating any needed repairs or comestic work - fixing a leaky faucet, repainting, etc.
  • Removing personal items that are not needed and would be a distraction - remember you are moving!

Marketing

Now that the price has been determined and staging is complete we can move on to marketing the property to other Greenville, SC REALTORS and the general public, both locally and around the world. The first question that should be asked is "how do buyers find their home?" Accrording to research by the National Association of Realtors there are three main ways that buyers found their home:

  • Real estate agent (38%)
  • Internet websites (37%)
  • Yard sign (11%)

Now that we know how buyers find their home we can target our marketing to those areas. How does Dave Edwards Realty accomplish this task?

  • Multiple Listing Service (MLS) - the premier location for Greenville, SC REALTORS. Your home will be marketed on this site with the allowed maximum of 25 pictures. In addition there will be detailed information about your property, a members only section for my comments to these REALTORS, and a public section area for describing the benefits of your property.
  • Top real estate websites - your home will be marketed with quality pictures on the #1 real estate website, www.realtor.com, and many others like www.trulia.com, www.homefinder.com, www.RealtyTrac.com, www.Homes.com, www.Zillow.com, www.OpenHouse.com, AOL Real Estate, Google, www.FrontDoor.com, and up to hundreds of other real estate websites that are a part of my marketing system.
  • Yard sign - a professional yard sign will be placed in your yard. All inquiries about the property will come directly to our office. We will follow up with any potential buyers in a professional and timely manner. In addition, we will put out directional signs to your property for the first four weekends your home is on the market. We would like to leave them out during the week, however, Greenville County Council passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for me to leave them out during the week.

We do other marketing in addition to the above, however, Dave Edwards Realty believes it is best to put our time, money, and energy into the avenues that will produce a sale.

Offer and Contract

Normally, before you finalize a contract there are items that need to be negotiated. For example, we may need to negotiate on the price, possession date, who pays for for a home warranty, is the buyer requesting assistance with closing costs, other contingencies, amount of earnest money, inspection rights and timeframes, appliances and furnishings in the home, and much more. As your fiduciary consultant I will assist you in determining the best options for you and protect your interests in the transaction. Once we have finalized the details we will get final signatures from all parties and start moving towards closing.

Closing

There is still much work to be done from the time of the contract to the closing date. You will need to start packing, however, there will be inspections, potential negotiating over any requested repairs, the buyer must get final loan approval, the home must appraise, title work, and much more. On the day of closing all the final documents will be signed and you will be able to move on with your life!

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