Atlanta Real Estate Blog

Step 5 of the Home Sale Process: The Closing

What’s all included in the closing process? Today I’ll answer that question for you.

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So you’ve gotten through the hardest part of the home sale contract—the contingency phase. Congratulations! Now it’s time for the next step to begin: the closing process.

At this point, it’s safe to start packing things up and doing whatever else you need to do to transition into your new home, including transferring your utility services to your new address and scheduling a date for the movers to come. Here in metro Atlanta, most homes have to be vacated prior to the closing, so we generally advise our clients to move a couple of days prior to that point.

"Here in metro Atlanta, most homes have to be vacated prior to the closing."

In addition to packing things up, you need to make sure the...

Selling Your Home, Part 4: The Offer Process

After you receive an offer on your home, here are the steps you must take to know whether that offer is truly right for you.

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After you’ve put your home on the market, what do you do once you get an offer? There are a few key steps you must take if you want to maximize your sale. 

First, consider your response time. As we know, time is of the essence when it comes to real estate, so you need to act quickly. What kind of time limit has your buyer given you? What are they expecting out of this deal? If they’re frustrated because they’ve been on the losing side of previous multiple-offer situations, they’ll want a quick response (and by “quick,” I sometimes mean within a matter of hours). 

Also, examine whether the terms and conditions of the offer meet your needs. By terms and conditions, I mean the sales price, the suggested move-in date, etc. Keep in mind that your first offer is usually your best offer, and it typically takes about 10 to 12 showings to generate that first offer, so take into consideration how long your home’s...

The 3rd Step of Selling Your Home: Staging

Today I’ll continue my series about selling your home by discussing the third step of the process: the staging process.

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If you’ve been following along with my blog, you’ll know that I’ve been discussing the various steps of the home selling process (click here to review parts one and two). Today, I’ll discuss the third step of the process: staging your home.

This is the fun part of selling your home. By this point, you’ve done your repairs and touch-ups; now it’s time to set up your home to look its best for any potential buyers who come for a showing.

Ideally, your home’s photos are the cover to your book, so to speak. Once the professional photographer has finished taking “magazine quality” photos of your home, those will be posted on your online listings. Buyers will see these photos before they ever get to your home, so if...

The 2nd Step of Selling a Home

Today we’re going to look at the second step of the home-selling process. Here’s what you need to know.

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We’re back for part two of our series on how to sell your home. After you’ve found your new home, it’s important to look back at your own home to determine what repairs and general tasks need to be done to get it ready for the market. It can be as simple as new paint and carpet or a deep cleaning. It doesn’t always have to be a full kitchen or bathroom remodel. Sometimes, “lipstick repairs” are enough to get the house in a good, showable condition that will fit in with the market. To learn more about this home-selling step, watch my latest video.

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What’s the First Step in the Home-Selling Process?

What’s the first step you should take when selling your home? That’s what we’re covering today.

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The very first step when selling your home should be to determine whether you can find a new home to move into. What are your criteria for your new home, where are you going, and what are you trying to accomplish?

We can help you make a top-10 list of things you’re looking for in your home, then research the marketplace to determine if homes like that are out there for you. If they are, we might even want to get out and look at a few of them before we list your home for sale.

"We can help you make a list of things you’re looking for in a home."

When we determine that the market does have a home that fits your needs, then we can start the process of listing your home. This begins before we put the sign in the yard...

How to Live in Your “For Sale” Home

Living in a home that's for sale doesn’t have to mean living in a nightmare. Here’s how you can manage the situation.

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Quite frankly, one of the hardest things to do in real estate is to live in your home while it’s for sale. You want to keep it a liveable environment for you and your family, but you also want it to show well and be free of clutter. So today, we'd like to share some tips with you. 

To begin with, you want to begin packing things up. You know you’ll be moving at some point, so you might as well start working on closets and other areas you don’t access often. Have a garage sale for things you want to get rid of, donate things you don’t need, and so on. You want potential buyers to see there will be ample space for them if they choose to move in.

"By taking these steps, you can get 8% to 10% more on your...

4 Primary Factors That Will Determine How Long Your Home Sits on the Market

If you want to get a good idea of how long your home will stay on the market once it’s listed, there are four primary factors to take into consideration

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How long will it take your home to sell once you put it on the market? There are many factors to consider, but these four will give you a good idea of what to expect:

1. Location. For example, does the home back into a busy road or is it tucked away in a nice, quiet cul-de-sac? Also, what’s the home’s elevation like? Is the backyard sloped in any way?

2. Price. Pricing your home is like going deep-sea fishing—you can have the best equipment possible and know where the fish are, but if you don’t drop the bait where they’re swimming, you won’t get any bites. Similarly, if you don’t price your home where buyers are looking, you won’t get any bites either.

"Pricing...

4 Tips for Increasing the Appeal of Your Offer

Today I’ll provide you a few key tips homebuyers can use when making an offer in a seller’s market.

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When you’re buying a home in a seller’s market, you’ll often be competing with other buyers in a multiple-offer situation, but don’t let that scare you away from making an offer on the home that you really want. Here are a few things to consider if you want your offer to make an impression on the seller:

1. Make a large earnest money deposit. Don’t settle with the standard amount—go big. That will grab the seller’s attention and indicate how serious you are about buying their home. As your Realtor, I’m able to write special stipulations into your contract so that your earnest money is never at risk of being lost.

"If you make your best offer in the beginning, you’ll have the seller’s attention from the get-go."

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