Selling Your Home: A Step-by-Step Guide

Selling your home is a complex process that requires careful planning. You’ll market your home to potential buyers in hopes of receiving a fair offer. From there, you’ll negotiate the sale price and go through multiple steps before closing the deal. 

If you’re getting ready to list your home, we’ll walk you through the process and outline everything you need to know.

• Prepare your home for sale by decluttering and making small improvements. 
• Get a comparative market analysis to help you determine a listing price. 
• Working with a real estate agent can help you successfully find a buyer. 
• Include high-quality photos and quality information about your home in the listing. 
• Be ready to negotiate when you receive an offer from potential buyers. 
• Prepared to transfer ownership on closing day. 

Before listing your home, you should ensure it’s ready to win over potential buyers.

"My advice for getting your home prepared for a successful sale is the same as getting yourself prepped for a first date," says Guy Hobson, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Warburg. "You want to look as good as possible."

Hiring a trusted agent can help you prepare your home for sale. You must also be prepared to declutter and make appropriate repairs and upgrades.

Decluttering makes a huge difference if you want your home to look its best. 

Since you'll likely need to move anyway, pack up personal items, decorative tchotchkes, out-of-season decor and even extra clothes or shoes. By removing these items, your home's features will stand out, and buyers won't be left wondering if it has enough storage. 

You should also consider staging your home. Each room should have a defined purpose, and you should consider removing furniture that makes a room look small. 

"Keep in mind what’s important to prospective buyers who will be viewing your home," says  David Sokolowski, a licensed real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Warburg. "Most buyers want to view well-kept properties that are move-in ready and are not messy. That entails taking care of any glaring repairs, making sure the curb appeal is on point, and having a deep cleaning done."

For a potential buyer, small problems like a faucet leak can raise concerns about the potential for larger, costly repairs. To avoid raising red flags, address any lingering maintenance issues around your property. 

You may want to make small upgrades or enhancements to help your home sell for the best price possible. Investing in a major remodel at this stage usually won't pay; getting a 100% return on investment for home upgrades is rare. However, cosmetic changes can make sense. In other words, don't tear out your kitchen, but consider a new coat of paint. 

A comparative market analysis (CMA) is an essential tool that helps you set the right listing price. You don't want to price your home too high and then have to lower it later. An overpriced home that sat on the market for too long (and received one or more price cuts) may give buyers pause. On the other hand, you don't want to price your home too low and leave money on the table.

"A typical comparative market analysis will be a review of properties that sold within the previous six months, though it's not unheard of to go back as far as a year, depending on the market in which your house is located," Sokolowski says. "Typically, a broker will try to determine the average and median price per square foot that comparable properties sold for."

• Recent sales of similar properties, including how long they were on the market and how much they sold for. 
• Current market conditions, such as how long properties stay on the market and how often prices have dropped.
• Property features and amenities, such as square footage, number of bedrooms, and upgrades like swimming pools or fireplaces.

If you have a real estate agent or broker, ask them to prepare a CMA for you. If you are just beginning the home-selling process and are not yet working with an agent, a Home Valuation Report will provide an initial estimate of what your home is worth. 

Your listing is your chance to introduce your property and capture the attention of potential buyers. These steps will help you make your listing as attractive as possible.

Pictures can make all the difference when it comes to getting clicks on your listing or requests for showings. 

Photos should always be taken by a professional photographer who can use their skills to make your house look its best. They’ll capture your home's best angles and features to showcase all that it offers. 

When you’re ready to sell, you can describe your home. You should list all of its key selling points and features, especially if there are things a buyer might not know from the pictures alone.  

Use engaging and informative language so buyers can picture themselves enjoying the space. Consider incorporating specific keywords, such as the neighborhood and nearby attractions, so the property appears in searches. For example, if your house is on a lake, you should specify that it's a waterfront home.

Many home sellers include videos and virtual tours, which help potential buyers feel like they're visiting a property even if they haven’t set foot in the door. A virtual tour can help potential buyers engage with your home and foster an emotional connection with the property.

After preparing your home for sale, the next step is to market your listing. 

"You want as many sets of eyes to view your property as possible," Hobson says. "Once you have photos, floor plans and video, hit the market by sending the listing to all the agents that cover that location and beyond.” He suggests getting as many eyes as possible on your listing to help it sell more quickly. Hobson also recommends marketing the home over social media and planning an open house for potential buyers (and brokers) to increase visibility. 

Your home should be listed in the multiple listing service (MLS), a widely used database of properties for sale. You can also ensure that your house is listed among other homes for sale on our site. 

You may also consider promoting your home on social media to generate interest. Sometimes, you might want to market your house with paid advertising, especially if the home is unique or expensive and finding the right buyer may be more difficult. Consult your real estate agent to determine the best marketing strategy.

An open house is a common way to generate more interest in your property. Your agent will advertise that your home will be open for people to see at a designated time, and they’ll be there to answer any questions about the property. This allows potential buyers to view your home without scheduling a showing through an agent. 

A successful open house requires your home to look its best, so review our complete list of open house tips. 

When you have interested buyers, they'll want to see the property. They'll typically need to schedule a showing if they don't attend an open house.

Showings allow potential buyers to examine your space closely. Your agent will help coordinate showing times with potential buyers. Your task is to ensure that your home makes a great first impression. 

You'll likely show your home multiple times before someone makes an acceptable offer. Keep your house presentable at all times so that when a showing is requested, you don't have to scramble to clean or potentially turn down the showing altogether. 

You should ensure your home is readily available so multiple buyers can come through. When a showing is requested, do all you can to say yes. Unless your home is for sale by owner, you typically want to leave it before a potential buyer arrives with their agent. This will allow the buyer to speak more freely and imagine themselves living in the space. 

If you've done everything right, you'll start to get offers from potential buyers. The details of the offers you’ll typically include the following:

• Details on the earnest money deposit. The buyer will put money in escrow to protect you. If they walk away from the purchase contract without justification after you accept their offer, you get to keep the money. A larger deposit provides you with better protection. 
• Information on contingencies. A contingency is a condition that must be met to complete the transaction. For example, a buyer might make the sale contingent on a satisfactory appraisal, inspection or land survey. The contract could also be contingent on their ability to secure financing or sell their home. The more contingencies, the greater the risk of the deal falling apart. 
• The proposed price and the date of closing. The buyer will tell you how much they'll pay and when they want you to close the deal. 

If you receive multiple offers, consider the big picture when comparing them. A slightly lower offer could be more appealing if the buyer has waived contingencies and included a large earnest money deposit. 
You can work with a real estate agent for help reviewing offers, especially if multiple buyers express interest. 

After you've accepted an offer, it's time to move toward closing. Buyers and sellers both have a lot to do during this process.

Closing is when ownership officially changes hands. You'll need to provide some information during this time, including details on the bank where you want the money transferred after the buyer pays for the home. 

Most of the paperwork is generated by a title company during this process, though in some states, you and the buyer will hire a real estate attorney. Title companies check for outstanding claims against a property. They insure buyers against unexpected problems, and they often handle real estate closings. If they don't oversee closings in your state, a lawyer will help prepare transfer documents. 

Your closing day will come on the date specified in your contract. When you go to closing, the buyer will purchase your home and officially become the property's new owner. 

Closing meetings are held in the office of the lawyer or title company handling your closing. You should be able to attend in person or conduct a virtual closing. In some cases, you may be able to sign the closing documents in advance or give another individual power of attorney, allowing that individual to act on your behalf during the closing process. 

Whether you attend in person or not, you must sign documents at the closing to officially transfer ownership to the buyer. You'll get paid your money, which the buyer will usually have wire transferred over. Closing costs, fees, and liens are paid first from the buyer's funds, and you get what's left over. 

Once this is done, the process is over for you. You can move on to your next adventure, hopefully with plenty of money in the bank from a successful sale. 

How can I market my house to sell fast? To sell your house fast, ensure that your home is priced competitively and that you’ve taken steps to enhance its curb appeal. Take high-quality pictures, write a compelling listing and list it online and in the MLS. You may also want to promote your listing through social media and open houses.

How quickly do most houses sell?  Homes.com data shows that it takes about 59 days for a home to go from listed to under contract. 

What is the most profitable way to sell my house? The most profitable way to sell your home is to stage it so it looks its best, create a compelling listing and market it so you reach the largest pool of potential buyers. An experienced agent can help with the sale process and offer advice on staging, pricing, negotiating and more.