To sell your home, you’ll need to know your market: How much are similar homes selling for in your neighborhood, how fast are they selling and what type of upgrades will boost your selling price.
A real estate agent can provide crucial guidance on these decisions, from determining the listing price of your home and how to stage it to evaluating offer terms.
However, the first steps can be taken months or even years before you decide to sell.
Here are 11 steps to selling your home:
1. Start donating, tossing and packing
Get an early start on decluttering your house. Consider donating your discards to nonprofit organizations. Some even offer pickup services. Be sure to understand what kind of items can be donated, what condition they need to be in, and how, when, and where to leave them out for pickup. Make sure to get a receipt because you may be able to deduct the value of your donation from your taxable income.
Yard sales and leaving items with a "free" sign at the end of your driveway are other alternatives: Your trash is someone else’s treasure.
Many communities operate dumps or have contracts for disposal services for items too big to leave by your curb. Check with local authorities about the costs and what items aren’t accepted, such as environmentally hazardous materials. If the local dump isn’t an option, contact companies that will haul away your items.
The more you discard, the less you'll have to pay to move.
Organize what’s left, packing up what you won't need — family photos, out-of-season things, rarely used items like extra linens — and tackle storage areas like your basement, garage, attic, and closets.
You can buy boxes and other supplies from a shipping store like FedEx or UPS or, not surprisingly, at big-box stores. Your local grocery store may be more than happy for you to cart away the empty boxes out by the Dumpster but be sure to ask first.
2. Set your timeline
Competition for homes is often highest during spring and early summer because families want to settle into a house before the school year begins. As Homes.com reported, May is typically the best month, rewarding sellers with a 9.5% premium over a home’s value. November can be the worst month, with owners receiving a 6.4% premium.
Sellers who are not under time constraints should check local sales trends. Is your home in a buyer’s market? It might be worth waiting until the number of listings declines, which may increase your leverage.
Think about when you want to move. If you are relocating for a job, can you handle paying two mortgages while waiting for your home to sell? Some sellers put a contingency on an offer stipulating that the sale can't close until they find a new place to live. Some sellers even negotiate a rent-back agreement to give them time to find a new home.
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3. Interview and hire your real estate agent
According to the National Association of Realtors 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, about 90% of sellers used an agent. Good agents know their markets: what is selling, how to price your home and how many homes are on the market in that price range. They can also make suggestions to boost your property's curb appeal, whether certain repairs may be necessary and which updates would be good returns on your investment.
If you hire an agent, look for one who is familiar with your local market, including neighborhood trends and pricing. Experience and referrals are other factors to consider. What kind of commission are they looking for? How do they market the home on social media and elsewhere?
It was typical, but not required, practice for the sellers to pay their agent and the buyer's agent, but recent litigation has led to changes and clarifications. Now, sellers must be informed that they are not required to pay the buyer's agent. If they want to pay the buyer's agent, they can; they just can't say that in the listing description on the Multiple Listing Service. Real estate online marketplaces pull from the MLS feed. Commissions are not set by law; they are negotiable. They have typically hovered between 5% and 6%, split in some way between the buyer's and seller's agents.
You can try to sell the home yourself, but that can set you up for legal issues and frustration. Only about 7% of sellers chose to list their property on their own, according to the NAR’s 2024 survey. Also, homes sold with the help of an agent tend to sell for more. The typical for-sale-by-owner home sold for $380,000 compared to $435,000 for agent-assisted transactions, the survey indicated.
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4. Make repairs and upgrades
Painting the interior and exterior of your house is an easy way to add value, as is trimming the bushes, mowing the lawn and adding mulch and flowers.
But there are some repairs that can't wait. Is the roof old? Is your electrical system out of date? Even a leaky faucet signals to a prospective buyer that home maintenance was not a priority for the sellers.
Some sellers don’t want the hassle of renovations and list their house “as-is.” But this tells buyers you’re not willing to make any repairs, and can attract low-ball offers. These are also known as “handyman’s specials” and are very popular with investors looking to flip properties by purchasing them, fixing them and then renting or reselling them.
Spending a lot of money right before asking for more to buy a new house affects your credit score. Consult with your agent on which repairs are needed and a bank or mortgage lender on the best way to finance renovations.
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5. Set the list price, contingencies and exclusions
Remember that all real estate markets are local. Homes may sell at a breakneck pace in one part of the country but slowly in others. A search on Homes.com can show you current asking prices and recent sales, down to a specific neighborhood. Your agent will use listing and sales information of other properties in your area within the past six months to do comparisons, or "comps," and come to the right asking price for your property.
When you sell, you customarily leave behind anything attached to the structure. If you have a wall-mounted TV, you may be expected to leave the bracket because it is considered a fixture of the home. If you want to keep the living room drapes, you'll have to put in an exclusion so you aren't forced to convey those.
You'll also have to determine what kind of contingencies you want to place on any offer. You can ask to rent the home for a certain period of time or to push off the closing so you can find your next home.
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- What to do when you and your agent disagree on your home’s list price
- Here's what sellers have to disclose to buyers
6. Gather paperwork on past repairs and renovations
Buyers will want to know that you pulled permits on that patio extension several years ago and didn’t build over the neighbor’s property line. Be sure to check with your municipality to ensure there are no outstanding issues, and if you belong to one, your homeowner's association.
Shoppers also want to know who installed the furnace and whether you can furnish service contracts and/or warranties.
Prepare to document the age of your home's major systems — electrical, HVAC, plumbing, etc. — and any improvements you made. A furnace, for example, typically lasts 15-20 years, according to HVAC manufacturer Lennox.
If you have solar panels, you need to say whether you own or lease them and how much power they generate. Be prepared to show prospective buyers the installation contract.
7. Prepare for showings and open houses
Some agents will offer sellers advice on how to stage a home, or they may offer staging as part of their service. Some sellers hire a stager.
According to the NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Staging, the median cost for a professional staging service was $1,500. Nearly three out of 10 real estate agents reported that staging their sellers’ homes led to a 1% to 10% increase in the dollar value offered, and almost half said staging reduced the time properties spent on the market, according to the report.
But here are simple strategies if you want to stage it yourself, professional stager Gabrielle Hamill from NYC-based Urban Staging told Homes.com:
- Remove personal mementos so buyers will have an easier time imagining that it’s their house.
- New towels, bedding, bathmats and even fresh flowers can make a home stand out.
- Make sure all lightbulbs are warm and are the same.
- Set up little vignettes in threes, like two books with a vase of flowers on top, to highlight side tables and bookshelves.
- Make sure any food you have in your kitchen and refrigerator is fresh.
- Tuck away small appliances.
Make sure your home is show-quality for compelling listing photos by a professional photographer. Consider having a 3-D video taken of your home by Matterport, a free service offered to agents on Homes.com. Virtual tours can help a prospective buyer engage with your home.
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8. Consider the offers
Price is obviously a factor. Determine what you will need to pay off your existing mortgage and any home equity loans and to make the down payment on your new home. But price isn't the only factor. Do you need to move quickly? Accepting an all-cash offer can speed up closing by eliminating the wait as the buyer secures a mortgage. Do you need time to find a place? An extended closing date may be a priority for you.
You may also want to consider the "earnest money deposit" the buyer puts down as a guarantee that they will buy the home. The larger the deposit, the more protection you have if the buyer walks away without justification.
But if an offer doesn’t meet your needs, consider countering. Everything is negotiable: what you’re willing to fix before selling, what you’ll take with you, and whether you’re willing to pay all of the closing costs in exchange for concessions from the buyer.
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9. Prepare for inspection
Buyers typically pay for the inspection. Their mortgage companies may require it to ensure the home is worth the loan. All-cash buyers may also need an inspection to ensure they aren't purchasing a property with expensive maintenance issues.
Some buyers waive the inspection contingency in a strong seller's market, but it's not advisable to do so.
Sellers may want to consider price reductions or other concessions if an inspection turns up major work that must be performed. Waiting for repairs can complicate the tight space between moving out and closing dates.
10. Close
The purchase agreement with the buyer sets closing dates. In deals involving a mortgage, it can take four to six weeks from the date of the agreement to give the parties time to get financing in place, pack and move. During this time, title companies check for outstanding claims against a property.
Closing usually takes place in the office of a lawyer or the 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. Many sellers retain a real estate attorney at closing to protect their rights and ensure all goes smoothly.
You'll need to provide some information at the closing, including details on the bank where you want the money transferred after the buyer pays for the home.
Sellers have their own set of documents to sign, such as a final settlement statement summarizing the fees and charges that the buyer and seller face at closing. Closing costs, fees and liens are paid first from the buyer's funds, and you get what's left over.
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11. Pack and move
Consider what you are going to box and what you are going to pay the movers to pack. Generally, movers will not fully insure items they have not packed themselves, so maybe save the fine dinnerware for them.
Be sure to mark your priority boxes, the ones you'll need within the first couple of weeks of your move.
There are several steps sellers can take if they decide to hire movers, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Be sure to get a written estimate that's based on an actual in-person review of your household goods. A U.S. Department of Transportation number is necessary for interstate moves. Also, verify that a mover is insured.
If moving from one state to another, movers must give all clients a booklet from the federal government titled "Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move." The booklet provides information on what to do if goods are lost or damaged during the move.