Most Sellers use a real estate sales professional and for good reason.  A skilled agent can ensure your home sells quickly and for top dollar, all while making the entire process seamless and as stress-free as possible.

STEP 1 — Choose the Best Agent for You

1. PRICING IS A REAL ART—The biggest factor in determining how quickly your home sell will the price, and deciding that price is harder than it seems. It takes market expertise, experience and skill as even 1% more for your home can mean thousands to your bottom line.

2. NEGOTIATING MATTERS—Negotiating is not just presenting an offer and seeing what happens. It requires impeccable communication skills, finesse and fearlessness to achieve your best result. This requires a professional.

3. MARKETING IS COMPLEX, MULTI-PRONGED—Marketing a home today is well beyond a lawn sign and MLS. Infact, the most successful marketing plans involve a targeted, multi-pronged approach to ensure our home is not only beautifully displayed but also visible, literally everywhere!

4. SAFE SHOWINGS ARE #1—Sellers face a unique set of challenges today with Covid-19 especially when it comes to in-person showings. We adhere to a strict set of protocols to ensure the safety to our sellers, buyers and visiting agents.

5. THE PAPERWORK IS DAUNTING—If you think doing your own taxes is a challenge, try navigating the paperwork for a real estate transaction.  A great agent will dot the I’s, cross the t’s, ensure no deadlines are missed and your interests are protected. 

STEP 2—Pricing Smart

Setting a list price for your home is no easy task but it's a critical one. Depending on market conditions, too low, you risk not getting as much as you possibly can. Too high, you risk losing buyers, not to mention the fact that overpricing simply helps competitive homes sell faster. To complicate this, your home is an emotional asset. It’s hard to see it objectively as a “product” for sale. Finding the optimal price is an art that great agents spend their careers mastering. Pricing today requires a combination of market expertise, an exhaustive study of similar homes for sale, previous sales and some old-fashioned street smarts. Pricing your home right from the start will result in the highest exposure, more showings, more offers and ultimately the highest price for your home.

The 3 R's of Prepping Your Home for Sale

1. REMOVE — Get rid of as much clutter as possible. Give it away, sell it at a garage sale, put it in storage, but just get it out of the house. You want your home to look spacious and tidy.

2. REPAIR — Chipped paint, cracked tiles, squeaky hinges, loose handles, leaky faucets. Fix everything you can. If you need a handyperson or contractor, we can help! .

3. RENEW — Clean, clean & clean again. It's that important. You want your home to look guest ready. Organize each room so that it looks like a showcase. A fresh coat of paint can go a long way to dramatically improving the look as well. Sound overwhelming? Here's the good news: Everything you remove, clean or repair helps to sell your home faster and for a better price. So it's like getting paid to do it!

Step 3—Preparing your home to WOW

Once you've set the price, your next step in the journey is preparing your home to wow buyers from the moment they drive up. This is more important than you might think. REALTORS repeatedly find that people cannot visualize the potential of a home. They have to see it. That means that how your home shows now is how people see themselves in it. They can’t see past the chips, leaks, clutter and stains – in fact, they tend to focus even more on those things. You can, however, dramatically improve how your home shows with a few quick and easy fixes.

STEP 4—Marketing Your Home for Results

Marketing is not only our passion, but it’s our area of expertise with customized marketing campaigns for each home designed to create buzz, expand exposure, invoke emotion and captivate buyers’ attention online and offline. Here are few things you can expect from us when it comes to marketing your home. 

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY, DRONE VIDEO AND 2D, 3D FLOOR PLANS — First impressions are critically important especially today with over 95% of properties being viewed online first. From breathtaking photos, aerial views and popular 2D and 3D floor plans - our listings are showstoppers that generate more in-person showing requests than most.

WOW FACTOR LISTINGS — Our listings are not only visually appealing, but they also leave no question unanswered when it comes to what buyers want to know. The location and type of home will determine which sites we upload your listing to. This will ensure maximum local, out-of-area and international exposure to hundreds of thousands of agents and buyers.

SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS — While strategically targeting the right demographic for your home, we carry the same great visuals to our Facebook, Instagram and YouTube ad campaigns to garner social views and more eyes on your listing.

PROACTIVE OUTREACH — Using email, text, phone and social channels - we actively tap into our ongoing network of active buyers as well as local and out-of-town agents to find all potential buyers.

PRINT MARKETING — From local postcard announcements and door hangers to magazine quality feature sheets, everyone in your community will know about your listing.

VIRTUAL AND VIDEO OPEN HOUSES — These are a great way to showcase your home to both agents and potential buyers instantly and safely. For a deeper dive into exactly what we would do to get your home sold fast and for top dollar, let’s get together, virtually or in person.

STEP 5—Safe & Successful Showings

These are unprecedented times and we recommend whenever possible, that our sellers move out during the active listing phase to limit contact and expedite the sale. If this is not possible, it is best that you are not present for showings for safety reasons, but also because buyers want to be free to look around and discuss your home. Here are a few of our showing protocols and recommendations.

PRE-QUALIFICATION OF ALL BUYERS
Step one, before anyone views your home in person, is a virtual viewing and pre-qualification to ensure the potential buyer is qualified to buy.

PRE-SCREENING
Once potential buyers are pre-qualified and want to view your home, each person entering is pre-screened based on the current COVID-19 Health Guidelines to ensure they are not required to be in quarantine or isolation.

HOME TOUR SAFETY KITS
We stock a supply of home tour safety kits for each listing that includes hand sanitizer, gloves and masks for onsite visitors.

TOUCHLESS VIEWINGS 
We recommend you leave all interior doors open, lights on in each room, leave kitchen/pantry cupboards open closets, to limit contact on surfaces and door handles..

FLEXIBILITY IS KEY
We understand showings are inconvenient and we will do everything possible to limit unnecessary traffic. However, we do recommend that you be as flexible as you can, even allowing for short notice visits. Remember, the buyers will be qualified and most eager to buy).

MAKE YOUR HOME INVITING
Ever notice how model homes are always neat, tidy and impeccably decorated? That's because the more inviting your home is, the more likely a buyer is to fall in love with it. Keep lights on, windows open if weather is appropriate for fresh air. Consider baking a pie, putting on the fireplace and lighting candles. Create an ambiance! It all makes a difference. If you have any questions about the showing process, please reach out. I am here to make this process stress-free.

STEP 6—Negotiating Expertise

When an offer comes in — perhaps multiple offers - this is where negotiating expertise counts to ensure you achieve the highest price and best terms. Depending of course on market conditions, chances are, an offer will be higher or lower than your asking price. Don’t be concerned or offended, it’s normal. In fact, the best way to think about an offer is as a starting point to a conversation. Things to keep in mind when negotiating:

COUNTER-OFFERS ARE NORMAL
Expect some back and forth. They offer, you counter and eventually come to an agreement.

PRICE ISN’T THE ONLY THING
You can negotiate on price, offer conditions, assets included. Don’t get stuck on one thing.

MOMENTUM IS THE SECRET
Things happen fast at this stage. That’s why having a skilled agent to represent you is vital. I will walk you through the details of the offer or offers, make recommendations on how to proceed, and keep the process moving forward until we have success on your terms. Once you accept the final offer, the buyer provides a deposit to be held “in trust” until conditions are met and the transaction is final and title is transferred. If there are conditions to be met, usually within a specific time frame, I will handle all of these details and ensure a waiver is signed and your sale is firm awaiting the closing day.

STEP 7—Calculating Your Bottom Line

Once an offer is firm, your journey is not over. There is still paperwork to be done and calculations to be made, however, we are here to help. Let’s calculate how much you keep. Here are a few typical closing costs for you to consider.

LEGAL | TITLE FEES | REAL PROPERTY REPORT|
You will require a lawyer to represent you and manage the legal details of closing. They are responsible for ensuring the successful transfer of title of your home to the new buyers. Title must be free and clear of all mortgages, liens which will be paid out by your legal representation on closing.

MORTGAGE PAYOUT
We strongly recommend discussing your mortgage options before listing to determine your best course of action. Your mortgage will need to be paid off or transferred to another property you purchase so that title can transfer free and clear to the new owners. It’s best to check with your lender to determine the exact cost to transfer (port) and pay off your mortgage. Some lenders charge a discharge fee to remove the mortgage from title, and it is possible there is a penalty for repayment based on your current mortgage terms.

UTILITIES, MORTGAGE INTEREST, PROPERTY TAX & OTHER ADJUSTMENTS
Be sure to cancel your home services and utilities as necessary and arrange to have any final bills forwarded to your new address. The lawyer/title company will ensure that any overpayment or deficiencies on rent, condo fees, mortgage interest, utility deposits and property taxes will be adjusted for on closing.

MOVING COSTS
Moving costs vary based on location and the amount of possessions being moved. If you’re moving yourself, you should factor gas, rental vehicles and moving supplies

An Expert By Your Side
As you’ve discovered, selling your home can be an exciting and rewarding journey‒ when you’re informed and do things right from the start. This is where I hope to help. I’ll provide you with a complimentary market evaluation of your home, a detailed look at what I would do to get your home sold ‒ and of course answer any other questions you may have. Also, by having this initial conversation, you are under no obligation to hire me as your agent. So let's talk. I'd love to show you how I can sell your home fast and for the best price!

With gratitude,

Michael McCafferty.