Seller's Guide

A Step-by-Step First Time Seller's Guide

Putting your home on the market can be a stressful process, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Fortunately, with the help of an experienced team of Real Estate Agents and this easy to follow guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for the best price possible.​​​​​​​

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Step 1: Understand Why You're Selling

What do you want to accomplish with the sale of your home? Do you want to make a certain amount of money that you can put toward a larger or nicer home? Do you need to sell it as soon as possible to facilitate a move to a new city or area? Once you understand your needs, you can better craft your offer. For example, if you need to sell quickly, you might want to price your home lower than if your goal is to make a certain profit margin. Make sure you convey these needs to your team of Real Estate Agent once you choose one so they can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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Step 2: Determine Selling Price

Knowing how to price your home is one of the most important parts of the selling process. When you set a fair price in the beginning, you’ll get the most interest from other Real Estate Agents and prospective buyers. Overpricing your home could lead to reduced interest, and underpricing leads to receiving less than what your home is worth. Working with a team of Real Estate Agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of Real Estate Agents with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

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Step 3: Start Preparations

If you’ve kept your home in showroom condition since you’ve lived in it, you’re in the minority of homeowners. Once you price your home, it’s time to start getting it ready to be shown to potential buyers. This includes getting rid of clutter, depersonalizing the space so that buyers can envision themselves in the space, making any small repairs, and doing a deep clean to make sure your home is in pristine condition.

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Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

We will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising your home. This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, or SEO advertising. Our team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

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Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. We will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you can make a counter-offer or offer other ways to bridge the gap, such as covering some or all of the closing costs, making repairs, adjusting the move-in date, or leaving some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

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Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer is acceptable, we will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your team of Real Estate Agents.

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Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now very close to the end of your selling journey. But first, you and the buyer must make a list of what needs to be done before closing. In some cases, your home may need to be formally inspected, surveyed, and appraised. In other cases, major or minor repairs will need to be made before the house can close. We will head up efforts to develop and execute this list, get each action item paid for by the correct party, and make sure everything is in order by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to move out of the home so the new buyer can take possession.

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Step 8: Close

You’ve reached the last step in the seller’s process. When you close on a home you are selling, you are legally transferring ownership of the property to the new buyer. We will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your team of Real Estate Agent to handle final details such as canceling utilities, cable, and lawn or trash services, changing the name on accounts that the new owner is retaining and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

Testimonials

Jack B

Jack B

Denise is exceptional in every way. She not only found the perfect waterfront lot for us, but also recommend a very good builder. Denise worked with us all the way - right up to closing on our new build. Her knowledge of Sou...
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Marc

Marc

Superb service and fast turnaround with proceeds we expected from our sale. Highly recommended. Denise Heath is one of the best RE agents I have dealt with in a long time. Give her a try. You won't be disappointed.
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Marylyn

Marylyn

Denise is the best! Her work ethic brought us over the finish line much earlier then anticipated and with the proceeds from our sale we anticipated! Highly recommended!!!
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Tonya

Tonya

From the moment I read Denise's profile, I knew she was the one to assist my out-of-state client in selling her properties. Denise's follow-up is impeccable and she stays on the task, what seems 24/7, to provide excellent clie...
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Lauren

Lauren

Denise is amazing! We contacted her after finding her on a google search when we wanted to buy a vacation home in the Port Charlotte/Englewood area. We were on a short trip and she was great at making the most of the time we ...
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Sandra

Sandra

Denise was AMAZING!! Got back to me on a timely manner, explained everything to me and just overall thorough. I am so glad my sister in law referred her to me.
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Gary G

Gary G

Denise is an A++ Realtor! Knowledge. Experience. Communication skills. Passion for success. Unmatched Ethics. Driven to unrivaled levels. Sincere. Finalizer. None better! A true Pro’s Pro! 10/10…all facets!
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David

David

I have been absolutely delighted with your service! - I believe you guided us to the right listing prices. Not too high, not too low. - You were right on the spot for getting the prospective buyers interested in the proper...
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Davis Family

Davis Family

We are very thankful to have been able to work with Denise, as we were out-of-state home buyers for our new construction home build. Denise was extremely dedicated and transparent every step of the way for our new home build. S...
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Donald

Donald

Denise helped us with our search for investment properties in Port Charlotte, Florida. She worked diligently, gave us the guidance we needed without any pressure, was very responsive throughout the process, and was an absolute ...
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Lucy

Lucy

I have personally used Denise Heath for multiple real estate transactions in the Cape Haze and Rotonda areas. She tackles each transaction as if it were her own. She has gone above and beyond to help me make informed decisions ...
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Tatyana

Tatyana

Very happy we went with Denise to list a few of our vacant lots in South Gulf Cove. She was able to get both of them sold fairly, quickly, and painlessly in the market which was not the best at that time. Denise knows the area ...
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April

April

Denise is very knowledgeable and does a great job helping her clients every step of the way! If you are looking to buy or sell a home and need an expert Realtor in Port Charlotte FL or the surrounding area, I would highly recom...
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Bernice

Bernice

Denise was awesome! She was very helpful and always returned our calls promptly. Had great insight. Being from out of the state of Florida, she made the process of buying our new construction home smooth and easy. Thank you, De...
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Suhail

Suhail

Denise is an amazing Realtor. She is the best! Extremely helpful, professional, responsible, and also a great person. I am glad I found her. She provided amazing services to help me sell the land I once owned Thank you, Denise!
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Ryan

Ryan

Denise was amazing throughout this whole process. We were first-time home buyers in Venice Florida and had many questions. She always took the time to explain things and was super helpful. 10/10 would recommend it!
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Laura

Laura

Denise helped me find my dream home, she was there to answer all my concerns and walk me through the process, highly recommended her and her team to help you find your dream home!
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J & L

J & L

I would use both Jay and Denise again. I have both listed and sold properties with them and feel they understood my needs. Highly recommend!
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Eileen

Eileen

Denise not only got our North Port house sold, but she was also very supportive and accommodating to our specific needs. She was great!
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Joe

Joe

Quick to respond, very personable, and great to work with!
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