Selling a Home - River Realty Selling Guide

(Print the entire Selling Guide in PDF format here.)

We've experienced a robust real estate market the past few years. Multiple offers have become commonplace in well priced listings, often resulting in sales well above asking price.

But selling in this rejuvenated market still takes more effort than it did 10 or 12 years ago. During the market downturn sellers had to measurably improve their homes, resulting in a higher standard that seems to be expected by buyers today. For instance, installations of new kitchens and/or baths are not uncommon these days, as sellers compete with builder-renovated homes on the market. Nowadays you still have to be ready to go the extra mile to prepare your house for sale, and in the case of $400,000-plus homes, to wait patiently for the market to find you; and to be flexible and non-defensive in negotiations.

So, as a prospective seller, what can you do to get a leg up?  Our advice: get smarter.  Get smarter about the value of your home, about getting it ready for sale, about being on the market, about negotiating intelligently.  We don’t mean to insult you; we just know that every homeowner could benefit from more information before selling.  Knowledge makes it possible for you to be realistic in your expectations and reasonable in your responses, giving you a critical edge in today’s market. 

In this section we want to take you on a comprehensive journey through the selling experience, from your initial contact with an agent through house preparation, pricing and listing, marketing, negotiation and closing.  Ours will be a more detailed and personal presentation than you’ll see anywhere, full of examples offering you an “on the ground” perspective with lots of selling tips and opinions.  It’s extremely long, so we’ve broken it into 5 major topic areas (in the sidebar at right).