Sellers Guide – Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Home

The home selling process is not a secret; location, price, and condition are 3 key factors to selling your Los Angeles home. However, there is much more that often gets overlooked, which is why careful planning to choose the right real estate agent to list your home is critical. A mistake could cost you thousands of dollars and months of frustration. Save your time on your real estate adventure by following our sellers guide. There are six steps in selling your home. Follow these steps below and our sellers guide:

Step 1: Deciding to Sell.

• Why Sell?
• When Should I Sell?
• What Is the Market Like?
• How Do I Optimize My Finances?

Step 2: Select an Agent and Price.

• Why Should You Choose Faruk Bhuiyan?
• Interview Realtor and select Realtor.
• What To Look for In an Agent.
• What Is Your Property Worth?

Step 3: Prepare to Sell.

• Improve Curb Appeal
• De Necessary Repairs
• Deep Clean and Stage The Property.
• Set Price and list for sale.
• Give Disclosures and Complete Inspections
• Get Ready For Showtime and Start Showing.

Step 4: Accepting an Offer.

• The Price Is Not Always Right
• Negotiating The Right Way
• The Initial Agreement and Deposit
• Important Tips to Streamline Your Process

Step 5: Home Inspections and Appraisals.

• Inspections and Appraisals
• The Closing Agent
• Remove Contingencies
• Loan Approval and Appraisal

Step 6: Close of Escrow.

• Closing Day
• Final Walk-Through Inspection
• Cancel Home Services and Utilities
• Be Prepared
• Closing

Home Preparation.

Your home, if not properly prepared will not get top dollar. From contractors, to interior designers, to stagers, to painters, plumbers, flooring, and more, we have a vast network of professionals that we trust to work with our clients in the home preparation process.

Sellers Guide – Marketing.

For successfully marketing your home, do following:

Add Professional Photography.

World-class still images are foundational to capturing and marketing all our listings. Picture speaks thousand words. Great photos will almost certainly be the buyer’s first introduction to your home on the internet. If the photos don’t make a great first impression, your home is not likely to make the cut of homes they will ask to visit in person. Show off your home’s best features with professional real estate photography. It’s worth the money and will help you compete with other local listings. A home with fewer than nine photos is about 20 percent less likely to sell in 60 days than a home with 20 to 25 photos. We set ourselves apart by using 3D Photography of your property. Use our sellers guide.

Add Top-Notch Video Add Virtual Tour.

Proprietary virtual technologies engage our network on a uniquely immersive and spatial level. Virtual tours aren’t just for showcase million-dollar homes anymore. Every home should have one, even if it’s only two spins. Listings with Video Tours get more virtual visits then those without them. Buyers love virtual tours. A good virtual tour will grab a buyer by the hand and lead them from room to room, whether it’s 360 or a video. Depending on the tour company, you can add sound, music, or an exciting, professionally written description that scrolls with the movement of the tour. Virtual tours can also include individual photos available for download or to print. We also use Matterport 3D Video to market your listing. Use our sellers guide.

Sellers Guide – Use a Drone Technology For Showing Off Your Lot.

The use of drones is one of the ways marketers could Perhaps the most obvious way to view a drone in the context of marketing is the drone as a tool. Specifically, the drone is a camera that will be able to record from perspectives that used to require a lot of time, effort, and money. Whereas marketers in the past needed cranes and helicopters – and the associated costs of each – to record from aerial viewpoints, current marketers only really need a drone.  Whether you’re a real estate agent taking pictures of a large property or an architect taking videos of skyscrapers, drones are becoming the ideal way for marketers to obtain breathtaking aerial shots. Use our sellers guide.

Sellers Guide – Take Amazing and Professional Photos.

Your agent will hire a professional photographer from their network to capture high-quality listing photos with a DSLR camera and tripod. No, smartphone photos won’t cut it, even if you have the latest and greatest technology. The lighting, angles, and details need to be just right. Your listing should appear on Zillow, Realtor, Trulia, Homesnap, and your agent’s local public-facing MLS at the very least. Use our sellers guide.

Put Your Listing on Multiple Listing Services (MLS).

Marketing a listing starts with the MLS. This is where the agent puts those top-notch photos and the Video Tour to use. Of course, other agents who work with buyers will see them too. This is a must-do. Your listing agent will certainly make sure your house is listed in the Multiple Listing Service if you’re represented. But even if you’re not, the MLS can accommodate for-sale-by-owner listings. Find a discount broker who’s willing to enter the information about your property for you without actually representing you. Many will do so for a flat fee. Posting your home here will make sure that many, many agents and buyers are aware of its availability. Use our sellers guide.

Create Social Media Campaigns.

Post your property for sale on the Facebook Marketplace or in any local buy/sell groups. Your agent needs to be well-versed in the top social media channels for real estate, most importantly Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to generate buzz and raise your home’s visibility in your area. Check to see if they’re using all tools in their toolbox, like demographic targeting, hashtags and location tags, catchy copy, and stunning visuals. Use our sellers guide.

Advertise in Online Classified Ads.

The more places you can advertise, the better. So, consider spending a little time, and perhaps a small amount of money, to list your home on other online sites like Craigslist, eBay or sites specifically geared toward for sale by owner listings, if that’s the direction you’re taking.

Put Out the For-Sale Sign in The Front Yard.

Put a “For Sale” sign in the front yard of your home. A yard sign is a useful tool in marketing your house. It tells interested buyers who drive through your neighborhood that your house is available for sale. It must be easy to read so buyers can copy down a contact number or better yet refer them to listing info on their mobile devise. Signage encourages home shoppers to immediately call you or your agent. It’s free advertising! A well-designed “For-Sale” sign will generate phone calls. Put up two signs if your home is on a corner lot. Include your phone number, license number and brokerage name.

Print Advertising – Professional Quality.

Expertly curated print advertising positions your home in front of exclusive, discerning buyers. Print media advertising is a form of advertising that uses physically printed media, such as magazines and newspapers, to reach prospects. Print advertising reaches buyers who read newspapers and online ads reach the rest. You’re doing a good job if your neighbors say, “I see your home advertised everywhere I look!” Put ads in major newspapers. Find out which days pull the most readers. It’s usually Sunday but some newspapers also publish “picture classifieds” on other days.

Don’t overlook local newspapers. You can often run a larger ad for less money that will more closely target those who are looking in your specific area. Check on press dates before you place ads in real estate publications. And finally, make use of every website you can find, as most online listings are free.

Direct Mail Marketing.

Send out Neighbor Letter to the surrounding property owners. You can buy mailing lists from list brokers if you’re an unrepresented seller. Ask about a direct mail program if you’re represented by an agent. Oversized four-color postcards are good because they’re inexpensive to mail and they’re eye-catching.

Give them to neighbors. Everybody has friends and relatives who might want to move near them. Give them to agents who represent buyers in your neighborhood and to buyers who live in other areas and often relocate to your neighborhood.

Host an Open House.

Even with all the online tools at their disposal, today’s buyers still want to see your home in person. The average buyers take four private tours of homes and attends two open houses, so why not make one of them yours? Not every home is suitable for an open house because of its location or other factors, but sometimes the only way to find out is to try. If nobody comes, that’s probably a good indication.

If your home is located near a high traffic area where buyers often swarm, it’s probably a good candidate. Place open house signs throughout the area directing buyers to your location. Advertise your open house in the newspaper and post open house times online.

Host Brokers/Agent Open House.

Host Brokers Open House or an agent-only tour. This is a popular marketing strategy of savvy real estate agents. A broker open house or an agent-only tour involves brokers and agents showing off the listing to a group of local buyers’ agents, in hopes that they have the perfect client for your listing. Most buyers are represented by agents. 69% of buyers said they relied on their real estate agent or broker to bring them listings. You can skip this step if you’re planning to sell your home without representation, but it’s a good idea to draw as many agents and brokers as possible to view your home.

Agents who linger in your home will better remember details to later describe to buyers and the best way to entice an agent to hang around is food. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive. Sandwiches and coffee will suffice. The hope is that they’ll admire your home as they munch and network, then they’ll bring back a buyer.

Go All Out with Single-property Websites.

Bespoke, content-rich property websites engage our viewers around the world, instantly. Single-property websites allow agents to provide more information on a listing in a customizable space. If you want to bring more value to your seller clients, it’s time for you to consider using single property websites as part of your marketing arsenal. Create a single-property website to show off all of its marketing collateral, such as your home’s virtual or 3-D tour, property video, listing description, and stunning photos. A website dedicated to your listing can be a powerful and effective marketing tool. Make sure to include high-quality image gallery and video. Then, get the word out.  Share the link with fellow agents, friends and family members and ask them to forward it. Create your own website and list your property for the world to see.

Premium Brochures.

Premium Brochure featuring stunning design and gorgeous imagery, our brochures create a powerful impression. Create a high-quality brochures for buyers to take with them. Excellent marketing materials will help to differentiate your property and keep it top of mind. It’s on ‘old school’ strategy but it still works! You don’t know how many homes buyers are seeing on the same day. And when they’re reviewing the homes later, that first-class, heavy cardstock brochure with the great photos that I created for my listing triggers a positive emotional response for those buyers.

Targeted Mail.

An emphasis on localized marketing by mail increases visibility, in a tangible format.

Computer Generated Imagery.

Bleeding-edge rendering technology brings architecture and imagination into the real world.

Staging.

Premium furniture consultation serves to perfect the interior presentation of our listings.

Sellers Guide – Email Flyers to Agents to Get Highest Exposure.

Create a professional-looking Real Estate e-Flyer ad using Home eFlyer marketing and let local real estate brokers and agents know about your listing. It’s powerful, effective and cost-effective marketing tool that really works. You can easily add property photo, brokerage logo, virtual tour and your own photo and contact info. They will email your listing to thousands of agents for wide exposure. No monthly fees.

Sellers Guide – Advertise via Google AdWords.

Google AdWords placements are text-only ads that show up along with search results. They’re affordable to schedule and you can pick keywords that play on your home’s best features: “Seal Beach homes with water views,” for example.

Sellers Guide – Advertise on Craigslist.

Post your property for sale on Craigslist. Search Craigslist for “We Buy Houses” listings. You should be able to find other wholesalers in your area that you can network with (these people have connections with a lot of local buyers – and the serious wholesalers are good people to know).

Sellers Guide – Use Virtual Staging to Save Money Where You Can.

Stage it to suit. The future of real estate is virtual. Stay ahead of the curve with virtual staging. Virtual staging is a marketing tool that lets you add computer generated furniture’s to your digital images to help inspire buyers’ imaginations and sell your home faster.

When you sell an empty house, buyers have a difficult time visualizing themselves living there. There’s no couch to cuddle up on and the rooms feel undefined. Problem is, staging costs anywhere between $1,000/month to $15,000 for three months. There is a cheaper solution:

Follow Up and Feedback

Find out what tools or mechanisms the agent uses to track buyer and agent feedback. It’s vital to hear what real buyers are saying about your property. Personal follow-up with buyers and agents can help to identify objections buyers may have and how to overcome them. The internet has changed the way we sell homes and we use it to our seller’s advantage. Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, and Redfin capture 85% of home buyer traffic—that means, we get your property on those sites for maximum exposure.

Sellers Guider – Work With Faruk Bhuiyan.

Faruk Bhuiyan is one of the true stars of the real estate industry, with sales that put him in the top 5% of all agents in California and membership in some of the industry’s most prestigious organizations. In his 12+ years in the business, he has consistently earned praise, acclaim, and national recognition for the excellent results he achieves for his clients. Faruk is a leading Real Estate Agent in Los Angeles, helping hundreds of sellers and buyers finding their dream home in California. Contact Faruk today for a Free consultation. Call/Text Faruk at (562) 213-8892 for a Free Home Value Estimate.