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 agent 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 Real Estate Agent once you choose one so he or she 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 real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent 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

I 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. My 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. I 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 I deem the offer is acceptable, I 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 agent.

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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. I 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, I 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. I 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 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

See why my clients love working with me
Anthony T.

Anthony T.

Molly did a fantastic job selling my home in Solana Beach. Her depth of local knowledge about the Solana Beach market was incredibly helpful in procuring a buyer and completing our sale. She helped us in navigating and negotiat...
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Holly L.

Holly L.

My brother and I recently sold some property in Solana Beach and Molly Fleming was our real estate agent. I felt very lucky that Molly was the consummate professional from beginning to end. It has been my experience that real e...
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Andrew R.

Andrew R.

We randomly met Molly as she was showing one of the units in the complex we were renting in at the time and made an immediate connection with her outgoing personality and bright smile. My fiance and I were in no way at all in a...
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The Wymers

The Wymers

We can not say enough positive things about Molly and the energy and professionalism that she brings to the table. You will find her tireless and resilient in support of you. Having previously sold with Molly, we used her servi...
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Katie P.

Katie P.

As new residents to the State of California from Maryland - Molly made the seemingly daunting task of purchasing a home from across the country super easy! Molly took three whole days out of her schedule to drive us around to a...
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Jeff & Nicolle D.

Jeff & Nicolle D.

We had the pleasure of working with Molly Fleming for the sale of our previous home and the purchase of our existing one. She is so personable and wonderful to work with. Her expertise in the field is outstanding and her patien...
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Mary O.

Mary O.

Molly was an exceptional realtor in every way. She guided us through the process from the time we first thought about selling through the closing. She responded to all of our questions and concerns in a timely manner. She under...
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The Delgados

The Delgados

It is our great pleasure to highly recommend Molly Fleming. Over the years we have had many real estate transactions, but we have never encountered anyone quite like Molly! Because our beach condo was 2 hours from home, Molly t...
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Steve F.

Steve F.

Molly Fleming is an excellent realtor. She is extremely knowledgeable and has great negotiating skills. We told her our criteria for investment property and she found exactly what we asked for in record time. She is very inform...
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Tracy B.

Tracy B.

Molly was an excellent guide throughout the whole process. It was a very emotional and personal event (my mom's house) so I especially appreciated her being so trustworthy, both professionally and personally, she spared me so m...
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Lauren D.

Lauren D.

Molly was a joy to work with. Very professional and also very personable. She provided excellent advice and the sale of our property was almost exactly as she predicted. We had a full-price offer within 5 days and the entire es...
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Laura D.

Laura D.

My husband and I have worked with Molly on four separate transactions (buying and selling). She is professional, hard-working, and incredibly knowledgeable. She helped us find the perfect home, identify the best offer for our c...
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Dena M.

Dena M.

Molly and I connected immediately. We had an enjoyable time doing a process that is not always fun. Once I decided on a realtor, Molly had pictures taken and we were on the market within 2 days. On day one on the market we had ...
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Davidson

Davidson

Molly was a pleasure to work with in searching for a new home. She was attentive to our needs at every point and showed us numerous properties within our price range and location concerns. Her genial demeanor and professionalis...
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Cindy H.

Cindy H.

Molly exceeded all my expectations. She was responsive, a careful listener, professional and friendly. Despite a hot market, she didn’t take shortcuts. She put in a lot of work on my behalf and paid attention to all the details...
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Katie B.

Katie B.

Molly is a knowledgeable, experienced Realtor who I would recommend highly to anyone! She is a great communicator, organized, efficient, and a great negotiator. She also helped us with finding schools and resources since we wer...
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Stefanie M.

Stefanie M.

My husband and I highly recommend Molly. She is very professional, personal, and a pleasure to work with. Her communication skills are top notch and she always provided quick answers to any questions we had during the process. ...
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Suzanne G.

Suzanne G.

Molly was an amazing Realtor. She was very professional and prompt. Molly was flexible, and a great negotiator. As our agent, she explained the process and contract well. I would highly recommend Molly when buying or selling yo...
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Elsbeth R.

Elsbeth R.

Molly Fleming is perceptive and was quick to ascertain our needs in the recent sale of my mother's property. We got the price we wanted and a speedy closing. Her honesty and due diligence worked wonders for us. Very, very satis...
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Genevieve P.

Genevieve P.

Molly was wonderful to work with! She was incredibly knowledgeable about the area and the current market. Our home sold quickly and easily thanks to Molly’s expertise, professionalism, and overall ease to work. Highly recommend!
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Her experience, persistence, warm personality, and negotiating skills allow her to obtain consistent and rewarding results for her clients.

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