SELLING YOUR HOME IN Atlanta: navigating through THE PROCESS

Selling a home in the metro Atlanta, GA real estate market is often very different than in other parts of the country. There are several key features of our real estate market that significantly affects the selling process. In this page, we’ll go over these market hallmarks. There are 6 main steps to selling your home, and we’ll breakdown each of them in detail.

Preparing your Home for Full Market Value

Let’s start with the initial steps. In order to sell your home for full market value, it’s important to have your home ready for the market. This includes addressing necessary repairs and delayed maintenance, adding curb appeal, and even staging.

Repairs and Maintenance

Buyers and home inspectors are always looking for faults in any house, so it’s crucial that sellers address these before putting the home on the market. Whenever possible, a seller should eliminate any barrier that might prevent a buyer from making a full price offer. If the home buyer does make an offer, unaddressed repairs will lead the home buyer to make a lowball offer in order to have the money available to address the repairs after closing.

There are frequently repairs that need to be done that the seller doesn’t know about. Things like improper electrical wiring, roofing defects, and the occurrence of radon may not be obvious. For this reason, it’s a good idea to have your home inspected by a certified home inspector before listing it for sale. This will give you time to address these items. The certified home inspector can even come back to the house for a follow-up inspection and update the inspection report. Then, the report can be shared with would-be buyers. Now the inspection report is an asset that will show home buyers that this is a house in good repair that will not become an annoyance for the new owners.

Of course, home buyers can still get their own home inspector, but we have found that it’s normal for home buyers to accept the seller’s report as sufficient and not spend the money on a 2nd inspection. This can speed the selling process along and lessen the likelihood that any repair negotiations take place.

Improving Curb Appeal

Other than price, there may be no more significant factor in preparing your house for sale than make the most of curb appeal. The very 1st thing a home buyer sees is the outside of your house, and if it doesn’t grab attention immediately, they’ll likely just move on. This goes for taking photographs of your house as well, as buyers (and their agents) usually find the home they eventually buy online (or in a syndicated multiple listing service).

Spring-cleaning up the front yard, trimming shrubs, putting out straw and sod, and even planting flowers can be done fast and inexpensively, but can totally transmute the curb appeal of a home. You could also re-paint the front door or the outside of the home. This gets a little more expensive, but a freshly painted home can make the whole home seem like it has been well-preserved.

Home Staging

Staging is one of those promotion tools that isn’t used nearly as much as it should be. This is because it can be costly, but it can also work miracles. Staging helps a home buyer get a great idea for how the home will feel when it’s being occupied, and also creates a sense of the size and purpose of each room.

Home staging is best used with houses that are in outstanding condition, cosmetically updated, and valued correctly. It isn’t a good use of time or currency to stage a home that needs substantial updating or repairs, or that is priced too high for a home buyer to consider making an full priced offer.

Staging also works very well in new construction (spec homes). In the pictures below you can see how cavernous the living area feels in the first photos, yet how modish and inviting it feels after being staged.

Choosing a Listing Broker

Most people only sell a home a few times in their lifetime, so choosing a listing agent is not something they do regularly. But considering your home is probably your biggest asset, it’s vitally important to choose a listing broker that is competent, trustworthy, and experienced.

One of the best ways to learn about a listing broker ask feedback from previous clients.   Google and Facebook reviews can be fake, which makes it impossible to tell what is real, cause text characters may not be a real person.

When you’re ready to discuss the possibility of selling your property, please give the opportunity to show are expertise in person in or a live zoom meeting. We can help you get started immediately.  We are here to listen and answer your questions, and we consider it a privilege to have that conversation and we look forward to helping you.

Pricing your Home

This is the most vital step to get right. When homes are priced right (and already prepped for the market), they often sell fast and sometimes even collect multiple offers. To help you assess your home, your listing agent should provide a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) that will show you the sale prices of alike houses, the ratio of sale prices to listing prices, and other factors that will aid you price your house correctly.

Photography, Listing, and Marketing

Now that your home is ready for the market in the MLS, you have chosen a listing agent, and the house is priced appropriately, it’s time to begin marketing it. Almost every marketing effort that a listing broker does requires photography, so that’s the first step.

Real Estate Photography

With the exclusion of homes in rough shape, such as fixer-uppers and foreclosures, high-resolution photography is a must! Many other agents still use their cell phones to take listing photos, and they lack the skill to use correct lighting and depth of field.  Luckly, we have the use of a professional camera that will we offer how clients as a complimentary service.  It has been proven that the use of a professional camera can result in a higher sale price, so why not use one?

In addition to still photography, some homes can benefit from drone photography. Drone photos are especially helpful when an aerial view is not available via an internet search.

One of our preferred technologies is a virtual floorplan, also known as a 3D walk-through. These tours are especially beneficial for higher homes. Just as with home staging, 3D tours are best used with houses that are tidy, updated, and in good repair.

Home Showings and Replying to Feedback

Once your house is on the market in the MLS, it’s time to get ready for showings and gauge feedback from home buyers and buyers’ agents. A listing agent should ensure that you obtain feedback from each and every showing. If the same criticism comes up frequently, your listing broker should help figure out a way to overcome it. It could be a simple price decrease or minor repair.

Buyers’ agents will also ask lots of questions when presenting homes to their clients. Prompt and thorough follow-up by the listing broker is critical to moving the buyer from a showing to making a full price offer.

Preparing to Close

After the end of Due Diligence, all parties prepare to close the sale. For sellers, this usually means signing a few documents and moving out of the home. For buyers, they’ll need to move their closing funds to their closing attorney’s escrow account. Contingent on the law firm’s policies, this can be done by wire transfer or in certified funds. If a mortgage is involved, the financier will use this time to send loan documents to the  closing attorney. Also, the settlement statement (HUD-1) is prepared for both parties to review prior to closing.

How much will my Closing Costs Be?

The typical closing costs remunerated by the seller are as follows:

• Seller’s closing attorney fee. This is the fee to prepare a deed and other documents. This expense is less than the buyer’s attorney fees.
• Real estate commissions that were agreed in the initial Listing Agreement
• Prorated taxes if the tax bill for the year has not been paid. If it has been paid, the seller will receive a prorated refund.
• Home Owners’ Association Dues (if applicable) if the association bill hasn’t been paid. If it has been paid, the seller will receive a prorated refund.
• Miscellaneous fees, such as wire charges to pay off the seller’s mortgage or to wire the seller’s proceeds.

Selling with Cardinal Tech Ventures, Inc

Why You Need an experienced Listing Broker

Hiring a Listing Broker to sell a home is a significant decision. At Cardinal Tech Ventures, we recognize that you’re not just hiring a listing broker to get your home in the MLS. You need an advocate to present your home in the best possible light, to market it aggressively to targeted home buyers, to attract qualified buyers, and ultimately to sell your home fast.

Flexibility Means Innovation

Sure, there are bigger companies, and there are older companies. But 1 of the good things about working with a small firm is flexibility. We do not practice business as usual, and we do not do something just because that is “the way we have always done it.” We believe in doing something because it works. For example, the days of the Sunday afternoon open house (in most markets) are mostly over. The real estate industry is shifting to marketing real estate listings online. All of our primary marketing technologies are built inhouse. No expensive 3^rd party vendor creating our website and advertisements; therefore, we can pass the savings on to you.

We Use Technology to Make Selling Easier

Statistically, there is a very high likelihood that a home buyer (or their buyer’s agent) is going to find your property through an online search. Should your listing be marketing with other real companies listing? We say NO to this. We only market our company listings on our website. This way your home can stand out on its own.

Contact Us to Sell your Home in Metro Atlanta!

If you’re thinking about selling your home, we would love to help you. Take the next steps by filling our contact form. We look forward to working with you. Bottom of Form