Many prospective home sellers, especially first timers, have no idea what to expect once their home hits the market for sale. I often get asked the following questions in my initial seller consultations:
- How does the process work?
- How many showings and open houses will there be?
- How do I need to maintain my home during the sales process?
- How will I know what people think of my home?
The Home Selling Process
Here is a snapshot of how the process works and how a quality agent should be running point.
Once a new land release is sighted, an agent is selected and paperwork is signed, then the preparation process begins. Your agent and/or a 3rd party staging vendor should have outlined what you will need to do in order to be ready to sell. This can take a few days or longer depending on how much needs to get done. Once your home is ready then comes compilation of the media. This should entail professional photos, virtual tours and floor plans. It will often take a week or so coordinate the vendors and get all media ready to launch.
Open Houses & Showings
Most agents will typically activate a listing on Wednesday or Thursday in preparation for 1st showings at a Sunday open house. The rationale behind this is to create a “feeding frenzy” of buyers on opening weekend. Sellers should expect an open house opening weekend, sometimes the next weekend and then bi-weekly or monthly after that. Any price adjustments will usually have a subsequent open house. Listings, well marketed and well priced, should see 10-40 people at their 1st open house. Getting help from a real estate agent can make your first open house go much more smoothly.
(Find out about Upcoming Boston Open Houses.)
Most listings will see 3-4 showings per week. This could be more or less depending on the market segment and corresponding amount of buyers. You should outline up-front with your agent how you prefer to be notified (text, email or phone) and typically you will get 24-36 hours notice on any showing requests.
Maintaining Your Home & Agent Communications
Your home needs to look “photo-ready” for every showing. If you have pets and/or infants then special arrangements need to be discussed in advance with your agent. A weekly call should be scheduled with progress reports and any specific should be discussed, as well as relayed as soon as available after each viewing.
Once someone makes an offer, then the negotiation and hopefully contract phase will commence. Stay tuned for Part II of this series where we will explore what happens then…
If you’re thinking about selling this year, don’t miss our free upcoming Home Seller Class, that will teach you exactly what to expect before and during the home selling process.
