Derek Buse's Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Home in Bellingham
This is how Derek approaches a sale, from the first conversation through to the day the money lands in your account. It is not a forecast. Whether this month is a good one to list depends on your house, your price range and what else is for sale near you, and that is a conversation to have in person.
If you want the full process one step at a time, our seller guide has it. This is the shorter version, with opinions.
Choose an agent who has sold houses like yours
Interview more than one agent, and ask each of them how many properties like yours they have sold in the last few years. A high-end house on the water, a bungalow near downtown and five acres of vacant land are three different jobs, with different buyers, different marketing and different things that go wrong.
Derek’s work leans toward relocation, new construction and vacant land, and he will tell you if your property is outside what he does well. Whoever you hire should know the area, see what is particular about your place, and be able to explain it to a buyer who has never been on your street.
Get the price right the first time
Pricing is where most of the money is won or lost, and it is also where owners are least able to be objective. You remember what the kitchen cost and the summer you spent on the deck. A buyer sees a kitchen and a deck. Owners also tend to fret over small flaws that a buyer will walk straight past.
So the price should come from evidence, meaning what comparable homes nearby have sold for recently and how long they took. Derek will walk you through those sales, and you can ask for a valuation here. For an unusual property it can make sense to pay for an independent appraisal before listing as well.
A house priced too high sits, and buyers start to wonder what is wrong with it. Price it too low and you give away equity. It is far better to land on the right number on the first day than to chase it downward over a couple of months.
Stage it, and start packing
Photo courtesy of Derek Buse
Derek worked in design and marketing before he got into real estate, and he cares a lot about this part. Staging means setting the house up so the largest number of buyers can picture themselves living in it. You can leave some personality in the house, but getting it ready does take some work.
- Deep clean everything. It is the cheapest thing you can do and buyers notice it first.
- Clear the clutter, including the mail pile, the toys and the closets, because buyers open closets.
- Take furniture out. Rooms look bigger with less in them, and people need to be able to imagine their own couch.
- Deal with the outside. Tidy the yard and the beds, plant something with some color, and put away the hoses and the toys. The walk from the car to the front door is the first impression.
The useful side effect is that you have started packing. Box up what you will not need for the next few months, and think about a storage unit so the boxes are not in the garage during showings. If the house needs more than tidying, such as paint or flooring, Compass Concierge is a program for covering that work up front, and we can tell you whether it makes sense for your house.
Read the whole offer
When offers come in, we bring you every one of them, and the decision to accept, reject or counter is yours.
The highest number does not always make the best offer. An offer well over asking from a buyer who has not secured financing can be worth less to you than a lower one from somebody who is fully pre-approved, because the second one is far more likely to close, and to close on time. Cash is usually quicker still. Look at the contingencies, the timeline and what the buyer is asking you to do, along with the price. A counter-offer is almost always available, so do not wave an offer away because the first number annoyed you.
The inspection and the buyer’s appraisal
Once you have accepted an offer, two things usually happen. The buyer has the house inspected, and if they are borrowing, their lender has it appraised.
Before the inspection, make it easy for the inspector. Clear access to the attic, the crawl space and the electrical panel, and move stored things away from the garage and basement walls. Then expect the report to find something, because they always do. Small items tend to get left for the buyer to handle after closing. Bigger ones get negotiated, and usually that means you either make the repair before closing or give the buyer a credit or a lower price to cover it. If you would rather know what is coming, you can have the house inspected before you list, which we often think is money well spent on an older house.
The appraisal matters because the lender will only lend against the value their appraiser arrives at. If it comes in under the agreed price, the buyer may not be able to borrow enough, and then you are back at the table deciding whether the price moves, the buyer brings more cash, or you meet somewhere in between.
Closing
After the contingencies are met, it is mostly paperwork. You will already have filled out the seller disclosure, where you tell the buyer what you know about the property, defects included. Be thorough on that form, for the buyer’s sake and your own. The title and escrow company prepares the deed and the transfer documents and tells you what to bring, which will include government-issued ID.
At the signing appointment you sign the deed and the rest of the closing documents. If you still have a mortgage, escrow pays it off out of the proceeds and sends you what is left, or holds it for your next purchase if you are buying again right away. Hand over the keys, the garage door openers and the codes to anything with a keypad, and you are done.
We have written separately about the best time to sell. If you are thinking about selling, start with a conversation.