Looking to Sell Your Home?

Selling your home is a mix of strategies that include exposure, pricing, staging, showing and negotiating offers. I am here to help with all of these factors and more. The world of marketing a home is continuing to change, and I am on the front edge of these changes.  I want you to get as much money for your house as you can, while making it an enjoyable ride to get there.

Selling Your Home

The process of selling your home involves many steps and can be fun and exciting.

  • 1

    Walk-Through

    One of the first things I will do is schedule a walk-through with you at your home. I walk through over a hundred homes a year and I get excited when I have the opportunity to use this experience and knowledge to my clients' benefit when assessing their home. Within a day after the walk-through, I will contact you so that we can discuss my analysis of your home and explore some different options of pricing.

  • 2

    List Your Home

    When you feel ready, we will set up an appointment to list your home.  We will walk through some paperwork and agree on a pricing and timing game plan. The actual time it takes for me to get your house on the market after this appointment is minimal. My processes are extremely efficient, and in many cases, it takes less than a day, assuming that we have planned ahead for pictures. This is a good time to state that I will never make you fell pressured or under the gun to make a decision.  If you're not comfortable, neither am I. Once it is listed, we will expect the phone to ring from agents of eager buyers lining up to see your property!

  • 3

    Receive Offers

    When an offer comes in, we will take time to discuss it and make some well thought-out decisions.  There are essentially 3 options when an offer comes in: accept as written, counteroffer, or ignore.  A service that I provide is that with every offer, I will draw up a document I call a Net Sheet.  This Net Sheet will show you, within a close range, what your "walk-away" proceeds will be once the transaction closes.  I would never want you to have an unclear idea of what your proceeds would be, and I wouldn’t want you to have any unpleasant surprises.

  • 4

    Work Toward Closing

    During the "pending period," there will be a number of activities that will take place and I will be in frequent communication with you so that you won’t feel behind or overwhelmed.

    • A home inspection will likely be scheduled by the buyers' agent within a few days of an agreed-upon transaction.
    • An appraisal will be performed by an appraiser that is hired by the buyers' lender.
    • A well and/or septic evaluation will need to be performed if applicable. This is an item that is the responsibility of you, the seller. The price of these items will be figured into your Net Sheet.
    • A processing of the buyer's loan. This is going on as the other items are completed.


    Please don’t fret at all of these actions needing to be taken.  I know it can seem daunting, but I’m here to help and to make this process fun and exciting.

    Once all of these stipulations have been completed, we will proceed to a closing at a title company of our choice. The standard timeframe for this pending period is 5 weeks, but can vary due to the type of loan and the amount of stipulations that need to be overcome. I will continually monitor the process to be certain that the timing of the closing is something that fits your plans for moving.

Tips For Selling Your Home

Over and over again, I have seen sellers leave money on the table because they don't feel the need to have their house in the best shape it can be.

Does this mean that every square inch of your house needs to be updated and perfect? Absolutely not.

While having updates and nice finishing will undoubtedly increase your asking price, I am more referring to making the very best impression of what you have. When we get to a point where I walk through your house, I will make you aware of any changes that could be made to increase the appeal. Some may cost you, and if you are on a budget, then we will figure out the best way without spending money. We will look for any "low hanging fruit" that will help the saleability.

Frequently Asked Questions

The business of real estate is changed in that we are under strict guidelines of protection and distancing. For example, no riding together, masks must be worn inside of houses and no more than one party inside a property at one time. That being said, the market does not seem to have been affected.

In my 20+ years in the business, I have never seen a better time to sell. Prices are at all-time highs in the area, and buyers are eager to make offers due to low interest rates.

For now, we have no reason to believe that the rates are going to go up.  Many economists are predicting that the rates may even go down.

Typically speaking, we have seen election years cause consumers to “sit back and wait” to see what happens.  2020 is different.  I am seeing no such signs and would argue that the opposite is true due to the catching up that is taking place from when real estate business was hobbled by the shut down.

Absolutely.  With strategic planning and stringent timelines, this is a very good time to sell one house and move into another and for the process to be smooth.

The best way is to take the timing out of it.  While not everyone has the means, the most stress free way to make a move is to buy your next house before you sell your current one.  This is possible because of the assurance that your current house will sell very quickly, and because of the many worry-free financing options that can bridge the timeframe.

Historically, in Michigan, there are more real estate transactions in the summer months.  Some reasons for this are weather, timing of schools and a different schedule of activities.  Here in 2020, I think it could be different.  I believe the busyness will continue through the winter because of interest rates and a backlog of buyers that have tried to get into houses without success.

I can give you a strong idea of what your home is worth just by doing a review of surrounding areas.  For me to fully evaluate your home’s value, I need to come to the property and take a tour and then do a comparative market analysis.  I can have this for you within 24 hours of touring your home.

This is where, as a buyer, you offer a price on a property, but then also add a note that you are willing to go higher with your price in order to beat out competing offers.  An example would be “I offer $200,000 but am willing to offer $2,500 more than any competing offer up to a maximum sale price of $225,000.”  These have become very common in the last 2 years as we seek creative ways to win in a multiple offer situation.

As we have seen values increase, there is always the question of whether a house will appraise for the amount you are paying.  A house must appraise for the amount you are paying in order for your lender to grant you the loan.  When you offer an appraisal guarantee, you are stating that, as a buyer, you are willing to offer extra money should the appraisal come in at a lower value than what you are paying for the home.

This is a term used to describe a scenario where a property has received multiple offers.  In most cases, the listing agent will set a deadline for offers to be received.

Often, when there are multiple offers on a property, the listing agent will ask for buyer agents to submit their highest and best offer by a certain time.  This simply means that as a buyer, you want to put your best foot forward and simply offer what you see is fit and reasonable.

This simply means that it is a good time to sell because values are up and also because there is a backlog of buyers waiting to get into houses.

Typically, a buyer’s market is the result of a high volume of houses on the market, forcing the sellers to be competitive with their prices and terms.

This can vary, but the basic thought is that once you have an accepted offer, you can expect to close on the house within 5 weeks.

This is a period of time that the seller is allowed to stay in the house after the closing.  A common figure is 30 days, but there is no standard and it can vary depending on circumstances.  Obviously, if the house is already vacant, there is no possession period and you take possession at the closing.

What's My Home Worth?

A great place to start when considering a move, is to simply know what your home is worth in the current market. Feel free to use the form below if you would like me to contact you with an estimate of your home’s value. Of course, this is just an estimate. To actually pinpoint the value, I need to walk through it and see and measure it against the climate of the market in your area.