I have spent a lot of time on this blog talking about things that buyers and sellers should know about purchasing or selling a home, mistake to avoid, and so on. It seems that there is always something to talk about with regard to the buying or selling of real estate. My opinion is that you can not know too much, although you might know the wrong stuff, in order to be successful in your quest.

As a real estate agent, and based on my personal and professional experience, I believe there are things that really bear repeating when it comes to selling your home. And these are things that I like to impart to my clients so they are fully informed and can make the best decision about the sale of their home.

I have touched on some of these things in the past, so some of this is repetitive. But the key to learning, in many cases, is repetition.  And if you and I were to decide to work together these are some things that I would want you to know so you will be able to achieve your goal - selling your home as quickly as possible and for the best price the market will bear.

Read more on how you can impress me as a seller>>>>>

Sellers - especially first time home sellers but certainly applicable to ALL:

I did a follow-up on my recent post here about my warning to sellers and wanted to bring that to your attention. Some of my recent experiences showing homes has made it clear to me that there may be some SABOTAGE happening to some sellers, without them knowing it.

Take a look at my post Is Your Home Sale Being Sabotaged to learn more about some things to watch for. Not to scare you, but to make you aware, as a consumer, of issues that may arise and impact your ability to sell your home quickly.

Jeff

I expect a number of you may be selling a home for the first time, just as there are many fisrt time buyers out there. While I have talked quite a bit about selling, I have not focused on this from the first time seller's perspective. There are a number of issues to cover, so I am not sure how many posts there will be yet- probably 3 or 4 at least. So here we go.

I am going to make an assumption that you have made the decision to move (could be relocation, since that is much of what we focus on here, but it certainly doesn't need to be). The point is you have decided to sell your first home and need to go about it in the right way. You've been a first time buyer, but this is different. And you need to look at it from a different perspective - that of a seller.

First off, you will need to select an agent to help you. If you want to go it alone, fine, but I advise against it. There are liability issues, it's hard to get the exposure you need in a crowded and competitive market, and you stand to make more money on a sale with a listing on the open market. So we will assume you are going to work with an agent. As you probably did as a buyer, you need someone who understands how to list and market a home. And who is knowledgeable about seller representation...watching out for your best interests (financial, liability, disclosures, confidentiality, and so on).

If the agent who helped you buy was terrific and has stayed in touch, I would contact that person for starters. If they lost track of you or you can't even remember who it was, that's a bad sign. Get a good referral from others who are VERY SATISFIED with their listing agents. Don't just pick one who has signs all over the place - they may be too busy to really help you. and lots of signs does NOT mean lots of sales. Some heavy listers only sell 50% of their homes or less - you don't want to be that statistic do you?

Before we get into the meat of selecting your agent, you might want to read these other references:

Mediocrity - You Don't have to Stand for it, Sellers (Part 1 of 4)

Sellers, What Are You Afraid Of?

Looking for a Good Listing Agent?

Stay tuned for more on the selection process and the listing presentation.