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A Step-by-Step First Time Seller's Guide

Putting your home on the market can be a stressful process, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Fortunately, with the help of an experienced agent and this easy to follow guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for the best price possible.​​​​​​​

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Step 1: Understand Why You're Selling

What do you want to accomplish with the sale of your home? Do you want to make a certain amount of money that you can put toward a larger or nicer home? Do you need to sell it as soon as possible to facilitate a move to a new city or area? Once you understand your needs, you can better craft your offer. For example, if you need to sell quickly, you might want to price your home lower than if your goal is to make a certain profit margin. Make sure you convey these needs to your Real Estate Agent once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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Step 2: Determine Selling Price

Knowing how to price your home is one of the most important parts of the selling process. When you set a fair price in the beginning, you’ll get the most interest from other Real Estate Agents and prospective buyers. Overpricing your home could lead to reduced interest, and underpricing leads to receiving less than what your home is worth. Working with a Real Estate Agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

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Step 3: Start Preparations

If you’ve kept your home in showroom condition since you’ve lived in it, you’re in the minority of homeowners. Once you price your home, it’s time to start getting it ready to be shown to potential buyers. This includes getting rid of clutter, depersonalizing the space so that buyers can envision themselves in the space, making any small repairs, and doing a deep clean to make sure your home is in pristine condition.

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Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

I will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising your home. This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, or SEO advertising. My team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

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Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. I will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you can make a counter-offer or offer other ways to bridge the gap, such as covering some or all of the closing costs, making repairs, adjusting the move-in date, or leaving some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

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Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once I deem the offer is acceptable, I will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your agent.

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Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now very close to the end of your selling journey. But first, you and the buyer must make a list of what needs to be done before closing. In some cases, your home may need to be formally inspected, surveyed, and appraised. In other cases, major or minor repairs will need to be made before the house can close. I will head up efforts to develop and execute this list, get each action item paid for by the correct party, and make sure everything is in order by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to move out of the home so the new buyer can take possession.

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Step 8: Close

You’ve reached the last step in the seller’s process. When you close on a home you are selling, you are legally transferring ownership of the property to the new buyer. I will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your Real Estate Agent to handle final details such as canceling utilities, cable, and lawn or trash services, changing the name on accounts that the new owner is retaining and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Never having sold a house and being challenged with technology, I found Michelle to be a delight. In addition to all of her excellent skills, she was very responsive, an excellent communicator, and someone who listened and exceeded my expectations.

— Donovan M.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Ed and I had the pleasure of working with Michelle Sparks while purchasing a home in Gainesville. She was very professional and communicative during our home purchase, and even after the closing, she was extremely helpful with contractor recommendations. Throughout the purchasing process, she was very attentive and made the house purchase so easy and seamless. Thank you Michelle and we will keep you in m...

— Carlyn K.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Michelle was great in helping me sell my home. Her expertise in walking me through the process was instrumental in the sale. From the listing price through the negotiation and closing she was great. I highly recommend her.

— Barton J.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

If you looked for the definition of excellence you would find a picture of Michelle Sparks. Our experience with her as our Realtor for these past months has been nothing less than excellent. She is someone who listened to our needs and anticipated those needs as she searched for a home base for us. We thank her for all her knowledge, assistance, and going beyond. We strongly recommend her for all real es...

— J. Perez

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

My husband and I called a number listed on a Zillow site one cold, damp January morning after riding by a home that we loved. We decided we wanted to see it and were hoping to get in that weekend to take a peak. Little did we know that the person who answered that call would become such a tremendous part of our lives. That person was Michelle. If you are looking for a realtor who is not only knowledgeabl...

— Buyer

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Michelle Sparks was our realtor, and we couldn’t have been happier in the search for our home in Lake Lanier. She was very accommodating in our long-distance search, going to properties and face-timing us so we didn’t have to fly up each time we saw a property that might work. She understood what we were looking for and didn’t waste our time looking at properties that were not the right fit. Her knowledg...

— Donna R.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Michelle Sparks of the Norton Agency was very helpful in the sale of my home in Cumming and the purchase of my new home in Gainesville. I would highly recommend her. She was very good at communicating with me and helping me through the process of negotiating sale and purchase prices, the home inspection process, and answering any questions I had.

— Brenda R.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Michelle Sparks is an amazing realtor! She and her team were able to meet all our needs and we sold our home within one month of turning it over to them! I highly recommend Michelle and her team- Michelle is a woman of integrity and I can say that I truly trust her.

— T. Comeaux

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Michelle Sparks is the most amazing agent I have ever had the privilege of working with. Gone are the days of realtor caravans but networking is still vital, and Network She did. She understands the importance of properly showcasing a home for showings as well as digital viewing. From the beginning, Michelle’s goal was to present my home in the best possible light to potential buyers as well as fellow re...

— N. Georgiagal

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Michelle Sparks was my selling agent for my home in Gainesville GA. She is now a friend and my Forever Realtor. Mrs. Sparks is an amazing woman and a spectacular agent. She communicated with me throughout the process, and gently guided me with choices that resulted in a full-price offer on our home within weeks. Michelle staged and virtually staged my home, had amazing photographs presented to show the p...

— T. Pitts

Work With Michelle

With extensive knowledge of the Lake Lanier real estate market, Michelle helps her clients find their dream lakefront home or successfully sell their property for top dollar.