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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 team of real estate agents 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 team of real estate agents once you choose one so they 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 team of real estate agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate agents 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

We 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. Our 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. We 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 we deem the offer is acceptable, we 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 team of real estate agents.

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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. We 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. We 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 team of real estate agents 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.

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What clients are saying

Testimonials

"My name is Robb, and we have done 3 different transactions with Lena on the beautiful island of Maui. She has lived on the island for many years and knows the market very well. We really appreciated the good communication that Lena had with us, as well as her ability to keep the deal from stalling or disappearing altogether. Having a "timeline sheet" that we could reference once we had an offer relieved a lot of stress and confusion of what stage we were at during the process. We are not from the US, so the laws and regulations are slightly different. Lena is well-connected with some of the local trades, which came in very handy when trying to get some of the small items taken care of. Lena was always very professional and would notify us when there were any changes or developments in the deal. We would highly recommend Lena for all your real estate needs."
"My name is Robb, and we have done 3 different transactions with Lena on the beautiful island of Maui. She has lived on the island for many years and knows the market very well. We really appreciated the good communication that Lena had with us, as well as her ability to keep the deal from stalling or disappearing altogether. Having a "timeline sheet" that we could reference once we had an offer relieved a lot of stress and confusion of what stage we were at during the process. We are not from the US, so the laws and regulations are slightly different. Lena is well-connected with some of the local trades, which came in very handy when trying to get some of the small items taken care of. Lena was always very professional and would notify us when there were any changes or developments in the deal. We would highly recommend Lena for all your real estate needs."
Robb B.
"Awesome realtor, she went above and beyond the call of duty to help us sell our unit in Maui at a great price and quick sale! Highly recommended!"
"Awesome realtor, she went above and beyond the call of duty to help us sell our unit in Maui at a great price and quick sale! Highly recommended!"
Romano
"We just closed the sale of our condo in Kihei. Lena was a delightful professional from beginning to end. She was always available to us, which included our being on the mainland with a three-hour time difference. You would never know, because Lena always replied promptly! We negotiated several offers and worked quickly to come to an agreement on the perfect sale price and terms, all via DocuSign! The closing was quick and smooth. Lena kept us informed of developments and forthcoming documents from the title company. This was my first sale, and it was perfect! Thank you, Lena!"
"We just closed the sale of our condo in Kihei. Lena was a delightful professional from beginning to end. She was always available to us, which included our being on the mainland with a three-hour time difference. You would never know, because Lena always replied promptly! We negotiated several offers and worked quickly to come to an agreement on the perfect sale price and terms, all via DocuSign! The closing was quick and smooth. Lena kept us informed of developments and forthcoming documents from the title company. This was my first sale, and it was perfect! Thank you, Lena!"
Seller
"Lena did a great job representing us in the sale of our family's Kihei condo. I especially appreciate the fact that she was very organized and on top of all the deadlines in the challenging 2-week closing we faced. Lena made the process of selling our condo smooth and easy from start to finish."
"Lena did a great job representing us in the sale of our family's Kihei condo. I especially appreciate the fact that she was very organized and on top of all the deadlines in the challenging 2-week closing we faced. Lena made the process of selling our condo smooth and easy from start to finish."
Ana W.
"I would highly recommend Lena. She was very professional and was able to show me properties in Kihei on very short notice. She had a lifetime of knowledge of the area and was very kind and helpful."
"I would highly recommend Lena. She was very professional and was able to show me properties in Kihei on very short notice. She had a lifetime of knowledge of the area and was very kind and helpful."
Kathy Sue M.
"I was in need of a house at very short notice due to a new job opportunity on Maui. Lena was referred by a friend and provided several excellent listings. Her knowledge of the local area and housing market was great. The process of putting in an offer right through escrow was smooth and easy. I now have a wonderful new (to me) house, in an excellent area with great investment potential!"
"I was in need of a house at very short notice due to a new job opportunity on Maui. Lena was referred by a friend and provided several excellent listings. Her knowledge of the local area and housing market was great. The process of putting in an offer right through escrow was smooth and easy. I now have a wonderful new (to me) house, in an excellent area with great investment potential!"
Buyer & Seller
"In September 2016, while on Maui, we drove around looking at houses with signs for sale. We called three realtors from the numbers on the sign. Lena was the only one who answered. The other two were voicemail, and they never returned our call at all. That very day, Lena took a great deal of time on the phone with us. She also scheduled a showing the next day. She deligently sends us property listings that she thinks we may like. She also referred us to a realtor when we flew to Kauai in late December to look at properties there. When we came over to Maui on short notice after 8 days on Kauai. She spent hours to line up viewings of properties on Maui. She forwarded the listing ahead of time for our review. When we met her at the first showing, she handed us a cold goodie bag with waters, coconut water, nuts, and fruit, so thoughtful as it was a very warm day and we had failed to get water. Lena was very organized and prompt in all her services. We had one of the best experiences with a realtor with Lena."
"In September 2016, while on Maui, we drove around looking at houses with signs for sale. We called three realtors from the numbers on the sign. Lena was the only one who answered. The other two were voicemail, and they never returned our call at all. That very day, Lena took a great deal of time on the phone with us. She also scheduled a showing the next day. She deligently sends us property listings that she thinks we may like. She also referred us to a realtor when we flew to Kauai in late December to look at properties there. When we came over to Maui on short notice after 8 days on Kauai. She spent hours to line up viewings of properties on Maui. She forwarded the listing ahead of time for our review. When we met her at the first showing, she handed us a cold goodie bag with waters, coconut water, nuts, and fruit, so thoughtful as it was a very warm day and we had failed to get water. Lena was very organized and prompt in all her services. We had one of the best experiences with a realtor with Lena."
Leonard K.
"Lena has been a pleasure to work with and easy to communicate with. She has, on occasion, done housekeeping chores in order to have the unit in top-notch shape for a scheduled showing. If I had something else to sell, I would pick her again in a heartbeat."
"Lena has been a pleasure to work with and easy to communicate with. She has, on occasion, done housekeeping chores in order to have the unit in top-notch shape for a scheduled showing. If I had something else to sell, I would pick her again in a heartbeat."
Seller
"We moved from Michigan to Maui back in November 2017. Lena was very attentive and pursued all properties I requested until we found the right place for us within a few months. We would recommend her to anyone."
"We moved from Michigan to Maui back in November 2017. Lena was very attentive and pursued all properties I requested until we found the right place for us within a few months. We would recommend her to anyone."
Buyer
"Working with Lena was amazing! She was always early, filed all the documents in a timely fashion, and anticipated my needs and wants. I highly recommend her! She even had a welcome basket for me the day escrow closed, and she handed me the keys to my new home. Her services go above and beyond. I am so grateful to have bought my first house with Lena."
"Working with Lena was amazing! She was always early, filed all the documents in a timely fashion, and anticipated my needs and wants. I highly recommend her! She even had a welcome basket for me the day escrow closed, and she handed me the keys to my new home. Her services go above and beyond. I am so grateful to have bought my first house with Lena."
Keli G.

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