Seller's Guide

Everything you need to know about putting your home on the market, accepting an offer, and closing on your home.

A Step-by-Step 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. 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 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. 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 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.

Our Testimonials

See why our clients love working with us
Steve O.

Steve O.

Debbie helped us sell our home and purchase a new home. Selling my home was fairly easy, comparatively speaking, but not without its challenges. Her experience helped us to quickly navigate these challenges and get our home clo...
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Seller

Seller

Debbie accomplished the impossible. I met with four Realtors and chose Debbie because of her warm manner, gentle but persistent follow-up, realistic evaluation of the local real estate market, and practical vision for necessary...
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Faye B.

Faye B.

Debbie was wonderful! From the introduction to the closing, she was there for us. One would almost think we were her only client. We established a wonderful relationship and she helped navigate a pothole here and there that we ...
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Teresa S.

Teresa S.

Debbie is an incredibly effective and caring Realtor from beginning to end. We were relocating from out-of-state during the pandemic with three young kids - Debbie went above and beyond to make the house hunting through the mov...
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Cami

Cami

Shanli is a good and trustworthy friend of mine since grade school. Recently, I met with him and told him I no longer wanted to rent an apartment and needed to close on a house in 3 weeks from the day we met for lunch. Without ...
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Ian B.

Ian B.

Debbie was a huge asset to us while we were searching for a home. This was our first time buying and we were looking at very competitive locations. She was extremely patient with us as we worked our way through the process. She...
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Eli

Eli

I had an incredible experience working with Shanli Alikhani! The way he took his time to walk me through and explain every question I had throughout the entire process really made me feel that much more confident in my decision...
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Buyer

Buyer

Debbie has a broad knowledge of the greater DC market, which proved incredibly valuable to me as I wavered between buying in several area cities. She listened to my "wants" and ably navigated me to a great new home that checks ...
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Buyer

Buyer

We were very happy with our experience working with Debbie. She worked closely with us at every step of the home-buying process, from considering a property for purchase all the way through closing escrow. Her knowledge of the ...
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Jim K.

Jim K.

We could not have been more pleased with Debbie Shapiro as the Realtor to sell our home in McLean. Debbie is a sales professional and knows how to sell. Her knowledge and expertise were evident in pricing our home, negotiating ...
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Veronica N.

Veronica N.

Debbie is fantastic! She is extremely knowledgeable about the area, very responsive, and has excellent taste. As a first-time home buyer, she guided us throughout the process, and because of her help, we found the perfect home....
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Amelia D.

Amelia D.

We had a fantastic experience working with Debbie. We started looking at the beginning of January and a month later we found our perfect home! Debbie was responsive, proactive, and always looking for ways to help make the home-...
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Sara S.

Sara S.

Debbie was a fabulous partner in helping us through the intimidating process of buying our first home. She was patient and responsive as we looked at many homes while our needs evolved so we could find the best home to meet our...
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Josh N.

Josh N.

I cannot emphasize enough Debbie’s knowledge and professionalism. She will not only make sure you understand the ins and outs of what you’re purchasing, but she also has your back through the whole process. My wife and I will r...
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Seller

Seller

Debbie Shapiro worked tirelessly to help us prepare the house for the market, guided us in making choices for repairs and upgrades to show, and when the sale took place followed through until we were settled in our new space an...
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Jon L.

Jon L.

Debbie has an excellent understanding of the market and the entire sale process. She was excellent at guiding us through the purchasing process and giving us valuable insight throughout. I would definitely recommend Debbie to a...
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Danielle M.

Danielle M.

Debbie did an amazing job selling our home. She really went above and beyond our expectations, and she has a great knowledge of the market. It was a pleasure working with her!
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Madan K.

Madan K.

Excellent agent to sell your home quickly. She is available whenever you need her to do it for you. My wife and I are very impressed and satisfied.
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Mike M.

Mike M.

I highly recommend working with Debbie. She is knowledgeable, quick to respond, and always looks out for her client's best interest. 5 stars!
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Billy N.

Billy N.

Debbie does a great job managing the condo that I rent in Arlington. Always responsive and courteous!
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