Selling A House—Common Steps & Timeline
Selling a house involves many processes you will be unfamiliar with as the legal documents and disclosures to sell a property change frequently. Plus, you need to have a really good marketing strategy. We can’t stress enough that picking the right team of professionals to weave all of the details together will make a huge difference in your selling experience. You should select a professional real estate agent that you know and trust or one that comes highly recommended. If you need a recommendation we hope that you will not hesitate to ask us. We work with hundreds of real estate agents a year and with that experience we can help you find one that is perfect for your needs.
Once you establish a working relationship with your agent, your home is put on the market and marketed to potential buyers. Once a buyer makes an offer on your home you have three options: accept the offer, counter the offer, or reject the offer. After you accept an offer you can expect to do the following:
Select your real estate professional
- Interview agents that you know or who have been personally recommended to you
- Review and sign a listing agreement
Prepare your property for sale
- Have a yard sale
- Clean up, fix up and donate items
- Ask your agent about staging your home so it shows best
- Be out of the property at the time of all showings
Negotiate Contract of Sale
- Receive an offer called a Contract of Sale
- Negotiation of terms and conditions; accept, counter or reject
- Buyers choice to select the escrow agent and the settlement company
- Agreement is reached by all parties, the contract is now “ratified” and delivered to all
Title Process with Settlement Ink
- Buyer selects the settlement company to handle the title process
- Escrow is opened and buyer deposits “earnest money” with escrow agent
- Note: escrow agent may or may not be the settlement agent
- Settlement Ink schedules date/time of settlement with all parties
- Settlement Ink provides a “Seller Information Sheet” to seller to complete that provides the information needed to clear title (LINK TO SELLER INFO SHEET)
- Sellers payoffs are obtained for all outstanding mortgages or other liens of record
Contingency Periods (contemporaneously with the title process)
- Buyer is going through their contingencies in the contract such as: home inspection, financing and appraisal
- Seller may also have a contingency in the contract
Moving Out
- Vacate the property prior to closing. Unless you have made arrangements for a “post settlement rent back” you will vacate the property prior to closing. The property is to be left in “broom clean” condition. It goes a long way to leave a move in clean property for the buyer.
- Final Walk through prior to closing
Closing!
- You attend closing with your agent and the buyer and their agent
- You will sign the settlement sheet, deed, transfer forms and various title affidavits and acknowledgments (LINK)
- Funds will be confirmed to be in escrow
- If you would like a wire of proceeds have wire instructions ready
- Disbursement of proceeds will occur in accordance with applicable laws and best business practices
- NOTE: In Virginia funds are never disbursed until the deed has been recorded
- Keys to the property are provided to the buyer
Post Closing
- Call utility companies and provide them with your forwarding address for the final bills
- NOTE: The final water bill is generally sent to Settlement Ink for payment from funds escrowed for this purpose; as applicable
- Cancel any automatic debit of loan payments
Note: The above is a general timeline. Your situation may differ.
