Are you thinking about selling your home?  If so, this is a great time to do so in San Antonio!  Inventory is low, demand is high, particularly in certain areas and/or price ranges!  The cost of a loan, i.e. interest rates, is low so that more buyers can qualify for more house and your pool of potential buyers is larger.  People are moving into and around in San Antonio so market activity is high.

If you’re a first-time home seller or if it’s been a long time since you’ve sold your home, there are some things for you to consider and decisions to be made before you take that final step of putting a sign in the yard.  These steps could make a big difference in getting your house sold quickly and letting the process drag on and out.

1. What’s your plan?  Are you living in the home?  If so, what’s your plan for vacating once you’re under contract?  What if it goes under contract within the first week?  Many homes do, sometimes even quicker than that!  For a buyer who’s financing his purchase, you’ll have about 30-60 days from contract until it closes and you have to be out.  If you’re lucky enough to have a cash buyer, closing can happen even quicker–almost right away!  Where will you go?  Do you have a plan for that?
2. If you have to sell your home and get the proceeds in order to purchase another home, better have the logistics for that figured out in advance!
3. Find a good realtor to assist you with selling your home, and possibly purchasing a new one.  Ask for referrals from friends and colleagues, check their online presence, interview, and choose someone who you feel comfortable with and who you feel confident will market your home and help you through all the ins and outs of the transaction.
4. Get your home ready for the market.  Paint, repair, declutter, clean clean clean!  Remember, once your home is on the market, it’s competing with all the other homes, including builder model homes, that are also on the market.  Make yours shine and stand out!  It’s a product on the market now, time to start letting go of the emotional connection to the home and try to view it with a buyer’s eye.
5. Position your home correctly in the market.  This is crucial!  A good realtor will help you come to a list price that will position your home so that buyers who are looking for what you have to offer will see it and consider it.
6. Make your home available for buyers to see.  Setting strict limits on showing times and availability will make it difficult for many buyers to schedule a time to see it.  Just because you really don’t feel like picking up or cleaning the kitchen or bathroom is not going to work!  Suck it up, buttercup!  That’s part of what you have to do to sell your house!
7. When you get an offer or offers, keep an open mind.  Let your realtor explain all the terms, and remember, it’s not always all about just the price a buyer is offering.  There are other things to consider as well so don’t reject an offer just because a buyer is offering less than you’re asking or wanted.
8. Once you’ve accepted an offer, cooperate with your realtor, the buyer’s realtor, and the inspections and other visits that may be necessary for the buyers to move forward.  Now is not the time to relax your vigilance on keeping the house in good condition and show ready.  If you’ve agreed to do any repairs, get them done in a timely manner and hold onto receipts so that you can pass them along to the buyer.
9. As closing day approaches, be sure you’ve contacted your utilities, cable, phone, service people, etc. to discontinue service on a certain date so that the buyer may transfer these things into their names.
10. On closing day, leave the home clean and ready for its new owner.  Empty the trash and mow the yard.  Leave the house as you would want to find it if you were moving in.  And, it goes without saying, be sure all your personal belongings are out and everything you’ve agreed to leave behind is there.  Time to say goodbye to your house and hello to the next one!