Doug Buenz’s Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Home

Make selling a home easy and stress-free by following this guide. Learn the ins and outs of the process. Find the crucial steps you don’t want to miss and discover the best way to get the most value out of your home. You’ve invested for years into this place; now it’s time for your property to work for you.

The only way to make your home do the work of selling itself is through proper preparation. Use the right realtor, stage your home for the right audience, and ensure you market through the proper channels. There’s no time like the present to turn your house into money in your pocket and a chance for a whole new chapter to unfold.  

While selling a home may seem easy in a hot market, there’s more to it than finding a buyer. You want to ensure you get the most money out of your home and protect yourself from liability. Detailed laws shape the buying and selling process of property in California. You put yourself at risk if you operate without full knowledge of these laws.

A realtor knows the legal system and how to navigate the waters of a purchasing contract. They provide you with resources and do all marketing and buyer vetting to ensure things move quickly. At the Doug Buenz Group, we believe it's all about the customer. Your goals are our goals, and we work tirelessly to accomplish them. The team will guide you with comprehensive information, a wealth of resources, and the latest technology. We will protect your interests and ensure the process is easy and stress-free. 

A high-quality realtor will do the market research for you. They will bring you as much data as you want to keep you apprised of the process each step of the way. For example, a realtor looks at comparable homes to yours on the market to help determine your asking price.

An agent who goes the extra mile provides research on the property’s target audience. Every home attracts certain types of buyers more than others. Understanding who your house speaks to ensures you find the most interested person to buy. Selling to people who love your home's features increases your home's price. Make sure your realtor reviews the type of buyers your property will attract and how they plan to target those buyers. 

Before you can even stage the house, make your home sparkle. You want every nook and cranny clean for potential buyers. And, of course, it goes beyond the typical cleaning concept. When you move from one home to another, you clean out your personal effects. So why not get this out of the way early? Don’t clutter the space or obstruct a buyer's imagination with traces of your daily life. Leave the home open for shoppers to imagine their own. If you’re showing your house while living in it, you’ll need to consider how to store everyday items so you can access them while quickly hiding them during showings.

Once you fully clean and declutter your space, it’s time to stage your home. A crucial aspect of the selling process, staging can increase your sale value by up to 20% and make your home sell up to 30 times faster. So don’t skip out on the staging process.

Luckily for you, your agent should make staging the house a breeze. They’ll guide you through the process and tell you anything you need. Watch your old place transform into a new home as your realtor stages it to perfection.

Once the house is ready, it’s time to determine the price. Too high a price, and the property sits on the market too long. People start thinking there’s something wrong with it. Often they won’t even look, let alone buy. Conversely, a low ask may turn into a fast sale, but you also lose money. Your realtor will base a price on the comparable homes recently sold in your area, the current market, and the pool of buyers aligned with your target audience. With their expertise, research, and the assistance of technology, they should not only help you find the right price but be able to justify the number to you.

In this market, it shouldn’t take long for offers to come in if you have a quality realtor. You should discuss every bid, from the dollar amount to the probability of it going through. A solid offer comprises several factors. At a minimum, consider each potential buyer’s downpayment, earnest money, pre-approval, and lender. Your realtor vets shoppers to ensure a deal doesn’t fall through at the last minute.

Ensure your agent does their due diligence to weed out unlikely buyers. Once the best offer comes in with the most substantial credentials, it’s time to celebrate. If you were showing your house while living in it, the highlight of accepting the offer might be the end of showings. You can finally stop hiding your toothbrush and family photos. Of course, the real prize is what you do next. 

Once you accept the best offer, an onslaught of processes begins. The buyer will need an inspection; more may follow. Once the buyer confirms your property’s condition, an appraiser confirms the price of the home. Then it goes into escrow. Simply wait for the day the deal clears and the bank imbues your account with money. Your new adventure awaits.

Make sure you get the most out of selling your home with the Doug Buenz Group. They make you their priority, protecting your interests at every turn. Leverage their vast resources and wealth of knowledge to sell your home fast for its highest value. Enjoy a stress-free process catered to you, so you can get to the good part — celebrating your next adventure.