Once you’ve made the commitment to sell your home, chosen a REALTOR® to represent you, and established a list price, it’s time to work with your REALTOR® to market your property so it sells as quickly as possible.

Your REALTOR® should share a marketing plan with you, but the more you know about the process of selling your home the easier it is to support your REALTOR®’s efforts.

Pre-Market Tips

The day your home goes on the market it should be in prime condition and priced right to attract the most potential buyers. While your REALTOR® can help you determine an appropriate price and can offer suggestions to make your home more appealing, your job is to put in the work to get your home pristine clean and to remove clutter and personalization.

Buyers want to see a home where they can visualize themselves living. If buyers see an overstuffed closet, they’ll assume the home lacks storage space; and if your kitchen counters are cluttered, they’ll think the space is too small.

Provide your REALTOR® with tips about what you love best about your home and community that can be incorporated into your marketing materials.

Your REALTOR® can advise you on what you need to repair before putting your home on the market. You can also visit other homes that are for sale, or even local model homes for ideas on ways to present your home to potential buyers.

What to Expect From Your REALTOR®

Many REALTOR®s have experience staging homes, or they can bring in a stager to rearrange your place. In addition, your REALTOR® should market your home in multiple ways:

• Research the market to identify potential buyers to target for direct mail.
• Reach out to other real estate brokers and agents who work with buyers in your price range.
• Take excellent photos or hire a professional photographer to showcase your home online with attractive pictures.
• List your home on the local Multiple Listing Service and make sure it receives maximum exposure on multiple websites.
• Take a video of your home or produce a virtual tour with numerous photos so your home can be viewed in-depth by buyers looking online.

Once buyers begin visiting your home or contacting your REALTOR®, your agent should respond as quickly as possible to keep the momentum going. Every visitor to your home or their agent should be contacted by your REALTOR® to get feedback on your home and to gauge their interest.

What Your REALTOR® Should Expect From You

While your REALTOR® does the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing, as a seller you need to support your REALTOR® in several ways:

• Keep your home as clean, neat and odor-free as possible while your home is on the market. This may mean that you have to give up cooking your favorite liver-and-onions dish and that you have to bribe your kids to make their beds and take out the trash every day.
• Make your home as available as possible to buyers, no matter how inconvenient it is for you and your family. Your home won’t sell if no one can see it.
• Leave the house when buyers are there, since studies have shown that buyers linger and look more carefully when the homeowners aren’t present.
• Lock up your pets or take them away when buyers are visiting, especially during an open house when multiple visitors are expected.
• Provide information to buyers about community amenities or neighborhood sports leagues so they can appreciate your home’s location.

If you and your REALTOR® develop a team approach to selling, you’ll benefit from a quicker and more pleasant real estate transaction.