The First 5 Things an Agent Does When Helping Home Sellers in Santa Cruz

Home sellers want to sell at the best price possible and, in most cases, as quickly as possible. And they can take one of two avenues to get this done: do it all themselves or work with an agent. For most home sellers working with an agent is the best option. When you consider everything an agent does for you, her commission is a bargain. So let’s look at only the first 5 things an agent does when helping home sellers in Santa Cruz.

1. Preparing the Home for Listing

One of the very first things an agent does when helping home sellers in Santa Cruz involves preparing the home for listing and sale. Every home will need some work, including repairs and renovations. The trick lies in determining which repairs/renovations will best serve to help the home sell and will yield a good return on the investment. 

An agent can assess your home to determine what you should and shouldn’t do before listing. Some repairs you must do, and others can be left alone. And an agent can provide valuable guidance here. To discover more about this, contact a Santa Cruz agent at 831-588-2334.

2. Analyzing, Valuing, and Pricing

Another of the early things an agent does to help home sellers has to do with pricing a home. You have to price it to sell, and that means pricing in line with market value. Both pricing too high and too low can damage your chances of selling.

A good agent will examine your home and assess its strengths and weaknesses, including age, condition, size, and location. Your agent will also perform a comparative market analysis to determine market value by comparing recent sale prices of homes very similar to yours in the same neighborhood and area. Then, putting it all together, your agent can help you price your home to sell.

3. Assisting with Staging 

Numerous surveys have found that staged homes sell faster and at better prices than homes that haven’t been staged. So another of the first things an agent does when helping home sellers in Santa Cruz is to provide staging assistance.

Staging is as much art as it is science, and it takes experience and a keen eye to get it right. An agent can guide you through the staging process or put you in touch with a reputable, results-getting professional staging company.

4. Marketing Effectively

When all these pieces are in place, an agent helps home sellers by marketing effectively. To sell your home at the best price, you have to get it in front of the right buyers. Marketing your home to the right potential buyers is one of the most important tasks an agent performs. 

Just some of the marketing activities your agent will do are . . . 

  • Listing your home on the MLS and other selling/listing sites
  • Doing virtual walk-throughs
  • Contacting other agents who may know interested buyers
  • Arranging showings and open houses
  • Putting ads in appropriate places and distributing flyers

Basically, your agent will do everything she can to market your home to the best target audience.

5. Screening Buyers and Negotiating

Once there begins to be some buyer interest, an agent will screen buyers and conduct negotiations.

Most home sellers don’t have the expertise or time to screen buyers and may wind up wasting a lot of time on mere tire kickers or unqualified buyers. A good agent will do this for you to ensure that you are dealing only with serious buyers.

In addition, your agent will conduct the negotiations – a very important step in getting the best deal possible. A few of the things an agent does during the negotiations are . . . 

  • Negotiating with the buyer on price
  • Negotiating contingencies with the buyer
  • Setting the closing date and determining who pays what
  • Dealing with inspectors and attorneys

Professional Assistance for Home Sellers

These are just the first five things an agent does to assist home sellers – there are many more. For most sellers, it’s just too much and too complex to handle on their own. So if you’re among the home sellers in Santa Cruz who want the professional assistance to get the best deal possible, contact us today at 831-588-2334.

I’m Shemeika Fox, Your Santa Cruz real estate expert and your personalized real estate concierge. And I am happy to help!

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