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Seller's Guide

Everything you need to know about putting your home on the market, accepting an offer, and closing on your home.

A Step-by-Step First Time Seller's Guide

Putting your home on the market can be a stressful process, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Fortunately, with the help of an experienced team of real estate agents and this easy to follow guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for the best price possible.​​​​​​​

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Step 1: Understand Why You're Selling

What do you want to accomplish with the sale of your home? Do you want to make a certain amount of money that you can put toward a larger or nicer home? Do you need to sell it as soon as possible to facilitate a move to a new city or area? Once you understand your needs, you can better craft your offer. For example, if you need to sell quickly, you might want to price your home lower than if your goal is to make a certain profit margin. Make sure you convey these needs to your team of real estate agents once you choose one so they can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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Step 2: Determine Selling Price

Knowing how to price your home is one of the most important parts of the selling process. When you set a fair price in the beginning, you’ll get the most interest from other real estate agents and prospective buyers. Overpricing your home could lead to reduced interest, and underpricing leads to receiving less than what your home is worth. Working with a team of real estate agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate agents with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

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Step 3: Start Preparations

If you’ve kept your home in showroom condition since you’ve lived in it, you’re in the minority of homeowners. Once you price your home, it’s time to start getting it ready to be shown to potential buyers. This includes getting rid of clutter, depersonalizing the space so that buyers can envision themselves in the space, making any small repairs, and doing a deep clean to make sure your home is in pristine condition.

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Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

We will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising your home. This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, or SEO advertising. Our team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

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Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. We will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you can make a counter-offer or offer other ways to bridge the gap, such as covering some or all of the closing costs, making repairs, adjusting the move-in date, or leaving some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

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Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer is acceptable, we will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your team of real estate agents.

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Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now very close to the end of your selling journey. But first, you and the buyer must make a list of what needs to be done before closing. In some cases, your home may need to be formally inspected, surveyed, and appraised. In other cases, major or minor repairs will need to be made before the house can close. We will head up efforts to develop and execute this list, get each action item paid for by the correct party, and make sure everything is in order by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to move out of the home so the new buyer can take possession.

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Step 8: Close

You’ve reached the last step in the seller’s process. When you close on a home you are selling, you are legally transferring ownership of the property to the new buyer. We will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your team of real estate agents to handle final details such as canceling utilities, cable, and lawn or trash services, changing the name on accounts that the new owner is retaining and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

Our Testimonials

See why our clients love working with us.
Joseph P.

Joseph P.

We have done several transactions with The Gabel Phillips Group. They are stand outs and work very hard. They know the market well and listen to help find the right property. On the sell side they market the property well and s...
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Stephanie S.

Stephanie S.

Babbi and The Gabel Phillips Group have been my realtor team for seven years. In that time they have helped me flip homes for a profit, sold my large family home and helped me down size to a smaller home in beautiful Scottsdale...
Read More
David R.

David R.

Hi Babbi and Angela: Your team and you each individually, were really awesome to work with. I've had a lot of experience working with Real Estate Agents and you both were as responsive, professional and knowledgeable as any I'v...
Read More
Seller

Seller

Angela and Babbi are two of the most professional, astute and hard-working agents we have ever worked with. Having bought and sold over 25 houses, we have had a lot of experience with real estate agents. We can say with confide...
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Jamee B.

Jamee B.

Babbi and Angela sold us a home in 2004 and have helped us many times since then. They are extremely professional and know the Valley of the Sun like the back of their hands. Their attention to details is exceptional. They have...
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Kim V.

Kim V.

Babbi has been my realtor for seven years. In that time she has helped me flip homes for a profit, sold my large family home and helped me down size to a smaller home in beautiful Scottsdale. I know many realtors, and her knowl...
Read More
Buyer

Buyer

I worked with Angela and Babbi during the purchase of my home in Scottsdale. I was new to the area and not sure what I was looking for. They were great at helping me understand the area. Angela was wonderful at showing me a ran...
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Buyer

Buyer

Angela is terrific very knowledgeable and professional. She showed us houses over two weekends while we were in town. We ended up with the perfect second home. Thanks for making this so easy!
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Seller

Seller

We have done several transactions with Angela and Babi. They are stand outs and work very hard. They know the market well and listen to help find the right property. On the sell side they market the property well and skillfully...
Read More
Buyer

Buyer

I was in the market to purchase a home in az but not in a rush. Babbi gabel presented a home to me that she knew would exceed all my expectations. She was knowledeable about the current owner and was able to negotiate a great d...
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Daniel

Daniel

Another great experience with the Gabel Phillips Group! A wonderful team that will help you achieve your dreams! Highly recommend.
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Maggie W.

Maggie W.

Megan made our home purchasing experience so easy. She was very professional and always kept us up to date from the home inspection all the way through closing. What a great, easy experience.
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Kristen H.

Kristen H.

We cannot recommend Angela highly enough! She worked with us for nearly four years to help us find the perfect home in Scottsdale, and her dedication, patience, and expertise were truly unmatched. Since we were flying back and ...
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Jenna

Jenna

I can't say enough good things about our realtor, Amy Paul! She has helped us through multiple home purchases, and every single time she has made the experience feel effortless. From the very first home we saw to the closing of...
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Janice L.

Janice L.

“Home sold for more than list price! Babbi and The Gabel Phillips Group are absolute pros at what they does. From beginning to end I felt comfortable working with the team. Babbi told me exactly what I needed to do to get my ho...
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Michael K.

Michael K.

The Gabel Phillips Group knew the competition our home would be up against. They recommended when to sell, what price and what improvements were needed to bring a top dollar offer. Sold house quickly. Would highly recommend.
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Lauren S.

Lauren S.

The Gabel Phillips Group is a team of the most professional, astute and hard-working agents we have ever worked with. Having bought and sold over 25 houses, we have had a lot of experience with real estate agents. We can say wi...
Read More
Stephanie S.

Stephanie S.

Babbi and The Gabel Phillips Group have been my realtor team for seven years. In that time they have helped me flip homes for a profit, sold my large family home and helped me down size to a smaller home in beautiful Scottsdale...
Read More
Joseph P.

Joseph P.

We have done several transactions with The Gabel Phillips Group. They are stand outs and work very hard. They know the market well and listen to help find the right property. On the sell side they market the property well and s...
Read More
David R.

David R.

Your team and you each individually, were really awesome to work with. I’ve had a lot of experience working with Real Estate Agents and you both were as responsive, professional and knowledgeable as any I’ve worked with. It was...
Read More

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