Selling

Selling Your Home in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Austin, Texas

For most families, their home is their largest financial asset, and deciding to sell it is a big decision that involves a lot of preparation and work. When you're ready to sell, it's important to have an experienced real estate professional handle the details involved in the successful sale of a home for top dollar.
As an experienced professional who has helped many area residents sell their homes, the team at Mars Hill Realty Group knows how to handle every aspect of the sales process — from strategically marketing and showcasing your home to making sure everything's signed, sealed and delivered by the closing date.

The Biggest Myth in Selling a Home

In our experience, the most frequently asked question by a seller when he/she interviews an agent for a listing is, “How do you plan on marketing my home?” Most people believe that the single-most important part of selling a home is market exposure. Many real estate professionals believe in this myth too! Just go ahead and interview a few real estate professionals to list your home and you’ll notice how they focus a majority of their listing presentation around market exposure. They’ll try to impress you with all of the wonderful websites that they use and proudly display a few fliers that they’ve made for their previous clients! The more “advanced” agents may even commit to holding a few open houses for you and buying expensive ad space in a local newspaper or Internet site just for your listing!
Most of these agents are sincere, and they really do believe that all of this market exposure will be the greatest benefit to their client. However, if you ask a seasoned agent, one who is willing to tell you the truth, you’ll find out that 90% of the marketing is done for the ego of the client and is a smokescreen to what is really important in the home selling process.

Selling a Home is a Process

Selling a home is not one-dimensional. It cannot be boiled down to just market exposure. In fact, market exposure, is just one of several factors that will determine if you sell your house for the maximum amount, in the shortest time possible and have the greatest chance of closing. The Mars Hill Selling System is a process that considers every variable that can have a positive influence on your sales price, time on market and closing rate.
The Mars Hill Selling System consists of six vital steps (“M3TNT”):
1. Market Intelligence
2. Market Preparation
3. Market Positioning
4. Traffic Generation
5. Negotiation Expertise
6. Team Execution

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the market look right now?

Without a doubt, one of the most popular questions among consumers is how is the real estate market doing. Even if you are not going to be selling a house anytime soon, people that know you are a real estate agent will ask this question. It’s the kind of thing most homeowners are curious about. After all, for most people, their home is their largest asset. Unless you are a professional real estate agent—which if you were, you wouldn’t have these questions—you are unlikely to have your finger fully on the pulse of the local real estate market. There are simply too many factors to be aware of and too many shifting variables to keep track of. Market knowledge is one of the biggest reasons to hire a reputable Realtor. An excellent real estate agent can give you lots of valuable information about the local market. Not only that, he or she can help you understand what all that information means to you and your sale. Your agent should be able to tell you about the current days on the market of homes for sale, market absorption rates, average sale price and more. Knowledge is power. In real estate, market knowledge is essential, so be sure to do your homework.

When should I sell my home?

Of course, you want to sell when you are likely to get the best possible results. But when is that? The answer is complicated. Generally speaking, the best time to sell is when you are ready. There are advantages to selling in every season, in spite of what some agents may try to tell you. Spring is undoubtedly considered most ideal in a lot of circles, but that does not mean you can’t get great results in summer, winter, and fall. You just need an agent who knows how to sell year-round—like Mars Hill Realty Group. If you want or need to sell in a season that isn’t’ spring, know that you can do so and be happy with the results.

How do I get my home ready to sell?

Everything must be done behind the scenes before you give buyers the opportunity to look at your home and start asking questions. That way, when you finally open the doors, you are prepared to make a sale then and there—and don’t need to do a bunch of items that you overlooked. Your agent is the best-qualified person to help you identify what needs to be done before you sell. Keep in mind that every home is different, so the advice you get for your home might be different than the information another seller would get. That being said, there are some things that almost every seller needs to do. These include: Clean things up. No one wants to buy a dirty house. Or, in reality, only bargain seekers are going to be highly interested in a cluttered, messy home, because they assume they can get a great deal from an as-is seller. If you want reasonable offers, you need to remove clutter and clean thoroughly. Make needed repairs. Broken door handles, missing tiles, stained carpets—there are probably several little jobs that need to be done around your house before you list it. The more of these small, cheap fixes you make, the more desirable your home will be. Proper home maintenance shows you care for your property. There may also be big jobs that need to be done. Wait to talk to your agent before you invest in any major repairs, just to be sure that doing so will benefit your sale as you expect. Doing your part before the home is listed for sale is also a side benefit for being ready for the house inspection. Take great pictures. The photos on your listing are the first thing that most buyers are going to see. You want them to be good, and it takes talent and practice to produce those kinds of pictures. Your agent should either be skilled at taking professional real estate pictures or work with someone who is. That way your listing looks as good as possible and shows the best side of your home.

How do you figure out the value of my house?

What real estate agents do and what appraisers do are a bit different. The result, however, is getting to what a buyer will most likely pay for a property. Both appraisers and real estate agents use what’s called comparable sales or “comps” to determine fair market value. Real Estate agents will perform what’s called a comparative market analysis. More than likely the report generated will include the following: • Closest homes in similarity that have sold in close proximity to the property. • Similar homes that are currently under contract but haven’t closed yet. • Competing properties that are currently for sale in the general price point. • The most important data is what has sold. The least important is what is currently for sale. The price for these homes can change at a moment’s notice. You never want to hang your hat on what someone thinks their home is worth. • The analysis that your real estate agent performs will compare your house to other properties that have sold. The evaluation will include the following points of interest: o The size of the home, or more commonly what’s referred to as the square footage. While size is a crucial variable, unskilled agents will use this as the end all be all in comping properties. Using square footage to value properties is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. o The style of the home – for example, is it a colonial, contemporary or a raised ranch. o The number of bedrooms. o The number of bathrooms. o The condition of the property. o The amenities such as central air, central vacuum, alarm system, sprinkler system and a whole host of others that affect value. o The age of the house. o Ages of mechanical and structural components such as roof, heating and cooling systems. o The desirability of the lot. o The appeal of the neighborhood or school district.

What commission do real estate agents charge?

It is essential for you to find out what commission your real estate agent will be charging. You might be thinking that it would be great if you can find an agent who will charge a lower rate than everyone else. Unfortunately, the commission split really matters when you are selling a home. It is imperative that a buyer’s agent wants to buy your house!

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