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Seller's Guide

A Step-by-Step 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.

Success Stories

Testimonials

"Denise and Eddie were fantastic. They had great knowledge of the community. Made the purchasing of our new home easy. They were always ready to assist at a moments notice. Even after we had closed they still checked in on us to make sure all is going well. "
"Denise and Eddie were fantastic. They had great knowledge of the community. Made the purchasing of our new home easy. They were always ready to assist at a moments notice. Even after we had closed they still checked in on us to make sure all is going well. "
Delbert M
"Corolla Real Estate sold our Outer Banks home in minimal time and at close to the asking price. We had excellent interest in the home from the day it was listed and received multiple offers. Denise and Eddie have an encyclopedic knowledge of the real estate market in northern OBX and are hard-working, honest, and professional. We highly recommend them."
"Corolla Real Estate sold our Outer Banks home in minimal time and at close to the asking price. We had excellent interest in the home from the day it was listed and received multiple offers. Denise and Eddie have an encyclopedic knowledge of the real estate market in northern OBX and are hard-working, honest, and professional. We highly recommend them."
Rich L.
"Eddie was absolutely amazing! He went far beyond what other realtors I have worked with provided. He never hesitated to help, even while we were 400 miles away in PA with remodeling questions and concerns. I still check in with Eddie nearly three years later, as he truly is one of the good guys in Corolla. Well done is an understatement!"
"Eddie was absolutely amazing! He went far beyond what other realtors I have worked with provided. He never hesitated to help, even while we were 400 miles away in PA with remodeling questions and concerns. I still check in with Eddie nearly three years later, as he truly is one of the good guys in Corolla. Well done is an understatement!"
Craig W.
"My family and I couldn't thank Eddie and Denise enough for all that they did to help us with our home purchase. They went above and beyond during the purchasing process. They were always available and willing to help in any way without even being asked. It was always a pleasure to work with such kind and friendly people. We highly recommend these two if you're in need of a home. Thanks, Eddie and Denise, we hope to see you at the beach!"
"My family and I couldn't thank Eddie and Denise enough for all that they did to help us with our home purchase. They went above and beyond during the purchasing process. They were always available and willing to help in any way without even being asked. It was always a pleasure to work with such kind and friendly people. We highly recommend these two if you're in need of a home. Thanks, Eddie and Denise, we hope to see you at the beach!"
Jason B.
"Within a few short periods of time, Denise and Eddie helped us to find, negotiate, and close on our dream home. They were very professional, knowledgeable, and responsive (even during a hurricane). They were able to recommend vendors for us to move forward with. The whole experience was seamless, and they were a pleasure to work with!"
"Within a few short periods of time, Denise and Eddie helped us to find, negotiate, and close on our dream home. They were very professional, knowledgeable, and responsive (even during a hurricane). They were able to recommend vendors for us to move forward with. The whole experience was seamless, and they were a pleasure to work with!"
Daria
"It was a pleasure to work with Denise and Eddie at Corolla Real Estate. The transaction was completed as scheduled, and they kept us up to date every step of the way. We live out of state, but felt as if we were right there with them negotiating our deal. Thank you both."
"It was a pleasure to work with Denise and Eddie at Corolla Real Estate. The transaction was completed as scheduled, and they kept us up to date every step of the way. We live out of state, but felt as if we were right there with them negotiating our deal. Thank you both."
M. Marshall
"My husband and I have worked with Eddie Kavanaugh and Denise Graham on numerous occasions, with both selling and buying homes in the Outer Banks Area. You will not find any realtors with better knowledge of the area, homes, and people. They will do everything in their power to make a deal work. We have always appreciated their knowledge, honesty, integrity, and loyalty. They truly know how to “sell” the Outer Banks."
"My husband and I have worked with Eddie Kavanaugh and Denise Graham on numerous occasions, with both selling and buying homes in the Outer Banks Area. You will not find any realtors with better knowledge of the area, homes, and people. They will do everything in their power to make a deal work. We have always appreciated their knowledge, honesty, integrity, and loyalty. They truly know how to “sell” the Outer Banks."
Kathe & David T.
"Denise goes far beyond the expectations of any realtor we have ever worked with. She recently helped us purchase a fabulous home in Corolla Light Resort in an extremely competitive market. We cannot thank Denise enough for making this happen! Denise was constantly previewing homes for us, sending us videos, face timing so we could walk through the houses with her, but more importantly, always looking out for our best interest. She was instrumental in helping secure our dream home at the right price. Denise is extremely detail-oriented, knowledgeable, and she made sure everything was done efficiently and correctly. She handled all aspects of this purchase for us. We have actually known Denise for a number of years, we once owned another house and used Corolla Classic Vacations for our rental company. Naturally, when we decided to sell, we contracted with Denise (and Eddie) to sell our house. Again, Denise was constantly in contact with us and let us know exactly what was happening every step of the way. We cannot begin to tell you how impressed we are with Denise (and Eddie) for OBX realtors. If you are looking for a fabulous realtor, look no further. Denise, we love you! Thank you again for all your help and hand-holding."
"Denise goes far beyond the expectations of any realtor we have ever worked with. She recently helped us purchase a fabulous home in Corolla Light Resort in an extremely competitive market. We cannot thank Denise enough for making this happen! Denise was constantly previewing homes for us, sending us videos, face timing so we could walk through the houses with her, but more importantly, always looking out for our best interest. She was instrumental in helping secure our dream home at the right price. Denise is extremely detail-oriented, knowledgeable, and she made sure everything was done efficiently and correctly. She handled all aspects of this purchase for us. We have actually known Denise for a number of years, we once owned another house and used Corolla Classic Vacations for our rental company. Naturally, when we decided to sell, we contracted with Denise (and Eddie) to sell our house. Again, Denise was constantly in contact with us and let us know exactly what was happening every step of the way. We cannot begin to tell you how impressed we are with Denise (and Eddie) for OBX realtors. If you are looking for a fabulous realtor, look no further. Denise, we love you! Thank you again for all your help and hand-holding."
Beverly Moreland
"We just sold our beach house, and I’ve got to tell you- Denise and Eddie were absolute rockstars! I can’t even begin to express how thrilled we were with the whole selling experience. These two are seriously in a league of their own. Their market know-how is spot on. Their eye for detail? Incredible. And don’t even get me started on their negotiation skills- pure magic. If you’re looking for a dynamic duo to handle your real estate needs, look no further. Denise and Eddie are the dream team. We couldn’t recommend them more highly!"
"We just sold our beach house, and I’ve got to tell you- Denise and Eddie were absolute rockstars! I can’t even begin to express how thrilled we were with the whole selling experience. These two are seriously in a league of their own. Their market know-how is spot on. Their eye for detail? Incredible. And don’t even get me started on their negotiation skills- pure magic. If you’re looking for a dynamic duo to handle your real estate needs, look no further. Denise and Eddie are the dream team. We couldn’t recommend them more highly!"
Rob & Joyce
"I would definitely recommend Denise and Eddie. They work well as a team, and I have had the pleasure of knowing them in a number of different positions over the past 30 years. They are personable, professional, well-informed, and efficient. Recently, they acted as dual agents and listed and sold our busy Corolla Light rental home within 6 weeks. Technology has changed real estate, but it is still based on people."
"I would definitely recommend Denise and Eddie. They work well as a team, and I have had the pleasure of knowing them in a number of different positions over the past 30 years. They are personable, professional, well-informed, and efficient. Recently, they acted as dual agents and listed and sold our busy Corolla Light rental home within 6 weeks. Technology has changed real estate, but it is still based on people."
R. Cameron
"Without reservation, Larry and I highly recommend Denise and Eddie for any real estate transaction in OBX. Eddie and Denise supported us through every step of the process, from locating and closing on the perfect home for our family to helping us with all of the details that come when closing on a home from miles away. We are truly grateful to Denise and Eddie and would recommend their team to anyone looking for or selling a home in OBX."
"Without reservation, Larry and I highly recommend Denise and Eddie for any real estate transaction in OBX. Eddie and Denise supported us through every step of the process, from locating and closing on the perfect home for our family to helping us with all of the details that come when closing on a home from miles away. We are truly grateful to Denise and Eddie and would recommend their team to anyone looking for or selling a home in OBX."
Elizabeth R.

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