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Precision Marketing & Negotiation

Comprehensive Seller's Guide for Los Angeles Real Estate

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 agent 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 real estate agent once you choose one so he or she 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 real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent 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

I 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. My 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. I 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 I deem the offer is acceptable, I 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 agent.

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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. I 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, I 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. I 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 real estate agent 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 relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing, knowing your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

Trusted Voice

Client Perspectives

"It was a pleasure to work with Jeffrey Sachs because he puts you and your needs first, is tireless in his efforts, and is always looking out for your benefit. He is extremely conscientious, responsible, and honest. His law background and knowledge of real estate were so helpful when completing the necessary documents. We would recommend Jeffrey in a heartbeat to anyone looking for a home."
"It was a pleasure to work with Jeffrey Sachs because he puts you and your needs first, is tireless in his efforts, and is always looking out for your benefit. He is extremely conscientious, responsible, and honest. His law background and knowledge of real estate were so helpful when completing the necessary documents. We would recommend Jeffrey in a heartbeat to anyone looking for a home."
Mikki S.
"Jeffrey was awesome. He managed to get us a house we love and to sell our old house within days of each other. In addition to being a realtor, Mr. Sachs is an attorney, so he knows the process inside out. He helped us get a loan and insurance. (Insurance is tricky here in Southern California) And we could get him on the phone any time we needed him. All in all, a five-star agent."
"Jeffrey was awesome. He managed to get us a house we love and to sell our old house within days of each other. In addition to being a realtor, Mr. Sachs is an attorney, so he knows the process inside out. He helped us get a loan and insurance. (Insurance is tricky here in Southern California) And we could get him on the phone any time we needed him. All in all, a five-star agent."
Casey K.
"We wanted to thank you so much for all of your hard work. Having now been on both the buying and selling sides of a transaction, we can appreciate all of the energy that goes into it. Even during the most difficult times throughout the process, you managed to not only keep yourself calm, cool, and collected, but you were able to explain both the positive and negative aspects of the deal and made us feel completely at ease. You are a true mensch in every sense of the word, and we not only consider you our broker for life but our friend. Thanks again for everything!"
"We wanted to thank you so much for all of your hard work. Having now been on both the buying and selling sides of a transaction, we can appreciate all of the energy that goes into it. Even during the most difficult times throughout the process, you managed to not only keep yourself calm, cool, and collected, but you were able to explain both the positive and negative aspects of the deal and made us feel completely at ease. You are a true mensch in every sense of the word, and we not only consider you our broker for life but our friend. Thanks again for everything!"
Buyer & Seller
"I had the pleasure of working with Jeffrey Sachs on a Real Estate transaction in Los Angeles. My father passed away, leaving his house to my brother and me. I live 400 miles from LA, and my brother lives 100 miles away, so we had to do business long-distance. It was a very emotional experience to clear my father's house of all his belongings and put it up for sale. Jeffrey was extremely understanding about the emotional side of the transaction and took care to give us the time we needed to accomplish the various tasks that needed to be done. He was also very helpful in arranging for things like pest inspections, repair work, painting, and other mundane chores that my brother and I could not be there for. Jeffrey had many helpful contacts and resources, which allowed us to get the work done without frustration and long-distance phone calls. Jeffrey put a great deal of effort into showing the house, hosting open houses, and advertising it to the appropriate clientele. At one point, we had multiple offers on the house, and Jeffrey kept us informed daily (and sometimes hourly) on the progress. We were able to complete the sale of my father's house within four months of listing it. Jeffrey was easy to communicate with and stayed in contact with both my brother and me. I would recommend Jeffrey Sachs for Real Estate transactions without reservation. He was professional, courteous, and helpful, and maintained our confidentiality."
"I had the pleasure of working with Jeffrey Sachs on a Real Estate transaction in Los Angeles. My father passed away, leaving his house to my brother and me. I live 400 miles from LA, and my brother lives 100 miles away, so we had to do business long-distance. It was a very emotional experience to clear my father's house of all his belongings and put it up for sale. Jeffrey was extremely understanding about the emotional side of the transaction and took care to give us the time we needed to accomplish the various tasks that needed to be done. He was also very helpful in arranging for things like pest inspections, repair work, painting, and other mundane chores that my brother and I could not be there for. Jeffrey had many helpful contacts and resources, which allowed us to get the work done without frustration and long-distance phone calls. Jeffrey put a great deal of effort into showing the house, hosting open houses, and advertising it to the appropriate clientele. At one point, we had multiple offers on the house, and Jeffrey kept us informed daily (and sometimes hourly) on the progress. We were able to complete the sale of my father's house within four months of listing it. Jeffrey was easy to communicate with and stayed in contact with both my brother and me. I would recommend Jeffrey Sachs for Real Estate transactions without reservation. He was professional, courteous, and helpful, and maintained our confidentiality."
Buyer | Seller
"Jeffrey was so helpful when we decided to downsize from our twenty-five-year home and move to the beach. He made selling and moving so much less stressful."
"Jeffrey was so helpful when we decided to downsize from our twenty-five-year home and move to the beach. He made selling and moving so much less stressful."
Teri & Todd

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