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 REALTORS® 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.
Lindsay Fernandes

Lindsay Fernandes

Cory, and the Martin group have been nothing short of exceptional! Cory was so dedicated to helping us find our family a new home. Cory stuck with us these last few years as the market went up, and down, and never made us feel ...
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Kim Bizzell

Kim Bizzell

We have had the pleasure of dealing with the Martin Group on several occasions. Our daughter sold her condo in Burlington and bought a house with her husband in Stoney Creek a few years ago and met Glenn & Cory. We followed soo...
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Kenny T

Kenny T

I've used Glenn happily in the past, and used his services again this year to find me a new home. I can't say enough about the incredible service he provided me. He was patient, professional, and extremely helpful throughout th...
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Velma

Velma

My husband and I have worked with Mary-Anne many times and she has always provided excellent service with a high degree of intercity. She listened to our requirements, didn’t waste our time unnecessarily and always fought for o...
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Mark Kennard

Mark Kennard

Glenn is the ABSOLUTE best realtor I have ever met and the most patient and honest. He spent two years looking for a place with me that fit all my needs. He encouraged me to stick with fair market prices even when I wanted to o...
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Evelyn

Evelyn

Being a mature couple, we had the opportunity of moving quite a number of times and as such sold houses over the course of many years. We have used various realtors when selling our houses over the years and the process is not ...
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Andrew C

Andrew C

Working with The Martin Group was a great experience from start to finish. From the beginning, Cory helped guide us through the process while always taking into account what we wanted. He was literally available anytime and wor...
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Jamieson

Jamieson

Mary-Anne was one of the three agents we spoke with prior to listing our house for sale. Her presentation displayed honesty, preparation and knowledge of the area which exceeded that of the other agents we spoke with. Those qua...
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Takis Zourntos

Takis Zourntos

The Martin Group has been extremely professional throughout our selling experience in a tough (for sellers!) market. I received frequent updates and calls from the team to inform me of relevant changes in the local market and i...
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Luis D.

Luis D.

I would not use anyone else for sale or purchase of homes. Glen and Cory Martin are more than Real Estate agents, they are experts in the industry with a long track record of experience and success. They helped us sell our home...
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Patricia K.

Patricia K.

A very pleasant experience while looking for a house to downsize to. Very patient and always available. We did find our new home and could not be happier. Would recommend using The Martin Group.
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Buyer

Buyer

Mary-Anne and her team were patient, thoughtful, and kind. They didn't hesitate to give us honest feedback. They were considerate of our budget, and our needs, and sensitive to the volatile market. We are so happy with our fami...
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Ryan W.

Ryan W.

What a pleasure to deal with. Especially during these conditions. Always kept us updated on current market conditions, and competitive housing costs and got our house sold within a timely manner keeping in mind these current ti...
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Shannon F.

Shannon F.

Mary-Anne was wonderful to work with as we navigated buying our first home! She was patient and listened to our wants and needs for our young, growing family. She was responsive, professional, kind, and extremely helpful and we...
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Melissa M.

Melissa M.

I have worked with Cory at the Martin Group for several property searches and one recent sale. What a great experience it always is. The Martin Group is professional and efficient, and Cory has been incredibly patient, communic...
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Luis D.

Luis D.

I would not use anyone else for the sale or purchase of homes. Glen and Cory Martin are more than real estate agents, they are experts in the industry with a long track record of experience and success. They helped us sell our ...
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Allison W.

Allison W.

My family and I have used Cory’s services several times over the past few years and every time Cory provided excellent service. Cory is so knowledgeable! Efficient. We trust Cory completely with all our real estate investments....
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Raad S.

Raad S.

I had the pleasure of working with Cory from Martin Group, and I cannot express how impressed I am with Cory's professionalism and dedication. When I contacted Cory, Cory went above and beyond to help me find the perfect condo....
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Paulo A.

Paulo A.

Mary-Anne was truly exceptional. I was impressed with her level of knowledge and the amount of data that she had about the market. If we texted a question or an update she would often respond in 2 minutes or less. Once we found...
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Patrick J.

Patrick J.

What an experience. We must say that selling a house is not fun, but having the right person makes a huge difference. We first got to know Mary-Anne because she was the seller's agent when we bought our house and at the time, w...
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Work With Us

Our approach at the Martin Group is clear-cut: Your success is synonymous with our success. We are firm believers that supporting your accomplishments is a direct contribution to our own prosperity. Our dedication is evident in our provision of top-notch marketing, extensive market insights, and meticulous negotiation tactics.

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