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.​​​​​​​

Bright living room with a tiled fireplace, white seating, and large windows.

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.

Bright white kitchen with a marble island, undermount sink, tall chrome faucet, and yellow blossoms.

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.

Open-plan kitchen, dining, and living area with exposed beams, hardwood floors, and large windows overlooking the backyard.

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.

Living room with a gray sectional, fireplace, and expansive windows overlooking a wooded lawn.

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.

Contemporary kitchen with dark cabinetry, marble surfaces, a wide range, and brass fixtures.

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.

White two-story house framed by mature trees, with a covered entry and broad green lawn.

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.

Modern kitchen with a marble island, wood cabinetry, and large windows overlooking a pool and greenery.

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.

Home entrance with a dark paneled wood door, brass hardware, and matching potted shrubs.

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.

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Nest Lux made relocating to Puerto Rico a breeze! I had peace of mind knowing that they were there every step of the way from finding the apartment to making sure it is in working order. I highly recommend there relocation ser...
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Denise has been our point of contact for our rental from the beginning. She showed us the apartment, helped us with the lease and had been super responsive as we got settled in and needed help with a couple of minor issues. We ...
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Sturm M.

Bought a house through them and process went great!
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Chase H.

From the moment I met Richard and Denise, I was met with an immediate sense of gratitude. They did more than just help me find a breathtaking ocean-facing home; they ensured that every step of settling into my new space was as ...
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Steven F.

Ricardo was excellent! He showed amazing places and was very responsive over WhatsApp. Very thoughtful in finding places that met a specific set of criteria. Highly recommend Reply: Saludos Steven, Thanks for your words! We re...
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Joseph A.

Exceptional service with a personal touch, overall amazing experience. Quick, smooth, and on-target with my search. Their team was able to execute seamlessly. My relocation process in particular required a fast response and I w...
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Keila F.

Excelente servicios! Me ayudaron con todos los detalles del proceso. Reply: Gracias Keila! Fue un placer para nosotros poder asistir a Jenny en su proceso de compra! Espero que disfruten la propiedad y sus hermosas vistas!
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Elene H.

It was our first experience in Puerto Rico. Denise helped us find everything we needed and even more (documents, schools for kids). Very responsible and always in touch, we were looking for accommodation from a distance from Me...
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Danny Dovel

Richard and the team are phenomenal to work with! They helped us tour and negotiate multiple properties until we found the one that fit our criteria perfectly! 10/10!
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Rachel Gallagher

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Dima

Helped me find a great apartment, closed quickly!
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