5 Step House Selling Process: Palo Alto

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If you are looking at the real estate market and think now is the time to sell, it may be best to find a realtor, like the Dawn Thomas team at Silicon Valley & Beyond to help guide you along the way. 

Selling your home can not only be a complex process but an incredibly personal thing as well. Luckily, if you surround yourself with the right people, you can make the process as easy and stress-free as possible.

1) Hiring the Dawn Thomas Team in Palo Alto, California

The City of Palo Alto is a gorgeous and wonderful place to live and raise a family. From the arts center that is home to a number of Rodin sculptures, to independent boutique stores, delicious restaurants that run along University Avenue, there are a ton of fun things to do and experience during one’s time in Palo Alto. This doesn’t even mention the amazing schools and nature preserves in and near the Palo Alto area. 

The Dawn Thomas team at Silicon Valley & Beyond can help frame this in a way that is appealing to all who are looking to buy a new home.

So, if you are looking to sell your home in Palo Alto, California, take a moment to connect with our team. Give us a call to find out how we can help make the home selling process as simple as possible for you. 

2) Pre-Marketing Activities

Part of this process for selling your house will involve preparing it for walkthroughs and showings. To do this, it is important to declutter and get rid of some of the things in your home to make it easier to view. The typical rule of thumb is to keep 60% of your belongings in the home and move 40% to storage, moving these things will help make your home ready for the selling process.

The Dawn Thomas Team are experts in marketing and during the pre-market phase of the selling process our team will help coordinate:

  • A property inspection
  • A termite and pest inspection
  • A roof inspection
  • A chimney inspection

Doing these inspections and fixing up any issues ahead of time will conserve property value and reassure buyers that the home they are getting is in tip-top shape — which could reduce the chances of a counteroffer of a lower amount.

Pro tip: Don’t forget to get your residence professionally photographed, this will help pique initial interest and keep people coming to view the home. This is something the Dawn Thomas team at Silicon Valley & Beyond can handle.

3) List Your House

Finally, we get to the listing. Putting your home up on a multiple listing service, along with a carefully thought-through listing price, you can start bringing in potential buyers to view and inspect your home and get the ball rolling on the whole process. The property will be listed on sites like Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, and hundreds more. 

The first 7 days after listing are key to determining if the home was priced properly. It is important to track this information and adjust anything.

4) Accepting an Offer

Eventually offers will start coming in the Dawn Thomas team will help filter things like price, numbers of days to close, down payments, and contingencies into factoring what route to go. Think of the initial offer as the beginning of a conversation, there is always room for adjustments.

Once an offer is finalized, both parties will sign a contract that lays out all relevant specific information. Once signed, the earnest money (normally about 3% in Palo Alto) is put into escrow. Meanwhile, the next 7-10 days, or sometimes up to 17 days is the buyer’s investigation period in which they conduct inspections, appraisals, and other assessments to give them insights into the value of the home, which may have them try and adjust the sales price.

At this point, you should likely begin looking for moving services to get you fully moved out of the house as you prepare to close. If you don’t have anyone in mind, our team at Silicon Valley & Beyond have connections with movers in the Palo Alto area.. Once you are signaled that you can close, the seller will have to fill out some final paperwork, normally about 20 minutes.

5) Final Steps

The buyer will have one final walkthrough to ensure that everything is in order according to the agreement. From there a key exchange will be scheduled and any final paperwork will be finished up.

Getting Help at Silicon Valley & Beyond

If you need help selling your house, or just have a general question about something like market conditions, closing costs, or something else, our team at Silicon Valley & Beyond can help ensure that you are well-informed and are making the best choices so you’re able to sell your home in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.