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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

Stacie Stornetta is not your average real estate broker—she's a dynamic force in the industry, with an unwavering commitment to helping clients achieve their real estate dreams. With an impressive 25 years of experience under her belt, Stacie has become a trusted name in both San Luis Obispo County, CA, and Ravalli County, MT. As a seasoned professional, Stacie brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to every transaction.

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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, 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. 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 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.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

I have had the pleasure of working with Stacie on a number of real estate transaction. Her professionalism and commitment to her clients can not be matched. Stacie is a top choice when needing the services of a real estate professional. Hire the best!

— Walter B.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Stacie was the perfect Realtor to help with our home search! She listened to us and made sure we understood the process. We love our home in Montana and couldn't have purchased it without Stacie's help and expertise.

— Misha M.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

I would highly recommend using Stacie Stornetta for your Real Estate Broker in Montana. She will go that extra mile for you throughout the process and beyond. Stacie is extremely knowledgable and fun to work with. You will enjoy your real estate experience and be very well represented with Stacie Stornetta as your broker!

— Karen B.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Stacie was amazing. She was a available when I needed anything. She was knowledgeable about the market, quickly got answerers to my questions, was persistent, kept me informed, referred great people and companies (lender, insurance) and provided positivity throughout the whole process. I couldn't be happier with my realtor, Stacie.

— Steve J.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Experienced and Professional. Stacie Stornetta and her team were amazing to work with. Professional, attentive and responsive all the way. Our home showed beautifully and Stacie supported us through all steps in the home selling process. Highly recommended!

— Wall J.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

From Day 1 to closing Stacie Stornetta provided a top of line client experience! Stacie Stornetta was a pleasure to work with. I had a lot of questions before I was comfortable selling my house. Stacie answered all these questions with real, local and current data. I like to see numbers to help me walk through what to expect - Stacie explained the numbers and what each of them "meant" in a way that made ...

— Phillip G.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Not enough stars! I'm a first time home buy and Stacie was a dream to work with. She was attentive, knowledgeable, and responsive. I hope I'm able to purchase more properties with her help in the future. She made everything so easy.

— Scott

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Trying to buy property virtually is nearly impossible. However, when we found Stacie, it was as if we were there ourselves. Because she is so knowledgeable and experienced, Stacie skillfully guided us through our long distance property tours, handled all of our questions and concerns (at times those concerns were daily), took care of all the inspections and odds and ends that popped up, and made sure the...

— Heidi V.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Stacie has so many reliable, competent talents, which she applied to assisting us with the successful, pleasant sale of our home. Her advice on the many choices we had to make was very helpful from preparing the house to showing and marketing it. Her suggested meeting schedule was appropriate and she was otherwise always available as needed. She is very personable and super friendly. You'll like her "tak...

— Laurie S.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Stacie was incredibly patient with us in our search for property in the Bitterroot from July through November 2020 she was incredibly prompt in letting us know as soon as houses were available and knew exactly what we liked would highly recommend her as an agent full of integrity she was always there for us as we were attempting to purchase while selling our property in Sandpoint idaho. Nothing but all p...

— Barbara W.

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Work With Stacie

Stacie Stornetta is dedicated to helping you find your dream home and assisting with any selling needs you may have. Contact Stacie today to start your home searching journey!