Buying and Selling Real Estate in the VA Markets of Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and Fairfax.

Selling your Virginia house is a big decision, and sets a number of activities into motion, from repairs and refreshing your property to selecting an agent and signing a contract. Here are eight important steps in the process:

1. Choose a local VA real estate agent. Once you've decided to sell in Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, or Fairfax, you'll be thinking about a whole host of details, like how to get your home ready for sale, when to put it on the market, and how much to ask for it, how much time will this take our of my daily life, do I understand the terms of a sales contract.

A professional real estate agent deals with these types of questions on a daily basis and will help you have a successful, smooth, and more profitable selling experience. After selecting a Realtor and going over the listing agreement your Realtor will help you with all that and more.

2. Get your house in order. You and your real estate agent will make a critical assessment of any needed maintenance or repairs. Hiring a home inspector might be suggested if you and your real estate agent are not comfortable making those assessments on your own. An inspection will probably cost you a few hundred dollars, but its money well spent to keep from being unpleasantly surprised when a buyer has his own inspection done. No one wants to find out that their roof is shot, but at this stage, you can decide if it's worth it to spend the money and fix it or to sell the house as-is, disclose that it needs a new roof and set your price accordingly.

3. Look through a buyer's eyes. Stand across the street and look at your house as if you're a prospective buyer seeing it for the first time. Talking with you real estate agent about what types of improvements might be worth making. You're looking at the condition of:

• The interior and exterior paint -- is it fading or peeling?  Do you have neutral or wild colors?
• The yard -- are there bare spots in the grass or overgrown shrubs? Is there trash or broken toys? Are there diseased or damaged trees that need to be removed? Are there flower beds that need to be weeded?
• The driveway -- is it cracked or have holes in it?
• The garage door -- is it damaged?
• The windows -- do they need to be cleaned? Are they broken? Are the screens missing, torn or broken?
• The gutters and downspouts -- are they clogged or damaged?
• The front door -- is it dirty or damaged?
• The details -- does the mailbox door fall open? Are any house numbers missing? Are there burnt-out bulbs on the porch lights? Is there fencing that needs to be repaired?

You want to do this because you have one chance to make a good first impression. What potential buyers see on that first drive-by can do one of three things (and two of them are not good): make them fall in love, make them keep driving, or give them a checklist of items they can use to try to knock down your price.  You'll do the same thing inside the house, paying special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. Study everything from how it smells to how old the carpet is.

4. Set your price. Many sellers set a price based on the amount of money they need to get out of the deal.  That's the kiss of death.  It will sit on the market and you become a target of low-ball buyers and scammers. Price it right to sell it fast.

Your real estate agent will help you set your price.  He will go over a detailed list of the comparable sales in your area with you.   Because he is constantly looking at the homes in your area and has probably actually been in many of them, he can accurately evaluate your current properties value as compared to the other recent sales.

5. Staging your home. This is the top recommendation of real estate agents for making your house shine to potential buyers as they walk through the front door. A house that shows well always brings in more money.  If need be, rent a storage unit and move out any furniture that isn't necessary. People are moving because they need more space; space is what you're selling. The more space you have, the more inviting your house will be.

6. List and show the property. With everything spiffed up, it's time to take the plunge and tell the world about your house. Your real estate agent will implement their marketing campaign and enter your property into the MLS system for you home to start gaining you exposure. Once the house is on the market, your real estate agent will make sure the home is safely shown to prospective buyers, but you need to keeping it clean, uncluttered, and smelling fresh.  When you have a showing scheduled, turn on the lights and open the drapes. Put out some fresh-baked cookies -- and your real estate agent will have a sign-in sheet with a place to offer comments and feedback. Invite them to write their comments on curb appeal, the condition of the house and whether they think it's priced appropriately, and then leave. Buyers feel much more comfortable looking at a home when the seller isn't standing over their shoulder.

7. Consider the offers. A listing agent is required to present all offers to you from qualified buyers, so even if he thinks it's a bad deal, he has to show it to you. You'll have a short amount of time, often 24 hours, to respond to an offer. You can decide to accept the offer, reject it, or make a counter offer.  A counter offer is when you make an offer of your own. Any offer is a starting point for discussion, and everything in it is negotiable.

Before you accept an offer -- and take your property off the market – your real estate agent will make sure the buyer has been pre-approved with a bank, and they have shown proof of down payment and the initial deposit.

Once both you and the buyer are happy with the terms, it's time to sign on the dotted line.

8. The Settlement.  The closing process involves an attorney or title company representative, the buyer, listing and selling brokers, and oftentimes you, the seller. This important meeting will include the final transaction, which is transferring the home from your possession to the new owner. Make sure you bring all equipment warranties, instructions, and maintenance or operation information to hand over to the new owners

Congratulations! You just sold your Virginia house!

Selling Real Estate in Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, or Fairfax VA  can be easy!