Seller's Guide

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

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. I 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 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, I 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.

My Testimonials

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Barb T.

Barb T.

Peggy was a diligent patient realtor till we finally found the home we desired. She was a stickler for detail, always looking out for our interests. If you need a great Realtor to go to bat for you don't pass her up.
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Patti H.

Patti H.

Peggy Brannick is a dream. I very much enjoyed working with Peggy, from the first day we met until the day of closing. She is extremely knowledgeable, detail-oriented, and always on top of the situation. I was impressed and ext...
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Yvette N.

Yvette N.

Peggy takes care of business for you! From the start, Peggy listened to what we were looking for. I flew from the East Coast within a week to find a house. Peggy spent every single day with me from morning until late afternoon....
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James P.

James P.

Best in class Denver Real Estate Professional. Peggy Brannick handled the recent sale of our home in Denver. From the moment that we engaged our service until the closing, her knowledge of the Denver market, the outstanding way...
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Jese S.

Jese S.

It's been 10 years since I worked with Peggy and I still keep in touch with her. She spent a year with me from 2007 to 2008 looking for the right house for me. This was a hard time in Colorado Real Estate. Lots of foreclosed an...
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Hazeley G.

Hazeley G.

Peggy is a no-nonsense realtor. She will tell you exactly how it is, no sugar. To me, when you are dealing with your life you should not be looking for someone to brush your hair and feed you grapes. Peggy gets the job done and...
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Owen R.

Owen R.

I moved into my home 6 years ago. Before that, I was a happy renter for over 20 years! One day I talked with Peggy Brannick about the possibility of me buying a home. That's where it all started, and my life was set to change f...
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Lang Family

Lang Family

I highly recommend Peggy for all of your real estate needs. She is very thorough, very knowledgeable, very competent, and very professional. She did a tremendous job for us and I would hire her again. She knows the Denver area ...
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Amy L.

Amy L.

Peggy helped get us out of our current home and into the home we will stay to raise our children. She took on a tough job and bulldozed through it. She is a no-nonsense businesswoman and is an expert in the industry. Very knowl...
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Tony D.

Tony D.

Buying and Selling a home can be stressful, to say the least. In addition, you want solid professional service and information that gets you the best results and respects your time. In addition to all this, it is an added plus ...
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Robert O.

Robert O.

I give Peggy Brannick full credit for the reason that I own my first home. She took the time to show me every possible home in my target areas and price. Connected me with all of the necessary people from inspectors to my aweso...
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Karen M.

Karen M.

Recently I worked with Peggy on the sale of my home and I only have high praise for her knowledge and professionalism. I held a real estate license in the past and knew enough to get me in trouble. Luckily I contacted Peggy for...
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Dave H.

Dave H.

I've worked closely with Peggy in a variety of facets related to the administration of a large and complex estate and trust for approximately 13 years now, and have nothing but total respect and appreciation for her abilities. ...
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Nicole P.

Nicole P.

I have worked with Peg for several years and I have a great respect for her work ethic. Not only is she friendly and sincere, she is a dedicated advocate for her clients in all phases of the transaction. Peg is one of those peo...
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Leann B.

Leann B.

She was honest, helpful, and extremely knowledgeable. With her guidance, I was able to look at several homes and finally decided on one I couldn't be happier with. Peggy took the time to get to know me and what I wanted.
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Corina L.

Corina L.

Peggy helped my husband and I find our first home. She educated us on priorities and wanted us to find that special place that we could call home, at the same time choosing a good neighborhood for our kids to go to school. Pegg...
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Mharti H.

Mharti H.

I loved having Peggy as our real estate agent and would recommend her to anyone. She is a great professional and individual.
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Marjie C.

Marjie C.

She was extremely knowledgeable and accurate with the mounds of paperwork involved. Her patience and attention to detail along with correct answers were much appreciated.
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T.L.

T.L.

Peggy takes a great interest in her clients. Her decisions are made on what is best for the client.
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Suzy S.

Suzy S.

I highly recommend Peggy for all of your real estate needs. She is very thorough, very knowledgeable, very competent, and very professional. She did a tremendous job for us and I would absolutely hire her again. She knows the D...
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Cathy S.

Cathy S.

I met Peggy in 1998 when I joined the Sagebrush Elementary PTO. We became friends immediately! Peggy was highly committed to her other job as well as this volunteer position on our boards. She was conscientious in the planning ...
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