What is the Process of Selling a Home in Texas

Question: What is the Process of Selling a Home in Texas?

Selling a home in Texas can be both an exciting and overwhelming experience. Understanding the process can help sellers navigate the complexities and make informed decisions. Here’s a concise guide to help you through the journey.

First, it’s essential to prepare your home for sale. This includes decluttering, making necessary repairs, and possibly staging your home to make it more appealing to potential buyers. A well-presented home can significantly impact its marketability and price. Fresh paint, light staging, and a deep cleaning of the home can go a long way in the presentation of the home. 

Next, find a reputable real estate agent who is familiar with the local market surrounding your property. An experienced agent will provide valuable insights into pricing your home competitively, marketing strategies, and negotiating with buyers. They will also handle the bulk of the paperwork, ensuring that all legal requirements are met, and help to ensure a smooth transaction between all parties.

Once you’ve chosen an agent, they will help you determine an appropriate listing price based on a comparative market analysis (CMA). The CMA considers recent sales of similar homes in your area, current market conditions, and unique features of your property. Although the report provides averages prices, it is important to take into consideration the condition, year build, upgrades and physical location of your home which can alter its final resale value. 

Marketing your home effectively is crucial. Your agent will list your property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and other real estate websites. They may also use professional photography, virtual tours, open houses, and social media to attract potential buyers. Most real estate agents even have the ability to "reverse prospect", to find a buyer for your property by sending it out to current buyers in their database who are looking for similar properties. 

When offers start coming in, your agent will present them to you and help you evaluate each one. Consider not only the offer price but also contingencies, financing terms, and closing timelines, which affect the final amount that goes into your pocket. Once you and the buyer come to an agreement on terms, you’ll enter into a contract with the buyer. (At this point in the contract, it is super important to have a knowledgeable agent that keeps up with the several moving dates that are in the contract, to ensure that the buyer does not terminate the contract, or waste any time in moving forward with the purchase.)

The next step involves the buyer performing their necessary due diligence inspections. The buyer will typically schedule a home inspection to identify any potential issues in the home, prior to purchasing. If significant problems are found, negotiations for repairs or price adjustments may occur.  Whether or not the buyers requests are granted are up to you as the seller, however it is important to consider the current market, type of repairs needed, as well as the amount of received interest in the property to decide on how much you are willing to negiotiate. 

Throughout the process, you will be in communication with a title company, who facilitates the transaction. Essentially the title company verifies that you, the seller, have the ability to sell the home and that there are no current liens or judgments on the title that might prevent the sale of the home. The chosen title company performs research on the title, and upon "clearing" the title, they will provide insurance, that in the event that they made a mistake in their verification of ownership/ ability to convey title, they will refund the buyer a portion of thier money. 

Finally, closing day arrives. At different times, the buyer and seller will meet at the title company to sign over the official documentation that transfers ownership from the seller to the buyer. The buyer will bring their needed funds to closing, and the seller will receive a check for their proceeds, after paying off all mortgages and existing liens. Woohoo! You just sold your house! Photo time!

After selling your home, it will be important to follow up with the existing utility companies that services are shut off and transfered out of your name. You will also want to remember to change your postal address of where you receive your mail, and update your driver's license as soon as you are able to. 

If you have any questions or would like additional guidance, please feel free to reach out to me at: 713-409-5878. Thanks!

Blake Broussard

Realtor

TREC Lic #: 755417

Search Available Homes in Cypress HERE!