Tips for Sellers
Home Selling Guide
Selecting a Realtor®
Your most important decision when selling your home is the selection of the person you choose to represent you. The job of your Sales Associate is to support you in selling your home with the best possible terms, and to aid you through the entire process. Your Sales Associate will explain the process of selling a home, and familiarize you with the various activities, documents and procedures that you will experience throughout the transaction.
Tips For Selecting A Realtor®
Your Real Estate Professional should be:
- Aware of the complicated local and state requirements affecting your transaction
- Effective in multi-party, face-to-face negotiations
- Highly-trained, with access to programs for continued learning and additional certifications
- Resourceful in attracting the largest possible pool of potential buyers
- Knowledgeable in the technology resources that facilitate the transaction
- Assisted by a fully-staffed marketing department
- Supported by professional legal counsel
Developing a Marketing Strategy
In order to sell your home quickly and on with the best possible terms, it’s necessary to prepare your home for the market. This process includes:
- Deciding when to put your home on the market
- Establishing a strategic price based on recent comparable sales, local market conditions and your motivation to sell
- Estimating probable net proceeds
- Advising you on how to make your home more appealing to potential buyers
Marketing Your Property
There are numerous tasks to successfully market your property, some of which include:
- Ordering a “FOR SALE” sign to be placed prominently on your property
- Installing a lock box to make it easy for agents to show your home
- Submitting your home to the regional Multiple Listing Service for immediate exposure to the real estate community
- Arranging Sales Associates in the area to tour the home
- Developing a flyer/brochure highlighting the features and benefits of your home
- Promoting your home at the appropriate Association(s) of Realtors’ for maximum exposure to other cooperating agents
- Holding open houses when appropriate
- Contacting your neighbors to promote the property
- Advertising your property on our regular office schedule meetings
- Featuring your property on our web site and REALTOR.com
- Asking clients and colleagues if they know of possible buyers
Managing the Transaction
You’ll appreciate having a strong advocate on your side during the transaction!
Negotiating the Offer
Your Sales Associate will immediately present and explain all offers to you. You will be able to accept, reject, or counter any offer presented. During the negotiation process, your Associate will leverage their experience and skills to advocate your interests:
- Reviewing the contract and obligations before you sign
- Explaining how contingencies and release clauses work
- Protecting you from signing a “blank check” for unknown problems or repairs
- Defining legal disclosure requirements
- Orchestrate the offer process for “back-up” offers, if necessary
Throughout the negotiation, your Sales Associate will provide you with a professional, objective point of view; but the final decision of accepting an offer is yours.
After the Offer is Accepted
Once an offer is accepted, your Sales Associate will manage all the details to make the process as stress-free and efficient as possible:
- Staying in contact with the buyer’s agent to ensure a smooth escrow
- Following up on the progress of the buyer’s loan
- Monitoring all contingency removal deadlines
- Assisting you if a conflict with the buyer arises
Finalizing and Closing the Transaction
Finalizing the process includes reviewing all closing documents and ensuring both parties have copies. When the transaction has closed, your Sales Associate will deliver the closing check to you and the keys to the new owner.
Testimonials
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When our family relocated to Austin, we were referred to Rhonda by a mutual friend. I'm so grateful our friend recommended her because she exceeded all of our expectations. Rhonda is willing to help in any way, always on top of paperwork, punctual, and very knowledgeable. She went above and beyond to help us find the home of our dreams. 4 years later, we have come full circle. We called on the person who made our home buying experience so enjoyable to sell our beautiful home so that we could relocate once again. Rhonda was prepared the day she visited with comps, recommendations, a videographer/photographer scheduled, and we were listed within a week. Even better, she sold our home in just over 30 days!!! You won't find anyone better than Rhonda...look no further!
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- Kassidy Thomas
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If you're looking for someone who knows her stuff, then look no further! Rhonda is ON it!
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- Jennifer Castaneda
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We LOVE Rhonda Durrill!! We just bought a home in Austin, Texas and Rhonda was a complete pleasure to work with. We cannot say enough about her level of commitment, service, professionalism, knowledge and advocacy. From our first conversation, we felt understood and supported. She worked through all of the unexpected challenges of our deal with patience, creativity and persistence until a solution was achieved. Rhonda went above and beyond to help us get the best house for us. We heavily relied upon her as my husband and I were only able to visit Austin once during the whole house-hunting period/transaction. We trust her completely and highly recommend her without any reservations!!
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- Jeanette Hoenig
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I highly recommend her if you're looking at buying in the Austin area. She is so wonderful and helpful and I appreciate all she's done for me and my family. Thank you, Rhonda, you rock!
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- Becky Burgess
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Having Rhonda as your realtor is hard to beat! She outgoing, friendly, personal and you always feel you are the most important person. She knows her stuff and is always on top of things, making sure there are no surprises. She gave us great advice on how to make our home more attractive to the market; what to update, what to replace and what to leave alone. She has a repertoire of great handymen, painters etc. who all worked out great. She drove staging the house and it turned out great. She went way beyond what we have ever seen from any realtor. Rhonda is a true “Steiner Ranch Specialist”: she sure knows what sells in Steiner Ranch - better trust her. We sold our house within 2 weeks. We can only recommend Rhonda to anyone who wants to buy or sell a house in this area.
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- Voelkl
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We would like to recommend Rhonda Durrill, Avalar Real Estate, to anyone searching for their dream home, in need of a transition home or ready to sell their current home. Rhonda was able to secure a transition home for our special needs family through her current listings and amazing broker network while our new home was in the final stages of construction. Thank you, Rhonda for your professionalism, speedy execution and translation of our specific family needs.
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- Kim & Tom Hartman
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Rhonda was an absolute pleasure to work with! We bought a house in Austin, TX while living in Los Angeles and handled the entire transaction over emails and phone calls until we arrived in Austin. Rhonda was very professional, knowledgeable and timely regarding the entire transaction. I would recommend Rhonda to anyone looking for a professional friendly realtor!!! I even referred her to my parents who are purchasing a home in Austin as well!
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- Marlene Luterman
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When you are selling your home, smart pricing is paramount – can't be too low or too high. Rhonda's methodical approach to pricing was based on data, analytics and deep market knowledge that sees beyond the face value of what is on paper. She considers every facet – both good and bad – of your home. However, Rhonda's greatest strength is her tactful candor. She is a consummate professional, and she will tell you want you need to hear, not necessarily what you wish to hear. Therefore, as a seller, you go into the process fully informed and can base your decisions on reality, not wishful thinking. She is one of the best agents we've ever used. Exceptional.
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- Julie Wolk
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Rhonda was very helpful with our home search. The entire process went very smoothly. We highly recommend her!
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- Kathy Wendt
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Rhonda is awesome! She goes above and beyond to make her clients happy. We were more than pleased working with her.
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- Kelli Fleenor
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Rhonda is a true Steiner Ranch Specialist, she sure knows what sells in Steiner Ranch!
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- Rita & Edgar Voelkl
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Without any reservations, my husband and I highly recommend Rhonda Durrill! While everyone selling a home has their own set of challenges, our situation was especially difficult in that we were selling a home from another state – 1200 miles away! Rhonda made the entire process seamless! No matter what we needed or requested, she was there for us. She was accessible, proactive and professional. From our first conversation with her to our closing, she managed the entire process expertly and far exceeded our expectations! With complete confidence, we would hire her again as well as recommend her to anyone buying or selling a house!
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- Simone & Jay Thomas
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Rhonda was an excellent agent for the sale of our home in Steiner Ranch. She is very detailed oriented and knows what needs to be done to sell your home.
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- Barbara Manley
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Rhonda's experience, negotiation skills and overall support were key elents that enabled the sale of our home. The transaction was made more challeging as we relocated from Austin, Texas to the UK and Rhonda managed the whole process in our absence. She went way above and beyond what you would expect from a typical realtor and I hope that as a result of our business relationship my wife and I have established a long lasting friendship. I would strongly recommend Rhonda if anyone is seeking a proactive and responsive realtor.
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- Wayne
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Rhonda was an excellent agent for the sale of our home. She is very detailed oriented and knows what needs to be done to sell your home. She handles all the little things and the big things very professionally. Rhonda always returned our calls, text messages and e-mails very promptly, even if they were not that important. She helps things run smoothly, even if there are major bumps in the road. Her negotiation skills are truly excellent! We had two offers on the same day, and Rhonda got what we wanted in the negotiation for the right contract. We also enjoyed Rhonda's great sense of humor and keeping things light in the moments of stress! We highly recommend Rhonda as a realtor, she is very personable and knows her stuff!
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- Austin Babs
The information being provided is for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.
Based on information from the Austin Board of REALTORS®. Neither the Board nor ACTRIS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. All data is provided "AS IS" and with all faults. Data maintained by the Board or ACTRIS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.
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Information should be deemed reliable but not guaranteed, all representations are approximate, and individual verification is recommended. Copyright 2017 All rights reserved.
Information is provided exclusively for consumers personal, non - commerical use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Copyright 2017, Highland Lakes Association of Realtors
