Selling a home in Auburn, Opelika or anywhere else in Lee County follows the same seven steps. Most of the money is won or lost in the first two.
1. Decide what matters most
Price, timing and certainty pull against each other. A seller relocating for a job on a fixed date needs certainty first. A seller with no deadline can hold out for price. Know your order before you talk to an agent, because it changes the plan.
2. Set the price from buyer behavior, not hope
Price is the first thing a buyer sees, before any photo. Buyers search in set ranges, so a home priced just above a range line is invisible to everyone searching below it. A good price sits where the buyers most likely to buy are already looking. Read more in how your home's value is worked out.
3. Prepare the home
You've lived there for years and no longer see it the way a buyer does. A staging consultation tells you what to fix, what to move and what to leave alone. Then comes professional photography, video and a 3D tour, because nearly every buyer sees the home online before deciding whether to visit.
4. Launch it, don't just list it
The first 7 to 14 days bring the most attention a listing will ever get. A coming-soon campaign and a short opening open house concentrate that attention into a few days, which is what produces competing offers.
5. Read what the market tells you
Ten days with no showings means buyers have rejected the price before seeing the home. Ten showings with no offer means they've seen it and decided it isn't worth the price. Both call for an adjustment, and the sooner the better.
6. Negotiate the offer
The highest offer isn't always the best one. Financing strength, inspection terms and the closing date all affect what you actually walk away with and when.
7. Close
Between contract and closing come the inspection, appraisal and title work. A transaction coordinator keeps each deadline on track so the closing date holds.
Where the guarantee fits
If certainty is at the top of your list, Kurt Hayley will put the sale in writing: you agree on a price and possession date, and if the home hasn't sold by then, he buys it.* See how a guaranteed sale works.