Selling Your Home in Western New York: Start With the Plan
A plan for price, preparation, marketing and offers, built before the home goes on the market.
What selling a home involves in Western New York
Selling a home is rarely one decision. It is a price, a preparation schedule, a plan for who sees the home, a way to weigh offers and a closing that has to fit the rest of your life. Most sellers are also doing something else at the same time: buying the next home, moving for a job, or changing the household.
The people who call me say some version of "What do I do first?" The answer is a conversation about where you are trying to go. The order of the steps depends on your date, your next home and what you need the sale to do for you.
My approach is to start with strategy before you make a move. Price, preparation, marketing and offers get planned together before the home goes on the market, so the sale runs on a calendar you chose and not one that was forced on you.
After speaking with Merritt and knowing her background with digital / social media marketing she was a lock in.
Map out your next move before you need to make it.
Start with the situation you are actually in
The fundamentals of a sale do not change, and the situation around it changes almost everything else. Start with the page that matches where you are:
- Downsizing, when you are ready for less maintenance and buying the next home too.
- One household becoming two, when a home bought together is being sold apart, married or not.
- Two households becoming one, when two homes are becoming one and one of them has to sell.
- Selling a parent's home, inherited or not yet.
- Selling before you move away, when the sale has to fit a move date somewhere else.
- Moving up, when you are selling to buy your next home.
- Buying in another state, when the move is somewhere I do not work and I introduce you to someone who does.
If none of these fits, you are selling a home in the ordinary way, and the rest of this page is for you.
A straightforward sale still has a calendar. Even when nothing else is changing, you have a date you would like to be done by, a price you hope to see and a home that has to look the way a buyer expects. Without a plan, those three pull against each other: a firm date pushes the price down, a high price pushes the date out, and condition decides how much each one is worth. The plan settles how much of each you are willing to give up before the listing is live.
How the sale runs, step by step
Every sale I run follows four steps, and each one is written out on my selling process page:
- Equity sets the price from comparable sales, the homes competing with yours and your timeline.
- Presentation decides how the home is prepared and shown before any photograph is taken, with professional photography and video on every listing.
- Impact aims the campaign at the buyer your home should attract.
- Campaign Strategy covers the launch, every offer and the closing.
If you want to see where your home might land before you commit to anything, what your home is worth shows how the number is built.
What the first conversation is like
The first conversation is not a pitch. I ask where you are trying to go, when you need to be done and what you want the sale to do for the next step. You leave knowing what your home is likely to bring, what it costs to wait and what order makes sense.
You do not need to have decided to sell. Preparation takes time, and an early conversation lets you do it on your own schedule.
If a sale is not the right move yet, I will say so. Sometimes the right answer is to wait, and I would rather tell you that than list a home that should not be listed.
Selling in Lancaster and across Western New York
I live in Lancaster and work across Western New York: the city of Buffalo, the Northtowns (Clarence, Amherst and Williamsville), the Southtowns (Orchard Park, East Aurora, West Seneca, Hamburg and Elma), and east of the city (Depew and Alden). My Lancaster page goes into this in more detail.
When you are ready to start, talk with me about your sale, and I will lay out the order that fits your timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get started selling my home?
Start with a conversation about where you are trying to go, when you need to be done and what the sale has to do for your next step. From there I lay out the order of steps, including how the home is priced, prepared and launched.
Should I sell now or wait?
It depends on your date, your next home and what you need the sale to do for you. I run that comparison with your numbers, and sometimes the answer is to wait.
Do I have to buy my next home before I sell?
No. I plan around two strategies, selling first or buying first, and I show you what each one asks of your finances before you decide.
Who decides the price and which offer to accept?
You do. I recommend a price from the evidence and lay each offer out side by side, and the decision is yours.
Can you help if I am selling and moving out of state?
Yes. I plan the sale around your move date and can introduce you to an agent I know and trust where you are headed.
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Ready to make your move with Merritt Kreutzer Real Estate?