Tips on selling your home

Thinking of selling your current home, but don't know where to start? A Realtor can help you attract buyers from around the corner — or from another continent — so you'll be able to close the transaction and move ahead with your life.

Orlando Realtors are trained and caring professionals who know how to get results for sellers in the constantly changing real estate market. Marketing and selling a home is a complex process that involves all the tools of the trade, from social networking and online video tours to multiple listing service (MLS) postings and newspaper ads. Realtors have the training and 'matchmaking' skills needed to bring buyers and sellers together for a win-win transaction.

In addition to getting the best sales price and guiding a seller through the maze of paperwork and procedures involved in selling a home, a Realtor can provide sellers a full complement of services, including:

• Gather information about the home — such as square footage, type of heating and cooling systems, proximity to schools and other features — to prepare it for sale.

• Analyze comparable home sales in the area and then use that information to better estimate a property's value, so it can be priced right to sell.

• Design an effective strategy to market the home. It can include posting photos and information about the home on high-volume websites, emailing open house invitations, placing advertisements in local publications and putting a traditional for-sale sign in front of the residence.

• List the home on the local multiple listing service, which all Realtors — locally, nationally and internationally — can access as they seek a home for their buyers.

• Bring qualified buyers to preview the home.

• Guide the seller through all aspects of the sales contract and deal with the buyer on any items that may need to be negotiated.

• Help the buyer find financing, arrange for a home inspection and appraisal, and complete other details in preparation for closing the deal.

• Place the buyer's deposit in escrow and take care of other necessary paperwork.

• Serve as the seller's representative at the closing table.

Deciding to work with a Realtor can give sellers peace of mind. A Realtor in Florida is more than a licensed professional with training and experience in real estate – a Realtor voluntarily agrees to abide by a code of ethics and promises to provide honest treatment to both sellers and buyers.

To learn more, or to find an Orlando Realtor, visit www.orlrealtor.com.

—Orlando Regional Realtor Association