Seller Resources

Information for selling your home in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Corrales, Tijeras and more.

Selling your home takes planning and preparation. As soon as you start thinking you might want to sell, call me so I can do a Comparative Market Analysis and talk you through the process. Even if you want to sell in a year, it's good to start discussing the process so when the time comes to put your house on the market, you'll be ready.

The reason a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) is important, even in the early stages is because each area, even within Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, have their own unique markets. Taylor Ranch will likely be selling at very different prices than Nob Hill, but even Ladera Heights, just a couple of miles away is likely selling for much less. This holds true all over the country. So if you're in Rio Rancho, you can't assume your house will sell for the same amount as if you lived in the northeast heights of Albuquerque. You need to find out what your house is worth so you know how much you're likely to get when you sell and you can decide if you want to do any updates before putting your house on the market.

Another common scenario in various Albuquerque area is that homes sell for vastly differently prices when they've been remodeled versus when they have not. But not all areas offer the same benefits for a remodel. Nob Hill is one of the most commonly known areas in Albuquerque that provides great rewards for a well done remodel. The same is true for Downtown, Uptown and the North Valley. But when you start looking parts of the Northwest heights of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, the story is different. Remodels are not always rewarded as much. Possibly because the homes aren't as old as those in the other areas listed, but whatever the reason, you have to be careful not to rush into a remodel before selling. It must be done carefully and with the likely financial rewards in mind.

Once you know how much you are likely to earn from the sale of your house, you can decide if you want to move forward with putting it on the market or if there are other options you might want to consider (keeping it as a rental property, buying now and selling later…). In the meantime, I have provided you with some resources to help you work through the process.

Once you’ve decided to sell, use the To Do list below to help you stay on track. But remember, I’ll be there every step of the way to help you get through the process successfully.

Pick a Realtor - Who you use as a Realtor is a critical decision. You want someone who has a good combination of people and negotiation skills as well as a stron business sense and marketing skills. I use my advertising background to help establish a marketing plan for each listing I have. We talk about the pros and cons of your house openly so we can decide the best sales strategy. The perfect example is a swimming pool. There are very few of them in Albuquerque and most buyers don't want a pool. Not only do they not care about having one, they see it as a burden and drawback to have a pool. For that reason, when marketing a house with a pool, we put it in the main picture that goes in the MLS, we talk about it in all of our advertising. You might think this would chase away perfectly good non-pool buying prospects, but the truth is, if they hated pools, it doesn't matter how nice your house is, they're not going to buy it. Instead, we market the house as aggressively as we can as a "pool" house. This way the people who desparately want a pool will find us right away. With that strategy, most of the people seeing your house know about the pool and either they're excited about it, or at least they don't mind.
Clean the house
Declutter the house
Stage the house - These three steps are critical and are all a part of the same step of getting the house ready to be shown. Decluttering a house you've lived in for years is a huge task and can sometimes be overwhelming. This is often the time to bring in a professional organizer and/or stager. An organizer can help you figure out what to keep and what to throw or store. The stager (sometimes the same person) helps you place the furniture and belongings that are staying to best show off the features of your house.
Sign a listing agreement - This is an agreement between you and your Realtor to list your house. While every contract is negotiated individually and commissions are not set by the industry, each Realtor often has a set percentage for selling a house. Mine is 6% of the sales price, to be split 50/50 with the buyer's broker. A lot of people ask "What happens if I bring the buyer?" Well, if I represent both the buyer and the seller, then I usually make some financial concession to the seller, because I'm obviously making more money. But the truth is, finding the buyer is just the beginning of what I do. The negotiation of the contract is one of the most critical parts of the process and you need someone to help you do that. Sometimes it's even more important to have someone in the middle if you're selling the house to a friend of member of the family.
Market the property (Broker and Seller)
Show the house (Broker and Seller)
Keep the house neat and clean
Show the house some more
Get an offer
Negotiate the contract (Broker and Seller)
Order the title binder (Broker)
Conduct inspections (Everyone)
Negotiate repairs (Everyone)
Complete repairs (Seller)- These two are often difficult steps for home sellers. We all think our house is perfect and it's hard to acknowledge it needs repairs. That's why it's best to get a detailed assesment of your house done before you even list it. You might even consider getting a home inspection and making as many of the needed repairs as possible before putting it on the market. It will give you an advantage over the competing houses and might even save you some money on inspections as the buyers might accept the inspections you've already completed.
File change of address (Seller)
Change utilities (gas, electric, cable, phone)
Complete walk-through (Buyer)
Send Title co bank info for funds transfer after closing
Go to signing at title company (takes about half an hour) Bring your Driver’s License
Give keys (Day of or day after signing)
Alert people to address change: banks, credit cards, subscriptions, schools…
Move to new place - Lots of people want to get a contract on their house and then move right into a new house. Sometimes that timing works out really well...The house you're buying will usually be done under a "Contingency" agreement, meaning if your house doesn't close, then you don't have to move forward with the purchase. In this situation, the seller usually reserves the right to market the property and you get a "Frist Right of Refusal" so if they get another offer, you have a day or two to decide what to do and then if you can't move forward the seller is free to sell their house to the other buyer. Sometimes this works out well...but other times it's best to sell your house, move into a rental temporarily and then find the right place. I know this sounds like a huge hassle, but the benefits sometimes outweigh the problems. Especially in this market, it's hard to know if the buyer's loan is going to come through as planned. If it doesn't, and your purchase is contingent upon the sale of your house, then it all falls apart. There are a lot of short term rentals in the Albuquerque area, so it doesn't hurt to consider that as one of the options.