Selling your home in Northern Virginia
Here is what I actually do when you list with me. Every sale is different, but the sequence is the same, and I'd rather set out what is included than describe it in general terms. If something below matters to you and something else doesn't, say so — several of these are yours to choose.
Pricing
I'll prepare a market analysis from recent comparable sales and current inventory and recommend a list price. I put it together myself rather than handing you a number off a screen. I'd rather give you an accurate figure than an optimistic one to win the listing — an overpriced house sits, and a house that sits sells for less than one priced properly in the first place.
Getting the house ready
I hire a professional photographer; that is not an upsell and it is not optional on my listings. If you want floor plans, I'll have them produced. If you want staging, I'll arrange it. Whether either is worth doing depends on the house, and we'll talk about it honestly rather than treating it as a package.
Showings
I manage the showing schedule so you aren't fielding requests yourself: appointments, access, notice that works around your household, and feedback where agents give it. If the property is occupied — by you, by a tenant — that shapes what's realistic, and we'll set it up around that rather than against it.
Offers
When offers come in I lay out the differences in price, financing type, contingencies, closing date, and what the buyer is asking you to contribute. The highest number is not always the strongest offer, and a weaker offer that closes is worth more than a better one that falls apart. I'll tell you which is which and why, then negotiate on your behalf.
Contract to closing
I manage the inspection response, the appraisal, title work, and the closing paperwork, and keep the file moving so dates don't slip.
How I work with you through it
Selling a house is mostly a sequence of decisions: what to price it at, what to do to it first, which offer to take, how to answer an inspection request, whether to hold firm on an appraisal gap. Each one arrives with a clock attached.
I believe in having you prepared in advance of those decision points rather than presenting them to you cold. That means talking through what is likely to come next before it does, so that when it arrives you've already thought about it. And when it does arrive, my job is to walk you through the options and what each one leads to — not to tell you what to do. It is your house and your money. I'd rather you understood the choice and made it than deferred to me because there wasn't time to explain.
What your house is worth
Pricing is the decision that affects every other one, so it's the place to start. You canrequest a valuation and I'll prepare the analysis for you personally — recent comparable sales, what is currently competing with you, a recommended range, and the reasoning behind it. There's no obligation attached to it.
How straightforward that analysis is depends on where you are. In a planned community where the houses were built to similar standards within a few years, the comparables are close and the range is narrow. In an area of mixed vintages, varied lots, or thin sales volume — much ofthe Piedmont and the northern Shenandoah Valley— there is more judgement in it, and I'll show you the judgement rather than just the number. Theneighborhood guides describe how each area's housing stock varies, which is the thing that makes a valuation tight or wide.
The first step is usually the valuation. Tell me about your home and I'll put the analysis together, orsend me a note or call 703-721-4332if you'd rather talk it through first.