6 Steps to Selling a Home in Illinois

Selling a home can be a complicated process dealing with large sums of money.

It can be incredibly daunting for first-time home sellers since any mistake in the process can result in the loss of money and legal complications down the road.

To help you out, here are six steps that you’ll need to follow to sell your home in the state of Illinois.

1. Hire a Illinois Based Listing Agent

Any real estate transaction is a long and complex process involving negotiations of large sums of money. Thus, it is always recommended that first-time home sellers acquire the services of a listing agent who are legally bound to their fiduciary responsibilities.

Here are some points to keep in mind during the hiring process:

• Referrals are essential, especially ones from an agent’s past clients.
• You should negotiate his/her commission fees to an agreeable percentage of the transaction.
• Your agent should be experienced, ideally between 2-3 years. 
• Your agent should have a clear-cut marketing strategy for your home as well as the resources to execute it.

2. Valuing and Pricing Your Home

A common mistake among first time home buyers is overpricing their property during the listing and slowly adjusting it over time to meet the demand. However, since a property’s visibility on the market decreases rapidly with time, this strategy will only result in your listing’s expiration.

It is imperative that you price your home according to its value on the market. You, or preferably, your agent, can perform a comparative market analysis (CMA) to compare the prices of the houses in your neighborhood according to their footage, age, and location. You can extrapolate that data to find the value of your own home by adjusting those parameters.

If you’re a first time home seller, the following tips can be of great help when pricing your home:

• Compare Sold Listings – This includes those homes in your area which have recently been sold. They’re a great way to determine the ratio of the price differences between the original listing and the selling price to the final listing and the selling price of those properties, keeping in mind whether they were sold in a buyer’s or a seller’s market.

• Adjust Your Price in One Go – If you feel like you’ve overpriced your home, you should immediately adjust its pricing to make your listing more lucrative to buyers. However, this should be done with a single price cut since most listings tend to expire after 60 days. 

3. Stage and Repair Your Home

Staging is the act of de-personalizing your home and making it more appealing for potential buyers. It’s one of the best ways to ensure that your home sells for close to or above its market value. You can start by cleaning and decluttering your property. Find out how to makeover your front yard on a budget, click here for more.

Repairing is also a must if your home has foundational issues like ceiling or wall cracks. They are red flags for potential buyers since they’d have to be the ones to fix them. Your agent can help you identify any such issues that demand immediate repair to avoid complications during the home inspection process. 

4. The Marketing and The Showing Process

Efficient marketing of your home will ensure that you receive the most offers and thereby facilitate a speedy sale without compromising on its value. 

Identify the features that make your property unique and then choose an appropriate marketing medium to advertise. Make sure that you utilize both traditional (newspaper adverts, sale posters) as well as online platforms (multiple listing services, social media) during the marketing campaign.   

 Once your listing is active and your home staged, you will need to prepare for one of the most critical parts of the selling process- the showing, which can either be private or open houses.  

5. Receiving and Negotiating Purchase Offers

If your home is priced competitively, you’ll begin receiving multiple purchase offers once it is actively listed. In Illinois, prospective buyers will require a pre-approval from their lender before they make any offers. Make sure that you don’t ignore any offers and respond to unsatisfactory ones with a counteroffer within a period of three days. 

Once an offer is agreed upon by both the parties, you can then start negotiating on the closing costs and other miscellaneous expenses associated with the transaction. It generally takes 30-40 days to finalize a real estate purchase in Illinois.

6. Inspections, Legal Formalities, and Closing

Both a home inspection and appraisal will be performed by a licensed appraiser in Illinois before any purchase agreement is finalized. The buyer pays for the inspection, while the appraisal will be arranged by the lender. 

Following the inspection process, you will be required by law to provide the buyer with a Residential Property Disclosure Statement, which states any foundational issues, defects, or hazards associated with your home.

Such defects can include- mold buildup, termite damage, damaged ceiling or floors, fire safety violations, and faulty wirings. It is recommended that you consult with your real estate agent or an attorney to ensure that your sale complies with the laws of Illinois.

After the legal formalities are completed, the closing process will put a wrap to the entire transaction. During the closing, you, the broker, and the seller will meet to review the closing costs, insurance documents, title deeds.

Finally, after the legal documents are signed by both the parties and transaction records filed to the requisite public records, you will hand over the keys to the buyer, thereby terminating your ownership of the property.  

A Streamlined Process

Selling a home is just like any other high profile business transaction. You strive to get the most value out of selling something that you already own while ensuring that the transaction remains in compliance with local and federal laws.

As such, the above steps will help you streamline your approach and make educated decisions, even if you don’t have much knowledge about real estate sales.