Leave a Message

Thank you for your message. We will be in touch with you shortly.

Seller's Guide

Everything you need to know about putting your home on the market, accepting an offer, and closing on your home.

A Step-by-Step First Time Seller's Guide

Putting your home on the market can be a stressful process, especially when you don’t know what to expect. Fortunately, with the help of an experienced agent  and this easy to follow  guide, you can smoothly complete the process. Following these steps  will help you prepare so you can get organized and sell your home for  the best price possible.​​​​​​​

main

Step 1: Understand Why You're Selling

What do you want to accomplish with the sale of your home? Do you want to make a certain amount of money that you can put toward a larger or nicer home? Do you need to sell it as soon as possible to facilitate a move to a new city or area? Once you understand your needs, you can better craft your offer. For example, if you need to sell quickly, you might want to price your home lower than if your goal is to make a certain profit margin. Make sure you convey these needs to your realtor once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.

main

Step 2: Determine Selling Price

Knowing how to price your home is one of the most important parts of the selling process. When you set a fair price in the beginning, you’ll get the most interest from other real estate agents and prospective buyers. Overpricing your home could lead to reduced interest, and underpricing leads to receiving less than what your home is worth. Working with a real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.

main

Step 3: Start Preparations

If you’ve kept your home in showroom condition since you’ve lived in it, you’re in the minority of homeowners. Once you price your home, it’s time to start getting it ready to be shown to potential buyers. This includes getting rid of clutter, depersonalizing the space so that buyers can envision themselves in the space, making any small repairs, and doing a deep clean to make sure your home is in pristine condition.

main

Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy

I will develop a marketing strategy that is perfect for advertising your home. This involves listing the home and then driving the right people to that listing through social media campaigns, agent-to-agent referrals, traditional media, or SEO advertising. My team creates a marketing campaign that aims to get the most possible traffic to your listing in the first three weeks after becoming a client.

main

Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. We will evaluate each offer and make sure the party making the offer is prequalified or pre-approved by a mortgage lender and that their offer is acceptable to you. If the offer is too low, you can make a counter-offer or offer other ways to bridge the gap, such as covering some or all of the closing costs, making repairs, adjusting the move-in date, or leaving some appliances or fixtures for the new buyer.

main

Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once we deem the offer is acceptable, we will review the proposed contract to make sure it’s all in order and includes the necessary components such as deposit amount, down payment, financing, inspection rights and repair allowances, contingencies, settlement date, and a list of fees and who will pay them. When both parties have agreed to the term, a final contract will be prepared by your agent.

main

Step 7: Get Ready to Close

You have accepted an offer and are now very close to the end of your selling journey. But first, you and the buyer must make a list of what needs to be done before closing. In some cases, your home may need to be formally inspected, surveyed, and appraised. In other cases, major or minor repairs will need to be made before the house can close. I will head up efforts to develop and execute this list, get each action item paid for by the correct party, and make sure everything is in order by the closing date. A few days before the closing date, we will call the company closing the transaction to make sure everything is ready to go. If you haven’t done so already, you also need to make arrangements to move out of the home so the new buyer can take possession.

main

Step 8: Close

You’ve reached the last step in the seller’s process. When you close on a home you are selling, you are legally transferring ownership of the property to the new buyer. We will meet with the company closing the transaction to sign the final paperwork and go over any issues that have not yet been taken care of. During this time, you can also make plans with your realtor to handle final details such as canceling utilities, cable, and lawn or trash services, changing the name on accounts that the new owner is retaining and ensuring the new owner has instructions for all appliances that will remain in the home.

Congratulations!

Once you have sold your home, you’re free to take the next step on your journey. Whether this is relocating to a new city, moving into a larger home, or downsizing and enjoying your life as empty-nesters, knowing all your selling responsibilities have been taken care of will help you achieve peace of mind for your new path.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Five star service and knowledge.

— Sarah L.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

You will be pleased with an extremely professional and caring Realtor® working with Jenny! She will make sure your experience is stress free and will work to find the perfect home for your needs.

— Teri M.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jennifer is absolutely an A+ real estate agent. She listened to my families needs and delivered with respect, professionalism, compassion. and knowledge of the area. I would highly recommend her and I am grateful to have had such a great experience with her.

— Buyer & Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jen is the best there is, plain and simple. She treats you like family. She is very open and honest and always makes herself available when you need her. Her knowledge of the market and home buying/selling process is top notch. Trust her, you’ll be glad you did. Just say Jenny!

— Brandon B.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jennifer not only helped me sell a house she helped my find a new home. She was very helpful and able to take me all over the state of VT and NH looking for the right home for my children and I. The next time I need a Real Estate Professional, I will be calling Jennifer Snyder!

— Buyer & Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jennifer is the most dedicated Real Estate Agent I know. She has not only sold two homes for us but has also helped us purchase two homes. If you want to sell your home or purchase one - she is the to-go person. She handles every single detail meticulously with professionalism.

— Buyer & Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Moving is stressful enough but add in kids and new jobs and it's potentially maddening. Thankfully by adding Jenny to the equation our stress was decreased immensely. Jenny's honesty and diligence were what we needed during our move from another state. We truly feel we found the best home and it's all thanks to Jenny.

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jennifer made our first home purchase a wonderful experience. Not being sure of what we wanted she asked all the right questions to figure it out and guide us through the search. We had constant contact with her and her detail oriented approach left no room to worry as we were on a tight schedule. She is an amazing agent and person who I now think of as a friend.

— Daniele Z.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

We have used Jenny as both a selling and buying agent, and she is top notch! She just sold my parent's house this year as well, which was an emotional one, having been in the family for 70 years, and the first house my parents have sold. She was truly fantastic, and thoughtful. Jenny is super high energy, very professional, and the choice you should make for a Realtor® in the area.

— Buyer & Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jenny is a wonderful, informative, active, and knowledgeable agent. We have used her to both buy and sell a home, as well as purchase land. We feel she is a good agent to have, if you want someone who has your best interest in mind. She is not only our agent, but has also become a good friend, and is always available if we have questions about anything. We will continue to use Jenny for years to come.

— Buyer & Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jen sold my townhouse on the first day she began showing it. Although other Realtors® had told her she had it priced too aggressively and advised we drop the asking price substantially before it went on the market, she asked me to trust her pricing recommendation. I was so glad we did when she called later that week with a full price offer. She had great staging tips and was terrific to work with every s...

— Leigh

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jenny worked with us for a long time, working hard to find homes that would work for me and my husband - each of us with very different styles, likes and dislikes. Once we finally found a home to purchase she was able to work with us in listing our existing home for a quick but fair sale. We were fortunate to have negotiated a sale to one of the first couples who viewed our home and were under contract i...

— Buyer & Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jennifer is everything anyone would want in a real estate professional. She just rocks it! Buying a home, especially in a highly competitive sellers market, can be extraordinarily stressful. Jennifer knew the landscape, understood the strategies needed to be successful and was just great fun to be with. She helped us make good decisions and walked us through every step of the way from showings to multipl...

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

This was the best buying experience my husband and I have ever had. After relocating to the Upper Valley from North Carolina, we worked closely with Jen to find our dream home in an area that was unfamiliar to us. She was very knowledgeable about the area and was very much intuitive about our needs and desires for homes and neighborhoods. Jen made herself available to us when it was most convenient for o...

— Jessica D.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jennifer is an energetic, experienced and savvy real estate agent. She worked with me for the better part of a year to find my first home. She had intimate knowledge of the market in VT and NH, including condos and single family home options. She helped me to see potential value in properties needing renovation, but also was fine when I said I would prefer something with minimal updating needed. When I p...

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

We worked with Jen in 2021 to find our dream lake house in NH (of which there are very few available). Jen is brilliant. Not only did she give us great counsel in evaluating houses that were for sale against our criteria, but her advice on how to position our offer was spot on and made us the winning offer among multiple offers. Jen is “all in” for her clients. I’d say that she went “above and beyond” fo...

— Meagan & Eric

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jenny is the Best! Knowledgeable, thorough, energetic agent who truly connects with her clients. A good bit of fun as well.

— Tom

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

My husband and I used Jen to buy our current house, she is great to work with, great sense of humor, punctual and overall a pleasure to work with! Even helped with questions we had a year later! Would HIGHLY recommend her and her team!

— Jessica

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Jenny and her team are fantastic and are a true representation of integrity and honesty.. This Hanover Realtor understood our needs and communicated every detail and every step through the sale of my childhood home. Mary went above and beyond to make closing happen almost immediately. Thank you for making a stressful process much more enjoyable and taking the time to make us feel reassured and thankful...

— Andrea

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

We found our Hanover Real Estate Agent, Jenny Snyder, through Zillow. She was a great find! We were out of State plus had a difficult seller with title complications. Jennifer navigated us through and kept in close contact until and beyond the closing. We have no hesitation in recommending her.

— Tracey

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

When it came time to list a piece of land I had, I was not sure who to go with for an agent. I met with Jen at Black House and I knew right away Black House was the one to list my property. They explained everything well, guided me every step of the way, and fought tooth-and-nail for me! Jen has an amazing attitude too, very down to earth and funny! I cannot recommend a better Hanover real estate agent!!...

— Brendan

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Having a great real estate agent who knows the area was highly important. Mary was absolutely phenomenal. Her knowledge and expertise was exactly what we were looking for. We were in town for a short period and really wanted to find a home while we were here. Mary took the time to show us several homes all around NH with no hesitation at all, even a last minute house I just had to see. She called immedia...

— Doreen

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

What's Your Home Really Worth?

What's Your Home Really Worth?

Your Home Valuation

Thank You! I am going to prepare a customized report with information on the value of your home.
View Our Listings

Work With Black House

As your real estate firm, we are committed to making the home buying and selling process as smooth as possible. I will listen to your needs and criteria in finding you your “Dream House” and will be dedicated to keeping you informed throughout each step.