The Selling Process
Steps to Selling Your Home for the Highest Possible Price.
Initial Meeting
Step #1 Working Relationship
Let’s get together to discuss the selling process and see if we are a good fit to work together. When we meet, we will determine your key objectives, review the marketing plan, strategize how we will negotiate offers up to the highest possible price, and discuss the right pricing strategy for your home.
You may also want to meet with your tax professional and consider some of the following:
✓ What am I going to do with my money?
✓ Who is on title?
✓ Have I talked to my CPA about selling?
✓ What taxes will I owe?
✓ Capital gains?
✓ 1031 Exchange?
✓ What are my current loan commitments secured by this property?
✓ Have I paid my property taxes?
Step #2 Home Preparation
I love selling turnkey, fixer-uppers, and everything in between! But getting your home ready to sell can often be very overwhelming. I will help you prioritize what improvements, if any, will generate the highest return on your investment and my team will help coordinate and oversee the preparation process from start to finish. We will get bids, develop a timeline, track the budget, and follow up with vendors.
Order Inspections – The most common inspections performed are the home, pest, and sewer lateral inspections. If any issues are found during these inspections, you can choose to disclose and repair them or only disclose the issues. Any issues disclosed upfront cannot be negotiated later in escrow by the buying party, therefore, I find it very beneficial to perform inspections at this time. You can find a list of my trusted inspectors here.
Complete Planned Improvements – Before professional photos are taken and your home goes on the market, you’ll want to complete any planned improvements such as landscaping, cleaning, painting, or new flooring. View a list of my preferred vendors here.
Home Staging – After any improvements are completed, you may want to consider home staging or hiring a design consultant! Staging your home can be the very reason why buyers are able to visualize themselves at home in your property. Click here for a list of my staging partners. If you’re still living at the property during the sale, check out these helpful tips on how to prepare your home.
Disclosures
Step #3 Disclosures
Providing complete disclosures and reports of your home is an important strategy when selling your home and prevent the need to negotiate any unforeseen issues during escrow. Seller disclosures can be completed in person or via Glide and should include information regarding property history, improvements, and the current condition. Also included in my listing package is Disclosures.io, which is a cloud-based tool that stores all the disclosures and reports and is also accessible to home buyers and buyer’s agents. Disclosures.io easily compiles disclosure packages with drag and drop organization and allows controlled distribution with customized invitations and alerts. Knowing who is serious about buying your home with real-time data gives us a competitive advantage when negotiating multiple offers.
Step #4 Marketing Components
Once inspections and pre-listing work are complete it’s time to start the marketing portion of selling your home! As your agent, I offer an inclusive and extensive marketing package that includes:
✓ Professional Photos
✓ Virtual Tour
✓ Aerial Photography and Videography
✓ Floor Plan Rendering
✓ Descriptive Marketing Copy that Highlights your Home as Well as its Location
✓ Single Property Website with Custom URL
✓ Paid Facebook and Instagram Just Listed Ad
✓ Email Marketing to over 10,000+ agents in the Bay Area
✓ Social Media Marketing
Weekly Marketing Review
To ensure that our marketing is effective and the buyer feedback is positive, it is important that we monitor the analytics for your property. Each week, until the property is in contract, I will follow up with agents who have shown the property for buyer feedback and compile listing analytics from the property website, Disclosures.io, broadcasted listing websites, and private showings.
Step #5 Offers & Negotiations
After showings, I will follow up with the buying agents to gauge their client’s interest in making an offer and to gather their feedback on the property. Whether we receive one or multiple offers there is always room for negotiation to ensure you are getting the highest possible price. Some examples of terms that can be negotiated in a counteroffer include escrow length, price, who pays for the home warranty, seller in possession, and rent backs just to name a few.
If we are countering more than one offer, we will counter it with a Seller Multiple Counter Offer. This form notifies the buying party that you are countering multiple offers, though the terms in the counteroffer can be different for each party.
Once one party accepts the offer or counteroffer you are officially in escrow and the countdown to close begins.
Step #6 Escrow
Once you have accepted an offer, we will enter into the escrow period. During the escrow period, my team will:
✓ Create an escrow calendar for important dates
✓ Ensure the buyer and buyer’s agent have received all the disclosures and reports.
✓ Review and negotiate any backup offers.
✓ Review documents and confirm that they are properly signed and acknowledged.
✓ Follow up on the progress of the buyer’s loan application, appraisal, and time frame.
✓ Ensure contingency removal dates are met, review, and negotiate any request for repairs (if applicable).
✓ Schedule a final walk-through for the buyer.
Sign Off and Closing
Step #7 Closing
You’ve made it through the preparation, listing, and escrow stages and now it’s time to close! In the last week before closing escrow, you will:
✓ Review the closing statement from the title company
✓ Schedule and confirm the sign-off date
✓ Sign-off at the title company
Once the loan is funded, the buyer’s name is recorded at the County and escrow will close. I will exchange keys with the buyer’s agent and you will receive a copy of all the disclosures and reports electronically. That’s it, you did it!
If you are selling an investment property, I can help you facilitate a Tax-Deferred 1031 Exchange. I invite you to get in touch with my preferred Wealth Manager and CPA with any other questions about selling.
Reviews
Highly likely to recommend
“Sam and his team went above and beyond when it was time to sell my mom's house. Not only were their experience and knowledge in real estate incredibly helpful, Sam took the time to make sure we were comfortable each step of the way. We are so grateful for their help!”
Highly likely to recommend
“⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Working with Sam Bird-Robinson at COMPASS was an outstanding experience! Sam is professional, attentive, and incredibly knowledgeable about the market. From our first conversation to closing, Sam made the process seamless and stress-free, always taking the time to answer questions and provide expert guidance. Their dedication, honesty, and personal touch truly set them apart. I highly recommend Sam to anyone looking for a top-notch real estate experience!”
Highly likely to recommend
“A smooth home buying experience is always appreciated! We were looking for a place for our daughter and nephew to live while attending college and Sam made locating the right place at the right price a breeze! Not only was the buying experience painless, Sam was a pleasure to work with.”
Highly likely to recommend
“Sam & team are absolute rockstars. I cold called them based on reviews and recommendations and they were immediately helpful. It really blew me away. They took time to really understand what we were looking for, gave us a really good understanding of the area (we're not from SC), were unbiased in what they showed us, and never felt like we were being sold. And in the end, found exactly what we were looking for. True definition of pros. No question I know who to call next time I'm in the market.”
Highly likely to recommend
“I had a great experience working with Sam Bird Robinson and would absolutely recommend him. I started my home search at a time when inventory was really limited, and Sam was proactive and creative in helping me find the right place. The home I ultimately bought wasn’t even actively on the market, and his persistence and willingness to think outside the box helped make that opportunity possible. One thing I really appreciated was how thoughtful he was throughout the process. Instead of only showing me homes that seemed like an obvious fit, he took the time to show a variety of properties so I could figure out what I really liked and didn’t like. That ended up being really helpful in narrowing down what mattered most. Sam was also very flexible with my schedule and made himself available even when I only had small windows of time between work, school drop offs and sports practices. He was great with my kids who ultimately didn’t want me to meet with Sam if they couldn’t come too. He was always responsive, easy to communicate with, and very organized. The digital documents and messaging app he uses kept everything in one place, which made the whole process feel much more manageable. Buying a home can feel overwhelming, but Sam made it a really positive experience. I’m very grateful for all the effort he put into helping me find the right place. Sam always asked me “Is now a good time to talk” every time he called. This may seem like a small gesture, but it allowed me to be honest if it really wasn’t a good time. That’s just a small example of the care and consideration Sam has for you when working with him. Buying a home can be stressful, but Sam made the process feel smooth, thoughtful, supported. If you’re looking for a realtor who is hardworking, creative, and genuinely invested in helping you find the right home, Sam is someone you want on your team.”
Highly likely to recommend
“Sam consistently went above and beyond to help us sell my mother’s home in Santa Cruz. He listened to my priorities and concerns and exceeded expectations at every step along the way. We were on a tight timeline and had a lot to do to prepare the house for sale, and he and his team handled everything. Sam made the whole experience as stress-free as possible, and I highly recommend him!”
Highly likely to recommend
“Sam Bird-Robinson at Compass helped our family navigate three real estate transactions over more than two years during a complex multi-family living transition. With shifting timelines and evolving needs, Sam was consistently steady, thoughtful, and reliable throughout the process. He brought strong market knowledge and strategic thinking, while remaining patient and responsive as our situation evolved. We always felt heard and supported, and he helped us make well-considered decisions around timing and tradeoffs at each stage. Sam also balanced being both a long-term friend and our real estate agent with integrity and care. We look back on our experience working with Sam with gratitude and would highly recommend him to anyone navigating the Santa Cruz real estate market.”