Barbara Reagan's blog

I am a big believer in a pre-market inspection! This means you pay an inspector to inspect your home before it goes on the market. The cost can be between $500 and $1,000 depending on the size of your home. By doing the pre-market inspection, it allows you to fix any items that come up on the inspection report before the home goes on the market. Sometimes, buyers will waive their own inspection if they can read your inspection report and see the receipts for the repairs that you have done. If you'd like to doe a pre-market inspection, let me know - I have a number of very good...

Once all the paperwork is wrapped up, I'll bring in a professional stager to walk through your home with you - room by room. They'll put together a custom list of suggestions, like what to declutter, which pieces of furniture to rearrange, and what might need to go into storage. My stager will then prepare the list for you and send to you within 24 hours of meeting. Included in the list will be Pinterest pictures to use as a guide, if needed! If your home is vacant, we'll also talk through whether you want to stage the entire space, or just a few key rooms.

If you decide to move...

First off - thank you if you have chosen me to help you!  I'm excited to be on this journey with you. Now that we're officially working together, it's time to get your home ready for the market! Here's what comes next:

• A Little Paperwork - Selling a home does involve some paperwork (I promise to make it as painless as possible)

• Your "Top 10" List - I'd love for you to create a "Top 10 list of reasons why you love living in your home!"  Not things buyers can see - your amazing kitchen, for example - but those special, personal touches only you would know!  Think: ...

When you are chatting with a Realtor for the first time, it's a great idea to ask if they're familiar with your neighborhood - and if they've helped clients buy or sell homes there before. Don't be shy about asking about their experience! If your gut tells you this is might be someone you'd enjoy working with, go ahead and ask them to put together a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) for your home and set up a time to meet with them in person.

To create an accurate CMA, the Realtor will likely ask you a few questions - like how much you still owe on your mortgage, if any repairs are...

It's totally normal for homeowners to start the selling process by checking out sites like Realtor.com, Zillow, Redfin or others to get a sense of what homes in their neighborhood are selling for. It's a great starting point - but it's important to know that these websites aren't always 100% accurate!

For example, they often miss homes that were sold off market (like For Sale By Owner properties). Plus, not every listing on these sites is kept up to date. Many agents don't regularly update their listings from "Active" to "Pending" to "Sold", so you might see a home that appears to...