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Seller's Guide

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.​​​​​​​

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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 Real Estate Agent once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Step 5: Evaluate Offers

Receiving an offer is an exciting part of the process, but it doesn’t mean the journey is over. I 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.

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Step 6: Accept an Offer

Once I deem the offer is acceptable, I 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.

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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, I 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.

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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. I 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 Real Estate Agent 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.

Barbara B.
Barbara B.
The best decision I made in selling my mid-century modern Piedmont home of 48 years, was choosing Debbi and Adam as my Realtors. Throughout, they made me feel that I was their only and most important client. Debbi and Adam are a great professional team, pra... Read More
Sue T.
Sue T.
I had an outstanding experience working with the Betta - DiMaggio team as my real estate agents. From the beginning, they were professional, knowledgeable, responsive in advising and guiding me through the process. Both Debbi and Adam were always available ... Read More
Scott B.
Scott B.
Debbi, Adam, Chase, and their team were an absolute dream to work with. My wife and I were first time home buyers and knew very little about the process. They walked us through everything we needed to know (what to look for in disclosures, what questions we... Read More
Claudio B.
Claudio B.
We have known Debbi and Adam since 2015. They are wonderful to work with, dedicated beyond reason to helping their clients and live up to their reputation as the best agents in Piedmont and the East Bay. They just spent 10 months helping us prepare and sell... Read More
Nancy W.
Nancy W.
After over 50 years of owning a family home in Piedmont, we hired Debbi and Adam to renovate and sell our family home. It was a very stressful time for all of our family due to losing our dear Mom. Our mother had interviewed Debbi several years before and... Read More
Len & Mary B.
Len & Mary B.
We have known Debbi since she was a little girl and have watched her progress thru the real estate business over the last 30 years. When we called her we expected to get good service but we were honestly wowed by both of them. They are professional, knowled... Read More
Wes & Carolyn O.
Wes & Carolyn O.
Debbi is a top-notch professional with a laser focus on meeting the unique needs of her clients. We obtained outstanding results in a short period of time working with Debbi, despite looking in a tight, supply-constrained market in the East Bay. Debbi squee... Read More
Jennifer B.
Jennifer B.
Debbi and Adam are top notch! They helped me stage and sell my Oakland home quickly and with a great offer. I live far away and travel a lot, and I didn't even have to lift a finger--they did everything for me! This team is worth their weight in gold and I ... Read More
Melissa H.
Melissa H.
Working with Debbi and Adam was a pleasure. Their wealth of transaction experience and deep market knowledge led to a successful outcome in the sale of our house. Debbi's friendly, easy-going personality made the entire process less stressful. She is a good... Read More
Carl C.
Carl C.
Debbi and Adam helped me considerably with the sale of my Piedmont home. It was a major project from renovation to final sale that took many months with construction delays and challenges. As a team they worked diligently and with care throughout that time,... Read More
Amy G.
Amy G.
Debbi has helped me learn how to network effectively, not only in a small but dynamic city such as Piedmont, but also to go out into the world and be confident about my passion for my work and serving people. She creates forums for people in her community a... Read More
Geoff & Secil W.
Geoff & Secil W.
"Full service" does not begin to describe the contributions Adam made in selling our home and buying a new home in a challenging economic environment. Not only did he help us negotiate very favorable deals (people are still amazed), but he also helped stage... Read More
Julia & Carter C.
Julia & Carter C.
Doing business with Adam Betta was like doing business with a savvy, competent and reliable friend. He did not appear to have any agenda other than helping us buy the home we truly wanted. Adam’s advice was clear and concise, addressed both the positives an... Read More
Kate C.
Kate C.
Without reservation or hesitation, I am writing to endorse Debbi DiMaggio’s outstanding skills and talent as a realtor. I speak from experience, having sold my beloved Piedmont home of 50 years this past May. The decision to do so was traumatic, and Debbi g... Read More
Megan & Zach S.
Megan & Zach S.
Zach and I are very grateful to you for all that you have done to rent our house. You made the process so seamless, and we appreciated your patience, kindness, and persistence. It was a joy to hang with you, Debbi! I hope you both are doing well, and please... Read More
Ben F.
Ben F.
Once in every great while you meet someone who delivers excellence. For me, as I sought to sell my home in San Leandro, that person was definitely Debbi DiMaggio, who managed the sales process expertly, communicated responsively as well as proactively, nego... Read More
Chris K.
Chris K.
Debbi DiMaggio of Highland Partners (now Corcoran Global Living) is hands down one of the best agents around. I had met her several times over the years at various open houses that she had listed during our home search. She was always extremely personable a... Read More
Donna & Mark J.
Donna & Mark J.
My wife Donna and I have owned a townhouse in the Hiller Highlands community of Oakland for the last 8 years. We decided to sell our property and move back to New England to be closer to family and friends. Moving multiple times over the years with my compa... Read More
Elizabeth A.
Elizabeth A.
Adam and Debbi are smart, dedicated, hard working professionals - and champions of the Hiller Highlands community! They helped me secure a beautiful townhouse at an exceptional price. They drove the sale process through multiple challenging hurdles, and mad... Read More
Kaitz Family
Kaitz Family
After living there for 38 years, we sold our large Piedmont family home. With the stress of moving after all those years, we needed a realtor we could depend on to handle the sale. Debbi was the answer. She really knew the market, had excellent insights abo... Read More
Kari K.
Kari K.
Debbi DiMaggio is a top-notch, highly experienced real estate agent. I have known Debbi for years, and she really helped me out when I was in an unpleasant situation with a realtor that I started out using to sell my parents’ home in Moraga. Once I started ... Read More
Gary B. & Rich G.
Gary B. & Rich G.
Our agents Adam Betta and Debbi DiMaggio were excellent. They not only represented us in the purchase of our home in Hiller Highlands but they sold our former home in Oakland. The whole experience was fast, stress free and there were no hitches. They know t... Read More
Buyer | Seller
Buyer | Seller
It has been an absolute pleasure working with you and your team. I would be more than happy to work together in the future. You have been professional, patient, understanding, and very helpful as we worked through a couple of speed bumps during this transac... Read More
Dave L.
Dave L.
I have thirty years experience in the SF Bay Area owning and managing residential and commercial real estate. Additionally I have spent fifteen years in the real estate loan business as a mortgage broker, direct lender, and loan office manager for several C... Read More
Jackie & Derek R.
Jackie & Derek R.
We wanted to take a moment and compliment the outstanding service of the DiMaggio & Betta Group! My husband and I have worked with Debbi & Adam before and once again they were outstanding! There are a few things that really stand out when you work with them... Read More
Alex & Carolina
Alex & Carolina
Adam and Debbi are the most reliable and professional real estate agents we had the chance to work with! As first-time home buyers in the very competitive San Francisco Bay area, dealing with Adam and Debbi was a wonderful experience. Both of then are extre... Read More
Sandi & Dell H.
Sandi & Dell H.
This sums up our experience with Debbi and Adam: Debbi—can-do, energetic, organized Adam—responsive, thorough, unruffled. They are each market-focused, strategic thinkers who offer years of experience and knowledge. They are consummate professionals to whom... Read More
Linda S.
Linda S.
If you’re looking for a dedicated, knowledgeable, and professional expert to help with the sale or purchase of your home, look no further than Debbi DiMaggio Betta and her team at Corcoran. Debbi had our place sold before it even hit the market! She has an ... Read More
Alexandra S.
Alexandra S.
We met Debbi and Adam about 5 years ago and since then they have provided their assistance with a number of things. Most recent is property management and leasing. They are one of the most knowledgeable, competent and helpful Real Estate professionals I hav... Read More

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Debbi looks forward to learning how she might assist in all facets of your life—as a friend, a resource, and a partner in achieving your real estate goals. Whether you're renting, selling, buying, or investing, she's got you covered and is always grateful for the opportunity.

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