Selling a house differs a little depending on your location, but overall, there are some key steps you’ll need to take.

1. Are you buying a new house and moving out of yours? Get a pre-approved loan for your next home. It’s possible to sell your house and then find you can’t get into another one. Making this mistake will land you in a rental or less desirable purchase moving forward, which most of us would try to avoid.
   
   
2. Call the holder of your mortgage and get the payoff amount. You’ll need this throughout the selling process.
   
   
3. Determine the market value of your home. Start with your own research. What are homes around yours selling for? How long were they on the market? Depending on your circumstances, you can come up with a ballpark number this way. Then meet with your realtor to further refine the number, though ultimately they will expect you to name your price.
   
   
4. Estimate your selling costs by making a list of things like real estate agent commissions (if you use an agent), advertising costs, signs, fees and so on. You’ll have some attorney fees at closing and perhaps at stages throughout the sale. There will be an excise tax for the sale, as well as prorated costs for any unpaid annual expenses, homeowner association fees, community maintenance fees and things like leased propane tanks.
   
   
5. Estimate your costs to buy a new home on the other end. Include moving expenses, costs and fees tied to your loan, down payment, home inspections, title and tax fees and so on.
   
   
6. Subtract the mortgage payoff from your asking price and define your estimated proceeds.
   
   
7. Go through the home and property and flag things that need to be repaired. Make or hire someone to make the repairs, before they are flagged in a buyer’s home inspection. The more problems buyers find, the more they will push to lower the asking price.
   
   
8. Prepare the house for showing. First impressions will make or break your sale. Research shows that most people make up their mind about a home within six seconds of walking through the front door. Remove personal items, pack up clutter, have a garage sale and clean everything up.
   
   
9. Start showing!

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