As your listing agent, I oversee all the steps of selling your home, including marketing your home effectively, showing and coordinating showings with buyer agents, negotiating the best terms, and overseeing the escrow process.

Q: How much does it cost to sell my home?

A: The rule of thumb is approximately 7% of the sales price, which includes agent commissions, termite inspections and any necessary repairs, title and escrow fees, and HOA transfer fees. I can send you a Seller Net Proceeds worksheet for you to give you a close estimate of how much money you will get paid. Here is a copy of a blank Seller Net Proceeds Worksheet for your reference. You can also read my article about the costs to sell a home.

Q: How do I get the most money for my home?

A: The best way to sell your home for the most amount of money and in the least amount of time is to price it well, and make it look as clean and move-in ready as possible. A well-priced listing will receive more traffic and offers than a listing that is priced too high. Appearance on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) determines whether or not brokers will schedule tours for their clients. Good photographs of your property are important, and then once people come to look at your property, it needs to be as inviting as possible. Inexpensive ways to increase curb appeal include washing the exterior, window cleaning, landscaping, and painting the front door. Once potential buyers walk through the front door, the more a home looks ready for them to live in, the easier it is for them to imagine themselves moving in.

Q: What happens in the escrow process and how long does it take to get paid after we accept an offer?

A: Escrow periods typically last 30-45 days, but this can vary depending on terms and the property. Here’s an example of the life of a typical 30-day escrow, from a seller’s point of view:

• Week 1: Offer is accepted, escrow is opened. You will have several visitors to your house at the beginning of the escrow process: there will be a termite inspection, the buyers will come for a home inspection, their agent will complete a visual inspection, and if the buyers are taking out a mortgage to buy the house, there will also be an appraiser coming to complete the home appraisal. You can also read my article about the Home Appraisal process. You will sign and the buyer will receive the seller disclosures, in which you report all material facts about the property.
• Week 2: The escrow officer will process your loan repayment, if you have a mortgage on the house that you are selling. After buyer receives the home inspection report, their agent will submit a Request for Repairs, which your listing agent will review with you.
• Week 3: Final loan approval is made. Buyer signs a Contingency Release once all inspections are made, disclosures are reviewed, repairs are negotiated, and loan approval is confirmed. Then you can schedule any termite and other repairs to be completed.
• Week 4: Buyer does a final walk-through of the property about five days before close of escrow. Once buyer signs their loan documents, the loan is funded, and the title company records the deed of trust at the County Assessor’s office, you hand over keys to the buyer, and the escrow company sends you a check for your net proceeds.

You can fill out the form on the right for a comprehensive market analysis of your home and neighborhood. You can also call or text me at (760) 637-7231, or send me an email.

Additional Homeowner Resources

Keep Your Home California Homeowner Assistance – a $2 billion, federally-funded mortgage assistance program started in February 2011. There are four programs that may help you if you are currently a homeowner with a financial hardship. You can also read my articles about their mortgage assistance programs and their pilot program for seniors with FHA reverse mortgages.

Making Home Affordable Mortgage Relief Programs – read about HARP, HAMP, and HAFA programs.

Wildfires happen in Southern California – read my San Diego Wildfires series to learn how to protect your home, property, and community.

Save money, increase your property’s value, and protect natural resources with a water-wise landscape, a free rain barrel, a free Ecobee thermostat, a low-cost home energy assessment, and energy-saving rebate programs.

Conserve Water, Save Money, and Prepare for New Retrofitting Law

Effective Jan. 1, 2014, property owners who obtain permits to remodel a property that was built prior to 1994 are required to retrofit with toilets that use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, showerheads with flow rates of no more than 2.5 gallons per minute, and other interior fixtures that use less than 2.2 gallons of water per minute. This applies to all single-family property permits, as well as multifamily and commercial property permits where 10 percent or more of the square footage is included in the remodel. By Jan. 1, 2017, all residential properties in California that were built prior to 1994 will need to be in compliance with water fixtures as outlined above, which will bring them up to the same standards as homes built since 1994.