Berkeley Home Sellers Guide | Gertrude Villanueva

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Relocate with Ease

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.

Testimonials

Pam S.

Our family has known Gertrude for 10 years. She has helped us purchase one property in SF and sell one in SF and one in Berkeley. Gertrude is very knowledgeable about both areas; especially the East Bay. We recently sold our ho...

Kevin Moore

I have been working with Gertrude Villanueva Itchon for over 20 years purchasing and selling investment property throughout the Bay Area. Gertrude is a diligent and consistent real estate agent. She is absolutely wonderful to w...

Jeff J.

Gertrude helped us to find our dream home she's a pleasure to work with and very seasoned in the San Francisco market. She's a great listener, very knowledgeable, and responsive. For us, we felt very comfortable with our close ...

Rose N.

Gertrude is professional, experienced, smart, diligent, confident, dedicated, and hard-working. Gertrude helped us with the sale of our condo and the purchase of our home. From establishing our marketing plan to coordinating re...

Solomon B.

I don't say this lightly: Gertrude is truly excellent. We were in the market for a new home in the competitive Yerba Buena area, which Gertrude handled amazingly. Gertrude is professional, yet tenacious; having interacted with ...

Claire K.

I met Gertrude through a referral from my ex-mother-in-law's realtor. My ex-husband and I were desperately searching for our first home on and off for about a year with another realtor and were very unhappy with the way he did ...

Buyer | Seller

It took us 6 months to find the right place. Gertrude never gave up on us (we almost lost hope to find the right place) unlike the previous agent that disappeared after 3 weeks (saying we won't find a place with our budget in o...

Jocelyn K.

Gertrude was an incredibly valuable partner in assisting my family with purchasing income property in San Francisco. The complexities of buying not only a property, but one that has tenants in place already, are intimidating, b...

Evelyn C.

Gertrude was awesome! I had worked with 3 other agents in the past and felt like they either didn't quite understand what I was looking for, kept showing me properties that were way out of my budget or their enthusiasm waned af...

John P.

The quest to buy a home in the Bay Area can be bewildering and discouraging. But Gertrude knows the way. Her experience, advice, and connections gave us an edge that finally helped us buy a house in San Francisco. This housing ...

Seth M.

Gertrude guided me through the house buying process in 2005 when I was a first-time buyer and through the house selling process in 2010 when I was a first-time seller. In the five years in between, she was always available as a...

Stace G.

I worked with Gertrude in 2012 on a purchase for a condo in the city. My clients (the buyers) were preparing to buy their first home here in the states and I was their loan officer. Although the loan proved to be a bit difficul...

Grace N.

We loved working with Gertrude! She helped us sell our condo in San Francisco within just a few days for the price we wanted. She was very accessible, anytime we called texted, or emailed her she was always available. And since...

Jeffrey C.

Gertrude gets my highest recommendation. She handled the sale of income property in San Francisco for us flawlessly. It was a complicated transaction and Gertrude covered all bases throughout. She is always highly professional,...

Marianne G.

Our family recently bought a home in San Francisco with Gertrude. I have never known a better realtor! She truly cared about our needs and searched endlessly to find us our perfect property. She made the process painless and en...

Monique M.

My husband and I have been using Gertrude for many years for our real estate needs. She has always made herself available to all our phone calls and many house tours. I realize this is their job as a realtor however Gertrude do...

Rajiv K.

We really believe Gertrude is the best agent to work within SFO! She has helped us with multiple apartments and we keep using her help again and again. We bought a new apartment with her at Mira and sold an apartment in Lumina....

Patti S.

Gertrude Villanueva was simply the best, most patient, most effective realtor I have ever worked with through five property purchases I have made in my life. She moved very quickly on helping us purchase a short sale property. ...

Marcus J.

I used Gertrude as my agent in purchasing a peice of property in the soma/mission bay area. She is truly excellent and I would recommend her to anyone in need of a broker or listing agent. She knows her stuff and won't back dow...

Kong

Gertrude is a pleasure to work with and very knowledgeable about real estate in the city. I am super happy with her service to find me a house here in San Francisco. If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the city, I highl...

Work With Gertrude

Buying and selling a home is one of the most important financial and emotional decisions you will ever make, so I can appreciate the magnitude of what is entrusted to me. Clients have reaffirmed their trust and loyalty by referring friends and colleagues.

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Seller's Guide