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Seller's Guide

Everything you need to know about putting your home on the market, accepting an offer, and closing on your home.

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 team of real estate agents 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 team of real estate agents once you choose one so they 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 team of real estate agents is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. A team of real estate agents 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

We 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. Our 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. We 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 we deem the offer is acceptable, we 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 team of real estate agents.

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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. We 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, we 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. We 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 team of real estate agents 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.

Our Testimonials

See why our clients love working with us.
Michele & Andrew

Michele & Andrew

As I sit looking out my window at my beautiful snow covered view from our new home, I am very thankful for Jason Barrow. He had the patience and connections to find our home in a very competitive Real Estate market. He is very ...
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Faro

Faro

Thank you for going way beyond the call of duty to sell my 4 Plex. Because of your efforts I was able to purchase our home in a timely manner.
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Ron

Ron

I have owned investment property in Pasco, WA since 2005. Through all of these years, I met many realtors who wanted my business. So I had a decision to make when I decided to sell my 4Plex this spring, and I chose Jason Barrow...
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Don & Ann

Don & Ann

We found Jason Barrow to be just who we needed to assist us in finding a home. He is a true professional & adds a personal touch, as well. We have really enjoyed our association with him & would recommend him highly to anyone l...
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Robert

Robert

Jason is a great ally to have on your side when buying or selling a home. I’ve personally worked with him for two purchases and one sale in the last couple years and have been more than happy every time. He seems to take a pers...
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Jay & Diane

Jay & Diane

My wife and I have had the pleasure of working with Jason Barrow on the purchase of our new home in the Tri-Cities. Jason is a real professional who genuinely cares that he finds the right home for his clients. We recommend Jas...
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Lee Ann

Lee Ann

I met Jason last July and spoke with him about selling my house. It was a new experience for me and i was pretty apprehensive. Jason immediately put me at ease and was quite understanding about some of the difficulties I was de...
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Joshua & Joslyn G.

Joshua & Joslyn G.

Jason Barrow handled our realtor experience both professionally and friendly as possible. He was always forthright and honest with us. He helped us sell our home for a very good price and was enthusiastic with helping us search...
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Mindy

Mindy

Jason was very easy to work with and professional during all aspects of our home search. We had given up hope of finding our perfect house and almost settled. Jason encouraged us to keep looking and he did find our perfect hous...
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Poulson

Poulson

Jason Barrow sold my house very quickly. He was professional and knowledgeable and also a lot of fun to work with. My move became difficult after the closing and Jason was there to help. Most of the time after your house is sol...
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Winston & Whitney

Winston & Whitney

We were in the process of looking to purchase a bank foreclosure or HUD home and Jason helped us locate the perfect HUD home, in the location we wanted to be in. He walked us through the process of purchasing a HUD home prior t...
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Kris

Kris

My husband and I came to Jason as first time home buyers, or as i call it, real estate dummies. Jason is incredibly knowledgeable and help guided us through this process effortlessly. Any questions we had (and mind you we had a...
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Chris

Chris

Jason has tremendous energy and focus. His attention to detail coupled with his knowledge of the market makes him a great choice for anyone looking to purchase a home. He worked behind the scenes to make the deal work including...
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Richard

Richard

Jason did a great job especially with the simultaneous closing and all the complications that entails.
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Jennifer

Jennifer

Jason made purchasing a home incredibly easy for me and my family. We relocated to the Tri-Cities and were unable to be present through most of the process. He made sure everything was taken care of for us and once we were clos...
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Buyer

Buyer

It was great working with Jason. He was professional, knowledgeable about the market and went out of his way to ensure a smooth home-buying process. He even helped us with some local referrals. Five stars!
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John

John

Jason sold us our dream home four years ago. This last summer he sold our rental property in Richland; sold within a month! He sold our kids a great house in West Richland this past July! He is hard working for his clients and ...
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Seller

Seller

I cannot say enough good things about our experience working with Jason. Jason recently helped us on a home we built. My wife and I were nervous about the process as we have heard the horror stories. Jason exceeded all of our e...
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Stacey

Stacey

I had such a great experience with Jason Barrow as my realtor. I’m a single woman and was really nervous about finding a house that was affordable, but that wouldn’t need consistent repairs and extra money being put into it. Ja...
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Chris

Chris

Jason has helped me sell and purchase two homes. Without hesitation, I'd recommend him because he's personable, professional and believe he genuinely cares about meeting his customers needs. Jason makes the home buying process ...
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Ready for Your Next Move?

Whether you're preparing to sell a longtime home, searching for your next property, or considering a newly built home, the process starts with understanding what you want to accomplish. Jason brings more than two decades of Tri-Cities real estate experience—and a firsthand perspective on home construction—to every conversation. The goal is simple: give you clear information, practical guidance, and the confidence to make the right move for your situation.

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