Selling a home is a business transaction wrapped in a deeply personal experience. Most agents are good at one of those parts. The good ones are good at both.

Step 1 — Decide if now is actually the right time

Before we list, we have a real conversation. Why are you selling? What's the next move? Is there a financial cliff if this doesn't sell in 60 days? Is there flexibility on the timeline?

Sometimes the best advice I can give a seller is: don't sell yet. Wait six months, do these three improvements, and you'll net $40K more. Sometimes that's what serves the client. I'd rather lose the listing than push you into a bad outcome.

Step 2 — Price it right the first time

The single biggest mistake sellers make is pricing too high "to leave room to negotiate." Here's what actually happens when you do that:

The Data

Homes that sell within the first 21 days of listing sell, on average, closer to asking price than homes that take 60+ days. Pricing right at market value (or even slightly below) creates competition. Pricing above kills it.

How I price

I pull a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) using recently sold homes — emphasis on recently, meaning within 90 days, ideally 60. I look at active comps (your competition right now) and pending comps (what's actually getting offers). Then we sit down and talk through the number.

Step 3 — Prep the home

You don't need to renovate. You need to present. There's a meaningful difference.

What's worth doing

What's not worth doing

You rarely recoup these costs at sale. If they need to be done for the home to sell at all, that's a different conversation — but for a market-ready home, skip them.

Step 4 — Market it like a campaign

This is where my marketing background does real work. A listing isn't just photos and a description. It's a launch. I treat every listing as a 3-week campaign with:

If you want the full breakdown of how I market a listing, the Marketing Plan page covers it.

Step 5 — Manage the offers

When offers come in, we don't just look at price. We look at:

The highest offer is not always the best offer. The most reliable offer almost always is.

Step 6 — Closing

From accepted offer to keys-in-the-new-owner's-hand is typically 30-45 days. During that time: inspections happen, appraisal happens, the buyer's financing finalizes, the title company runs a search, and we work through any negotiations on inspection findings.

My job in this phase is to keep everything moving and to protect your interests every time something tries to slow it down.

What sellers tell me afterward

The two most common things I hear from clients after we close: "I'm so glad I didn't try to do this alone" and "I didn't realize how much work was happening behind the scenes." Both of those are by design. You hired me so you didn't have to think about it.