List With AREA Experts

main

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.​​​​​​​

01

Let's Talk

Meet with your Compass agent to discuss your plans and goals, trends in the current marketplace, and assess you property's qualities and characteristics. Your Compass agent will analyze comparable property sales, assess the competition, work with you to determine pricing strategy, and outline a strategic plan to achieve the best possible result for you as a seller.

02

Setting the Stage

From applying a fresh coat of paint to rearranging furniture, your Compass agent will ensure that the property is visually ready for showing. Once all home preparation and improvement is done, your AREA agent and AREA marketing team will schedule a professional photo shoot, commission an illustrative floor plan, prepare a listing description, and strategize a detailed marketing plan. At this time you should also sit down with your agent and complete the Seller Disclosure documents that will be necessary for the transaction.

03

Going Live

The listing is broadcast on Compass.com and sent across our 100+ partner sites for the duration of the selling process. Additional marketing strategies will take place to ensure the property is getting high-quality traffic and views across digital and print marketing platforms.

05

Making Connections

Your agent continuously leverages professional contacts and the Compass Network Tool to find ideal buyer brokers. Open houses are hosted for both brokers and clients on an ongoing basis.

06

Building a Strategy

Your agent conducts on assessment of the market response within the first 30 days of your listing going live. Feedback from agents and buyers is aggregated, and the listing strategy revised if needed. Marketing efforts and strategies are assessed on a weekly basis tracking data and traffic to edit or adjust marketing moving forward as well as demographic and geographic research as well.

07

Communication

You and your Compass agent will establish the best method and frequency of communicating as the process unfolds. Your agent will provide you with regular feedback and will keep you updated with continuous traffic metrics and information from the market.

08

Negotiations

09

Escrow

Once a contract has been agreed to and signed by all parties, an escrow will be opened and the buyer's contingency period will begin. Timelines for the completion of buyer and seller responsibilities will be listed in the purchase contract and adhered to in the escrow. Your Compass agent will keep a close eye on the timelines and ensure that you are in compliance with your responsibilities, while also holding the buyer's side to task to keep the process moving.

10

Closing

Your Compass agent will monitor and coordinate all the details necessary to get you to the finish line. Once the buyer has performed their inspections, removed their contingencies, and the loan (if any) is ready to fund, your agent will arrange the final walk-through. At or near this time the escrow will close, payment will be made, and the keys will be handed over to the buyer.

Before & After

What We Can Do For Your Property

Elevate Your Home with our In-House Interior Design Specialist, Marina Accardo with MStudioHouse

Our Design Services

Our team of design experts will work with you to make sure we maximize sales price

Marina Accardo

Managing Principal | M StudioHouse Design

In working with Marina, her clients receive a special advantage of two professionals. Marina collaborates with her husband Tony in a team approach to deliver a truly comprehensive real estate experience and best-in-class service with the fundamental mission: Real Estate. Real Different. 


With Marina’s 20+ years of experience in interior design and collaboration with other interior designers like Meredith Baer, she aims to truly transform a home to bring her client’s dreams to life. Her clients enjoy her cheerful Canadian personality and they find that her warmth and heartfelt care are very present in everything she does on their behalf. Her keen eye for design and home remodeling and new construction projects landed her a second career in interior design where she founded MStudioHouse Design. As a specialist in the Acquisition and Marketing of Residential Luxury Properties, her trusted perspective, acute discretion, and thorough and competent representation truly differentiate the AREA team from competitors. 

Testimonials
Tony has seen us through seven transactions so we know him and his abilities. He’s helped us buy three houses, he’s sold three of our homes and has helped us find an...
Melinda D.
We used a new and I believe unique program called Compass Concierge which is exclusive to Accardo Real Estate and Compass. Through the program we were able to resto...
Pamedson3
Penny is an amazing professional. She is very knowledgeable, responsive, kind, proactive and extremely resourceful. Penny made the transaction of selling my childh...
Jan Chilimidos
Mike is a true professional who goes above and beyond and covers every detail. He was quick to respond to any requests or questions we had. He coordinated all the ...
Austinpeterson85
Jackie is so great to work with! She is courteous, attentive, responsive and trustworthy! I recommend her to any and all who are in need of or interested in acquirin...
Sassha J.
Tony worked with us on a purchase in 2018 when we were relocating from the Midwest to Los Angeles having never previously visited the area. He assisted us in evaluat...
Brad L.
I can't say enough about Penny. I was entirely overwhelmed by the idea of looking for and buying a home, and she made the whole process feel manageable. She was incr...
Zoe McKinney
As they say: look no more for finding the best agent in the South Bay! We serendipitously contacted Mike Naylor for a property that we have found online and ended up...
Gabriela O.
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08

Common Terms to Understand for Sellers

Appraisal
Assessment of the property's market value, for the purpose of obtaining a mortgage and performed by a licensed appraiser.

Assessed Value
Value placed upon property for property tax purposes by the text collector.

Closing Costs
Expenses incidental to a sale of real estate, such as loan fees, appraisal fees, title insurance and escrow fees.

Closing Statement
The statement which lists the financial settlement between Buyer and Seller, and the costs each must pay.

Contingency
Certain criteria that have to be met in order to finalize the sale.

Conventional Mortgage
A mortgage or Deed of Trust not obtained under a government insured program such as FHA or VA.

Credit
Money given to a buyer from a seller through escrow at closing.

Escrow
A neutral third party that handles the transfer of any money during the sale of a home from initial deposit to final funding and closing.​​​​​​​

Earnest Money Deposit
Buyers in California usually deposit 3% of the purchase price to show that the buyer is serious about purchasing the home. It is usually refundable in the event a contingency in the sales contract cannot be met.

Fixed Rate Mortgage
A loan on which the interest rate and monthly payment do not change.

Home Warranty
A policy that covers certain repairs (e.g. plumbing/heating) of a newly purchased home for a period of time, typically one year.

Preliminary Title Report
A report showing the condition of title before a sale or loan transaction. After completion of the transaction, a new title insurance policy will be issued.

Title Insurance
Insurance to protect the buyer and lender against losses arising from disputes over the ownership of a property.

Recording Fees
Money paid to the lender for recording a home sale with the local authorities, thereby making it part of the public records.

Work With Us

Tony and his team set out to be not just the best possible realtors but also trusted resources. Their experience goes well beyond their years as South Bay's top-producing Realtors®.
Contact Us
link
Follow Us