When To Contact a Realtor® to Sell Your House

The best time to contact a Realtor depends on these factors

Is your home in top shape and camera-ready? Are you starting a new job across the country in a few weeks? Your unique selling scenario will influence whether you should contact your agent several months or weeks before you put your home on the market.

Here are the top four factors to consider when deciding the best time to contact a Realtor:

Your home’s condition

Homes that need TLC require extra preparation time for agent-recommended repairs and updates. If you think your home falls in this category, consider getting in touch with your agent early.

Speed of the market

The housing market’s condition is a key indicator to keep in mind when determining how soon you should connect with an agent.

In a stable or slower market, when homes tend to linger and prices don’t fluctuate much, it doesn’t hurt to contact an agent months in advance. They’ll be able to provide you with a home value estimate that won’t drastically change by the time your home is ready to list.

Conversely, in a real estate market like the one we experienced in 2021 and much of 2022, where property values changed quickly, a home value estimate from a Realtor was often only accurate for a very short amount of time.

Del Real says many markets have changed as “prices come down” and “days on the market increase.” He suggests that you plan your home sale with an agent who has their finger on the pulse of the market in your area.

Your selling timeline

Sauer suggests starting the selling process with your agent relatively early if you aren’t crunched for time, particularly if you’re planning to buy another home at the same time.

“If you’re not in a rush and you don’t have a really tight timeline, I would say that’s when it would be beneficial … to meet a month or two, or even three, before.”

And if you need to sell right away? Make a conversation with your agent a top priority. “If you have a tight timeline, then the first thing you want to do is call a Realtor and meet with them so that they can start getting things scheduled — photography and that kind of thing.”

Your comfort level

Start the process with your Realtor early if you’re feeling anxious about selling. Maybe you’re overwhelmed with the amount of work to do, or you’re unsure about the real estate market. An experienced Realtor can give you tailored advice and guide you through every step of the process from the start.

On the other hand, if you have experience selling a home in the past and you’re ready to tackle basic pre-listing tasks on your own, you may only need a few weeks before you meet with your agent.

Contact a Realtor 12 weeks before if …

• You’re selling your home and buying at the same time.
• You feel overwhelmed with the home preparation or selling process.
• You need to complete home renovations or updates.
• You have a flexible selling timeline.
• You’re in a slower or stable real estate market.

Contact a Realtor 6 to 8 weeks before if …

• Your home has a few minor maintenance issues to resolve.
• You feel fairly comfortable about the selling process.
• You’ve already started decluttering your home.

Contact a Realtor 1 to 4 weeks before if …

• You’re in a rush to sell.
• Your home needs only minor cleaning.
• Market conditions are changing quickly.

Need to sell in two weeks or less?

Del Real says, depending on your local market, it’s possible for an agent to sell a home in as little as two weeks, but the home’s listing price will almost always have to be clearly reduced to achieve that deadline.

“If you want to sell the property in two weeks, you’re going to have to price the property 5% under what market value would be based on buyer terms,” he says.

If you need to close the sale in less than two weeks, an instant offer from a cash buyer could be an alternative solution.

HomeLight’s Simple Sale platform lets you bypass repairs, open houses, and the back-and-forth negotiation of a traditional home sale. Instead, you can receive a convenient, no-obligation cash offer on your home within 24 hours, and close on the sale in as few as 10 days with no additional fees or commissions.

Before you contact a Realtor, do this

When you’re starting to feel the home sale bug, there are a few steps you can take to initiate the process before you reach out to a real estate agent.

Review your finances

Selling your home requires some financial commitment. Ideally, your home sale price should be enough to pay off your remaining mortgage and cover these additional expenses:

• Repairs and renovations: These costs depend on your home’s condition. For instance, painting a room a neutral color can cost as little as $150, while replacing an old HVAC system sets you back $5,000 to $11,000.
• Closing costs: For sellers, closing costs range between 9% to 10% of the home sale price, including real estate commission fees.
• Seller concessions: These are closing costs that the buyer would normally pay, but the seller has agreed to cover to sweeten the deal. Del Real said these are almost necessary in today’s market, given how interest rates have increased.
• Moving expenses: This figure can range significantly depending on how much and how far you’re moving. On average, moving costs $1,701 for a local move, and up to $10,000 for a long-distance move, according to Angi.

Declutter your home

Before you contact a Realtor, start decluttering as soon as possible, especially if you’re downsizing.

When the market was red hot in 2021 and part of 2022, sellers were able to present their homes in just about any condition and still get a premium price for them. Now that the housing market has cooled, buyers are becoming less forgiving.

In a recent HomeLight survey of more than 1,000 top agents across the country, 32% say that sellers are now revisiting offers they had previously declined from buyers.

“We’re in a beauty competition,” Del Real says. “There’s a lot more that you have to do now that you didn’t have to do [when the market was hot].”

According to another recent HomeLight survey of top agents, the second biggest blindspot for overconfident sellers when preparing to sell their homes is too much clutter.

Start deep cleaning

Similar to decluttering, a deep clean adds marketability and value to your home. So go on, detail those French window frames, scrub the basement floors, and dust every lighting fixture. Give your home that new house smell.

Attend to necessary repairs

It’s OK to fix obvious things that are broken or in a state of disrepair before you contact a Realtor, but hold off on starting any big changes or major improvements.

“If you’re thinking about doing any kind of renovation or anything like that, I would talk to an agent right away, just because they’re going to have a better feel of how the market will respond,” Del Real says.

Del Real suggests sticking to simple touch-ups like quick paint jobs and light landscaping to improve curb appeal. Avoid anything that might take too long or cost too much, like a kitchen remodel, until you have consulted with your agent.

The level of your preparation investment will depend on your local market. In Del Real’s area, “If the kitchen is going to cost $25,000, I’d rather give that in the break of a buyer or drop [the home’s price] $20,000,” he explains. “Where in another market, we would have a little more time to do some of the repairs.”

Get preapproved for a mortgage

If you’re selling your home and planning to buy at the same time, you’ll want a general price range in mind while you shop for your next home. Exploring available loan options while you’re getting ready to sell “gives more time to plot out the entire move,” explains Sauer.

But don’t panic if you don’t have a preapproval in hand before meeting with your Realtor. “Sometimes we connect [the homeowner] with a mortgage lender or a bank around the same time that we meet with them [about selling],” explains Sauer.

When you’re ready to contact a Realtor, compare candidates to find the best match

Finding the right agent is one of the most important steps to take in the home-selling process. Start by searching for agents with extensive experience selling homes in your particular area.

Reach out to your network for referrals and compare agents online with HomeLight’s free Agent Match platform. Our system analyzes millions of real estate transactions to compare agents based on years of experience, transaction volume, average price point, speed of sale, specialties, and client reviews to match you to the best agents to sell your home.

Interview at least three candidates before you commit

Your choice of real estate agent directly impacts the speed and final price of your home sale, so take time to screen multiple agents to find the right one for the job. Reach out to at least three real estate agents for initial screenings. Gonzalez recommends conducting interviews over the phone rather than over email or text to better gauge the right match.

“The initial contact over the phone is much more personal. People can get their questions answered quicker, they can get a better idea of the process, and a better impression of the agent that they are talking to,” Gonzalez explains.

Choose the real estate agent with experience you trust

After the interviews, compare your top Realtor candidates based on their experience, relevant network, and personal connection. Go with your gut, even if it means letting down a referral or friend in your network.

“It is very common to have a friend or a friend of a friend or someone in the family who has a license, but they’re not necessarily going to be the best person for the job,” shares Gonzalez, emphasizing that sellers need to choose an agent with proven experience selling their property type (condo, single-family home, luxury home, etc.) in their area.

This advice is especially relevant in times such as these when the housing market has cooled in much of the country. You will want a performance-proven professional by your side.

Take the next steps in your home sale with your partner agent

With a top real estate agent hired, it’s time to tackle pre-listing tasks. Your agent will kick off the process with the following:

Conduct an initial walkthrough

Your real estate agent will walk through your property with you, noting your home’s best features and opportunities for improvement.

For an even deeper dive into your home’s condition, consider hiring a home inspector to conduct a full pre-listing home inspection. A pre-listing home inspection provides you with a list of needed repairs upfront so you can tend to them before pricing and listing your home.

Suggest home improvements

Depending on your home’s competition and your budget, your real estate agent will suggest renovations to improve your home’s marketability. With their expertise and objective eye, agents will evaluate what needs replacing or just refreshing, which improvements can bring a high return on investment, and which blemishes are better left untouched.

Connect you with reputable local contractors

Agent rolodexes are full of reliable contractors and designers. They’ll put you in touch with whatever specialist you need to get your home into top shape and assist with scheduling to ensure jobs are completed before your target listing date.

Set you up with staging services

If your home’s interior could benefit from cleverly curated interior design, your agent may recommend staging. According to the NAR 2023 Profile of Home Staging survey, 81% of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home. And 58% cited that home staging had an effect on most buyers’ view of the home most of the time.

Some agents even cover the cost of staging in their commission fee; 22% of agents surveyed stated they’ve offered to personally stage their client’s home, while another 24% said they may pay for staging depending on the situation.

Perform a comparative market analysis

Your real estate agent will conduct a comparative market analysis (CMA) to set the most important piece of the puzzle: listing price. CMAs analyze the sale prices of comparable homes, taking into account everything from square footage and neighborhood location to listing photos and unique features.

The objective behind CMAs is to help determine the market value of your home in order to price it competitively against other homes in your market. And pricing your home right is even more important now that the market has shifted.

“That transition is difficult for the newer sellers who only know what home prices have done since 2020,” says David Moyer, a top agent in Dayton, Ohio, who responded to a recent HomeLight survey. “It’s up to us as professional agents to set the expectations with your clients and keep them informed of what the market is doing.”

Contact a top agent to get started; even if you’re planning ahead

HomeLight can connect you with top-performing, trusted agents in your market whenever you’re ready to sell, or if you’d just like expert advice for future plans. Our data shows that the top 5% of real estate agents across the U.S. sell homes faster and for as much as 10% more than the average real estate agent.

Too late to contact an agent?

If you have a deadline to sell your house fast, it may be too late to contact an agent to manage a traditional home sale. In such a situation, consider selling directly to a cash buyer in as little as 10 days. HomeLight’s Simple Sale connects you with the largest network of cash buyers in the U.S. and lets you see your options, including what you might receive if you sell your home with a top agent.

Writers Gina Rodrigues and Presley Attardo contributed to this story.

Header Image Source: (Tyler Franta / Unsplash)