Your home is about to be listed for sale in Orange County. You did your homework and picked a really knowledgeable Realtor who is very sharp. Your home has great curb appeal. As a matter a fact, it looks so good now, you think to yourself, “why am I selling?”.
You remember all the recent straightening-up and cleaning until the inside is tip-top clean that not even a white glove will get dirty if you run it along the surfaces. You feel your home can now be on the cover of magazines.
The only question is, are you truly ready to sell your home and prepared for the next steps over the next few days, weeks and months.
People sell their homes for many reasons such as relocating for a job or loss of job, home is too small for their growing family or the home may be just too big due to family or friends moving out.
You have to determine far ahead of time if listing your home for sale is the right move for you in Orange County. Does it make financial sense? Are you fine with moving away from your friends and neighbors in South County to L.A, Riverside, or North Orange County for a job? Maybe you could still commute on the 5 or 405 freeway, or the Ortega highway to Southwest Riverside for work and simply add-on to your home or keep it as a rental?
For homeowners who are on the fence about their decision, an experienced Realtor will help you decide if listing your property now is the best choice for you personally. 
Your Home is Actually a Product
When you put your home on the market, it becomes just another property for sale, not the best one as so many of us think. To the average consumer, your home is just another real estate listing. During open houses, some people will be in and out in one-minute flat while others will browse and envision your home for 30 minutes or more.
Let your agent know which features of your home will have buyers excited and which areas you wish to have less emphasis on. Never try and hide any known issues. If there are issues you know about it needs to be disclosed on a real estate legal form. Your agent will give you advice regarding this.
What to expect before you accept an offer
You should have plenty of interested buyers who want to view your home if you and your agent did a good job. You need to be ready for several home showing each day, during the day or night after work hours. This can complicate things if you have kids and pets. Don’t worry, this won’t go on for a long time.
If you are able to do this, get out of the home for that first week or two. Your Realtor should be able to take care of everything while you are away.
Once your home sells, where are you going to move to?
This is becoming a growing concern among many since there is low housing inventory in Southern California. You have to plan for your next home before you sell yours.
If you have the financial means to buy your next home before your sell your current home is always an ideal way to go. But If prior to buying you need to use the sales proceeds from your current home, you will have to either buy a home contingent on the sale of your current home or wait for your existing home to close prior to making an offer on a new home.
What do you do when selling your current home before buying a new home? A common solution is to request the buyers of your home to lease it back to you for 30 to 60 days. In a high demand market, where the sellers are in control, it can be pretty easy to get a seller leaseback when buyers are determined to win the bidding war. It can work but if the buyers are obtaining financing, the lender may have a condition they move in within 30 days of closing.
If the seller leaseback is not an option, a short term rental at weekly hotels may work as well. This type of housing situation change may motivate you buy a home you normally would not due to being in a noisy weekly hotel.
What do you do if your home is not selling?
Are you able to rent out your home, and in doing so, do you have the required down payment to buy your next home. Will the rent of your home cover all your housing costs such as principal, interest, taxes, insurance and HOA costs? Will you have property management company handle it?
Everyone’s situation is unique so having a backup plan is a good idea.