How to Sell Your House in the West Metro
How to sell your house in the West Metro comes down to a clear order of steps, and this guide walks you through every one from Lake Minnetonka to Hamel and the west suburbs. With an experienced local agent and a plan you can follow, the process gets a lot less stressful. Work through the steps below and you'll be ready to sell your home for the best price the market will pay.
New to selling in the West Metro? Start with our step-by-step look at the home selling process to see what each stage looks like on Lake Minnetonka and across the west suburbs, then work through the guide below.
How to sell your house in the West Metro, step by step
If you just want the short version, here's how to sell a house on Lake Minnetonka and across the west suburbs. Each step links to the full detail further down the page.
- Find out what your home is worth. Before anything else, get a real number. Start with a free West Metro home valuation so you're pricing off local comps, not a guess.
- Set your goal and timeline. Selling fast and selling for top dollar pull in different directions, so decide which matters most before you list.
- Price it right the first time. Homes priced accurately in the opening weeks draw the most buyer and agent interest here. Overpricing stalls a listing quickly.
- Prep and stage. Declutter, depersonalize, handle small repairs, and deep clean so buyers can picture themselves in the space.
- Market to the right buyers. A listing goes further with professional photos, targeted social campaigns, and agent-to-agent reach across the west suburbs.
- Review offers and negotiate. Confirm each buyer is pre-approved, then weigh price, contingencies, and closing terms together, not just the top-line number.
- Get to closing. Coordinate inspection, appraisal, any repairs, and the final paperwork so ownership transfers cleanly on the closing date.
Want to sell your home fast without leaving money on the table? Step one is the number. Find out what your home is worth, then reach out to New Haus Real Estate and we'll map the rest of these steps to your timeline.
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 realtor once you choose one so he or she can adjust your selling price accordingly.
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 real estate agent is the best way to determine the right selling price for your home. An agent with experience can determine what other comparable homes are selling for, evaluate the current market, and may even suggest a home appraisal.
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.
Step 4: Develop a Marketing Strategy
I 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. My 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.
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.
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 agent.
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. I 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.
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 realtor 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.
What it costs to sell a home in the West Metro
When people ask "how much will it cost to sell my home," the honest answer is that the sale price on the sign is not the money that lands in your account. A handful of costs come out before you get your check, and once you understand the structure you can plan around it. Here is how it breaks down for owners selling in Hamel and across the west suburbs, from Medina and Plymouth to the lakefront in Wayzata and Orono.
The costs that come out at closing
Every sale is different, and rates and fees vary by property, price point, and what you negotiate in the contract. We will never quote you a made-up percentage on a web page. Instead, here are the categories to expect so nothing surprises you at the closing table:
- Agent commission. This is usually the largest line item. It is negotiated up front and spelled out in your listing agreement before your house ever hits the market, and how buyer-agent compensation is handled shifted industry-wide in 2024. Before you sign anything, it is worth reading our plain-language breakdown of how real estate agent commission works now rather than assuming an old rule of thumb.
- Seller-paid closing costs. Think title work, the owner's title insurance policy where customary, deed preparation, recording fees, and any state deed tax. In Minnesota the seller typically covers the state deed tax, so budget for it as part of your Hennepin County closing.
- Prorations and payoffs. Property taxes and any prepaid items get prorated to the closing date, and your existing mortgage payoff is settled directly from the proceeds.
- Prep, staging, and repairs. Optional but often worth it. Decluttering, a deep clean, minor repairs, or light staging can lift your final price. On older Medina and Plymouth housing stock, buyers frequently ask for repairs after inspection, so a small pre-list punch list can protect your bottom line.
- Concessions. Sometimes covering part of a buyer's closing costs or a repair credit is the move that keeps a deal together. We walk you through when that trade actually nets you more.
"We would rather show you a realistic net-proceeds range up front than win your listing with a rosy number you can't actually take to the bank."
The right pricing strategy affects your costs too. A home priced correctly for the west suburbs tends to sell faster and hold its value in negotiation, which means fewer carrying costs and less pressure to give concessions. That is why every conversation about selling starts with what your home is actually worth today.
Or call (612) 710-8353 and we'll run the numbers with you.
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