Never sold a home before? This guide walks you through every step in plain English — what it costs, what an agent actually does for the money, and how to keep thousands more from your sale.
Selling a home is really three decisions: who you hire, what they charge, and how you price the home. Get those right and the rest is mostly paperwork your agent handles for you.
The traditional listing fee is about 3% — that's $22,500 on a $750,000 home. On VA Home Connect, agents compete for your listing, so a typical accepted rate is 1.5% ($11,250) — saving you $11,250 with the same full service.
Most people hire a licensed real estate agent. Some try to sell it themselves (called "for sale by owner," or FSBO). FSBO can save on fees, but you handle pricing, photos, showings, offers, and legal paperwork alone — and most FSBO sellers end up hiring an agent anyway. This guide covers the agent route.
Your agent's pay is called a commission — a percentage of the final sale price, paid out of the sale money on closing day. Nothing comes out of your pocket up front. Traditionally, sellers paid about 3% to their own agent, plus roughly 3% toward the buyer's agent. On a $750,000 home, 3% is $22,500. The good news: commissions are negotiable, and agents on VA Home Connect start proposals as low as 1.0%.
Agents differ a lot in what they charge and what they do for it. Before you hire anyone, compare at least two or three proposals: the listing fee, the marketing plan (photos, online listings, open houses), and recent homes they've sold near you. On VA Home Connect, you post your home once and agents send you proposals to compare side by side.
Homes priced too high sit on the market and often sell for less later. Your agent should show you "comps" — recent sale prices of similar homes near yours — and recommend a price based on them, not on what you hope to get. In Hampton Roads, pricing at (or just under) what the comps support usually brings the strongest offers.
You don't need a full remodel. Clean deeply, declutter, fix small things (dripping faucets, burnt-out bulbs, scuffed paint), and boost curb appeal — mulch, a swept walkway, a tidy lawn. Your agent will arrange professional photos, because almost every buyer's first showing happens on a phone screen.
Your agent enters your home into REIN MLS, the local database that feeds Zillow, Redfin, Trulia, Realtor.com, and every major home-search site. That one listing puts your home in front of nearly every buyer and buyer's agent in Hampton Roads. A yard sign and a secure key box make showings easy.
The highest offer isn't always the best one. Your agent will walk you through each offer's price, down payment, financing type, contingencies (conditions that let the buyer back out), and closing timeline. A slightly lower cash offer with no contingencies can be safer than a higher one that depends on a shaky loan.
After you accept an offer, the buyer usually hires a home inspector and their lender orders an appraisal. The inspection may lead to repair requests — your agent helps you decide what to fix, what to credit, and what to refuse. If the appraisal comes in below the sale price, your agent negotiates the gap.
On closing day you sign the final paperwork, the buyer's money arrives, and everyone gets paid from the sale: the mortgage payoff (if you have one), your agent's commission, closing costs — and the rest, your proceeds, goes to you. That's why the commission rate matters so much: every 1% you save on a $750,000 sale is $7,500 more in your pocket.
The biggest cost is the agent commission, paid at closing from the sale money. Traditional listing fees run about 3%, but proposals on VA Home Connect start as low as 1.0%, and most accepted proposals land around 1.5% to 2%. You'll also see smaller closing costs like title fees and taxes — a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars depending on the sale.
No. With VA Home Connect, posting your home, reading proposals, and talking to agents are all free. The agent's commission is only owed if your home actually sells, and it comes out of the sale proceeds at closing.
1.0% is the lowest listing fee an agent can offer on VA Home Connect — the floor, not the average. Most accepted proposals land around 1.5% to 2%, depending on your home and what's included. On a $750,000 home, 1.5% is $11,250 instead of $22,500 at the traditional 3%. You always see the exact rate before you agree to anything.
Legally, no — you can sell it yourself. But an agent handles pricing, marketing, showings, negotiations, disclosures, and closing paperwork, and a good one usually more than covers their fee in the final price and avoided mistakes. The smart move is comparing agents on both price and service before hiring one.
It depends on price, condition, and the market. Well-priced Hampton Roads homes often get offers within the first few weeks. From accepted offer to closing day, plan on roughly 30 to 45 days for the buyer's inspection, appraisal, and loan.
Not on VA Home Connect. Your street address and contact details stay hidden from agents until you accept a proposal. Only the one agent you choose gets your contact information.
Post your home once — it takes about five minutes — and compare proposals from licensed Hampton Roads agents side by side. Free, and your address stays private until you choose an agent.