With the spring and summer market heating up, many sellers ask, "how long will it take for my apartment to sell?” The amount of time is usually correlated with the price: the more attractive the price the sooner a property will sell. Generally speaking, though, here are the six basic stages of a listing campaign, regardless of price (and the amount of time it will take to get to the closing table.)

Stage 1: CONSULTATION & PRE-PRODUCTION

Stage one is to meet with us to review the property, valuation, discuss pricing and marketing strategy and execute a listing agreement.

This pre-listing period is the best time to clean, declutter, paint and complete any small repairs. Once completed we move on to pre-production. During this time we complete

• Professional staging and merchandising, if needed
• Architectural Digest-quality photography
• professional floor plan drafted
• property tour video shoot

Stage 2: THE LISTING CAMPAIGN

The listing goes live – it is distributed throughout the world, and we begin to show your property to prospective purchasers.

There are three aspects to our listing campaigns that are better covered in detail in person: Marketing, Prospecting and Performance.

Marketing – including repeated e-mail marketing to the brokerage community, ongoing social media campaigns, and broad reach print advertising.

Prospecting – our high-touch personal contact with the brokerage community and prospective buyers specifically for the purpose of pitching your property is a cornerstone of our strategy.

Performance – including feedback after every showing and weekly calls to discuss the campaign so that you are always aware of how the market is responding to your property in real time.

Stage 3: OFFERS & NEGOTIATIONS

This is when the selling process gets interesting! Your most critical decisions will be made during this period. The timeline begins to speed up during these weeks. You will retain a real estate attorney - we can provide recommendations for the very best.

Accept an offer: Negotiating an offer can take anywhere from one day to one week after the initial offer, depending on how long both parties need to agree on the contract terms. 

Draft a deal sheet: The deal sheet summarizes the transaction terms, including the price, closing date, and any specific dates relating to clauses: contract information and broker information. 

There is usually a period of time, ~5-10 business days, between accepted offer and contract signed. During this time we continue to show the property to prospective other buyers while your buyer’s attorney completes due diligence.

Sign the contract: The buyer will provide a 10% contract deposit and a signed contract for you to countersign.

Stage 4: CONTRACT SIGNED TO CLOSING

This is when you as the seller have to wait patiently as the buyer obtains a loan and completes their purchase application, if applicable, which can take two or three weeks to complete. Once the buyer's application is completed, the loan commitment letter is issued, and the purchase application gets submitted to the board, which can take up to four weeks. 

Stage 5: Co-op Board Interview (if applicable)

Board approval – following the interview, the board will discuss the application and decide on approval for the sale to continue, which can take about one day to three days for a response from the board.

Step 6: CLOSING

Once all of the above items have been completed, you will be ready for the closing! Scheduling a closing takes about one week, depending on how easy it is to line up everyone's schedules. The buyers will conduct a final walkthrough either the day of the closing or the evening before to ensure that everything at the property is in good order. The closing itself should only take one to two hours and is usually held at one of the attorney's offices.