How I sell a home in Pensacola

A lot of homes in Pensacola get listed the same way. Photos go up, the listing goes into the MLS, a sign goes in the yard, and everyone waits to see what happens. Sometimes that works. When it does not, the home sits, the price drops, and the seller starts to wonder what went wrong.

I do not list a home and wait. I run it as a plan with four parts, and every part is decided before your home goes live:

• Equity: a price you choose from three clear strategies, built for the buyers who are actually shopping here, including VA buyers.
• Presentation: professional photos, drone, a walkthrough video and a staging consultation, so buyers see your home at its best the first time they see it.
• Impact: paid Facebook ads, a website for your home alone, and direct outreach to your neighbors, so the home reaches people beyond the ones already searching.
• Campaign: a launch with a first-weekend open house, weekly updates to you, and a price check every month until it sells.

Vivian Corwin is a bilingual Realtor and Military Relocation Professional with IXL Real Estate in Pensacola, FL, helping military and relocating families buy and sell homes across Pensacola, Pace, Milton, Gulf Breeze, and Navarre. This page is my whole method, step by step. I will walk you through it before you decide anything.

Most buyers meet your home on a phone screen. They scroll through the photos in seconds and decide whether it is worth a showing. That first look sets the value in their mind before they ever walk through the door, so I treat it as the most important showing your home will ever have.

Here is what every listing of mine gets, at my cost:

• Professional photography. Bright, level, well-composed photos of every room that matters.
• Drone photos. The lot, the street, the neighborhood and what is nearby, from above. In an area where buyers care about the water, the base and the school zone, the aerial view answers questions photos cannot.
• A walkthrough video. For buyers relocating from another base or another state, the video is often the showing. It lets a family three states away walk your home before they book a flight.
• A staging consultation. I walk your home with you and point out what to move, remove or add, so each room looks its best on camera and in person. Most of it costs little or nothing.
• A pre-listing inspection. We learn what a buyer's inspector would find, before a buyer finds it, and decide what to fix, what to price in and what to disclose.

Then comes the description. I write it for one buyer, the person most likely to love your home, and describe the home itself: the layout, the updates, the lot, what is nearby. No hype, no "won't last," nothing a buyer's agent would roll their eyes at.

All of this is decided and finished before your home goes live. Buyers see a complete, polished listing on day one, when the most people are looking. You can read more about getting ready in what repairs to fix before selling your Pensacola home.

A new listing gets the most attention it will ever get in its first days. Buyers who have been searching get an alert, and their agents call to set up showings. Everything before launch day exists to make that week count, and everything after it keeps the momentum going.

Here is how the campaign runs:

• Before launch. Price chosen, repairs handled, photos, drone and video finished, the website built, the ads ready and your neighbors told. Nothing goes public half done.
• Launch week. Your home goes live with everything in place at once. The ads start, the single-property website goes up, and showing requests start coming in.
• The first weekend. An open house, while your home is new and interest is at its highest.
• Every week after. A clear update from me: showings, feedback, online activity, and what I recommend next. You never have to wonder what is happening. Here's what's happening. Here's the move.
• Every month until it sells. A fresh look at the price against the market, so we adjust early if we need to, and only once.

When offers come in, I lay them out side by side, showing what you would actually walk away with and how likely each one is to close, not only the price at the top. I am a Certified Real Estate Negotiator, and I stay with you through inspection, appraisal and every request that follows, all the way to closing. If a buyer is using a VA loan, I already know what the appraiser will look for and how to keep the deal on schedule. My post on negotiating a home sale in Pensacola goes deeper.

It starts with a conversation, not a contract. Let's talk about your goals and your timeline. I will walk through your home with you, show you your three pricing plans, and explain exactly what I would do to sell it, before you decide anything.

Don't stress about having everything ready. We will make this feel less overwhelming, one step at a time. Schedule a time to talk with Vivian, or call me at (850) 450-4795.

This page describes my general process for selling a home. It is not legal, tax or lending advice. Every sale is different, and the details of yours will be in your listing agreement.