How to Sell Your Downtown San Diego Condo: Step by Step

Step 1

Meet a Downtown listing specialist

Your first meeting

We'll walk through your home, your goals and your timeline, and explain exactly how we'd sell it.

• You'll sign a listing agreement that sets out our services, the listing period and our commission. Commissions are negotiable.
• We'll explain how buyer-agent compensation works today: it's no longer advertised on the MLS, and buyers' agents are paid under their own agreements with buyers. As the seller, you decide whether to offer anything toward a buyer's agent or other buyer costs, and we'll talk through the options.

Step 2

Price it from building-level data

2 to 3 days

The right price comes from your own building first: recent sales of similar homes, what's listed there now, and how long homes are taking to sell.

• We adjust for floor, view, layout, condition and upgrades, which online estimates can't see.
• Pricing right from day one matters: over the past year the typical Downtown condo sold in about 38 days, and overpriced homes sit.

Step 3

Prepare your home

1 to 3 weeks

Small improvements make a big difference in how your home photographs and shows.

• Repairs, fresh neutral paint, decluttering and, where it helps, staging. We can recommend trusted vendors.
• Order the HOA documents early. California requires sellers to provide them, and having them ready keeps escrow on schedule.

Step 4

Market the property

Launch week, then ongoing

We market both your home and your building.

• Professional photography of the home and the building's amenities.
• Your listing on the MLS and across the major real estate sites, plus our own Downtown building pages, email lists and social media.
• Direct outreach to agents with buyers looking Downtown.

Step 5

Showings, open houses and broker tours

Throughout the listing

We schedule private showings and, where the building allows, open houses and broker tours, then share feedback with you after each one so you know how buyers are responding.

Step 6

Offers and negotiation

1 to 3 days per round

We review every offer with you: price, deposit, financing strength, contingencies, timing and any requested credits or buyer-agent compensation. Then we negotiate for the best overall terms, not just the highest number.

Step 7

Escrow to closing

About 30 days

Once you accept an offer, escrow opens and we manage the details through closing.

• You provide disclosures and the HOA documents, and respond to the buyer's inspection and any repair requests.
• The buyer's lender appraises the home and reviews the building.
• At closing, escrow pays off your loan and sends your proceeds. In San Diego County, the seller customarily pays the county documentary transfer tax.