Selling Your Home
What to expect from first meeting to closing day
Welcome
Your home is more than just a house.
It's where life is lived and memories are formed, so selling it can bring excitement, nostalgia and a fair share of anxiety about the details. My goal is to guide you through the process with clarity and confidence, ensuring each step is handled efficiently and effectively for a smooth transition.
Your roadmap Four stages, from first meeting to closing day
Stage 1
Preparing to sell
First meeting at your home
We'll walk through together so I can note your home's features and we can talk about improvements and timing.
Your game plan
A market analysis, a pricing strategy, a plan for any improvements and a target date to go on the market.
Stage 2
Listing and marketing
Listing your home
Photos, measurements and listing paperwork. It all happens in just a few days, then your home is on the market.
Marketing your home
The sections below show the strategies I use to reach the widest possible pool of buyers.
The big picture
Three things are in your control.
Some things about your home are beyond your control, starting with its location. Your home's location and neighborhood shape the price it can bring and how quickly it sells. Beyond that, price, condition and marketing work together, and each is something we can shape.
Price
Attracts buyers
First we look back at what buyers have recently paid for homes like yours, then at the competing listings today's buyers will weigh against yours. From that we build a pricing strategy that aims for the highest possible price within your timeline.
Condition
Holds interest
We'll walk through your home together and look at it from a buyer's perspective. Then we decide where changes will have the most impact: minor repairs and upgrades, larger projects, or staging to show your home at its best.
Marketing
Reaches buyers
A home that is priced and prepared well still won't sell if it isn't thoroughly and professionally marketed. The sections below outline the strategies I use to reach the widest possible pool of buyers.
You can't move your home, but you can shape how it's priced, prepared and presented. Every home is different, so your plan will be too. We'll start building it when we meet.
After we list
Keeping your sale moving.
Once your home is on the market, three things keep your sale moving.
Follow-up
Learns from buyers
Feedback often starts the day you list, from agents' questions, buyer questions, online views, drive-bys and showings. I follow up with each buyer or their agent to learn what they liked, what they didn't, and what they thought of the price and condition.
Adjustments
Stays on target
My goal is to have your home in great condition and priced right from day one. If market feedback says otherwise, we'll talk regularly and adjust the condition, price or marketing.
Negotiation
Protects your result
When an offer arrives, we'll review all of its terms together and plan a strategy to maximize the benefit to you. Sometimes it's just price. Often it also involves timing, contingencies, personal property and more.
The research
Most buyers find their home online.
Our decisions about where and how to market your home should be directed by how and where buyers are actually finding the home they eventually purchase.
Where buyers found the home they purchased:
- 52%
- Internet
- 27%
- Real estate agent
- 9%
- Friend, relative or neighbor
- 12%
- Everything else
Source: National Association of Realtors, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
Everything else: Builder, yard sign, knew the seller and other.
Marketing your home
Photos that tell your home's story.
Great photographs document the space well and tell the story of what your home offers. I partner with a group of professional photographers who capture high-quality images of the exterior, interior and special features of your home. We then use these photos throughout all of our other marketing.
Marketing your home
Your home in its setting.
Some properties are best understood from 100, 200 or even 400 feet up. An aerial view can show nearby amenities, the layout of the neighborhood, or a more impactful view of the front of a home. Our photographers use a drone to capture elevated photographs that put your home in the context of its surroundings.
Marketing your home
A website just for your home.
I create a website just for your home, with a custom domain name that matches your property address. It features detailed property information, plenty of photographs, floor plans, a 3D walk-through of your home and much more. I'll drive traffic to it through your property brochures, social media, an email campaign to local agents and a direct mail campaign.
What buyers find
- Every photo of your home in one gallery.
- Floor plans and 3D walk-through
- The neighborhood and what's nearby.
- One tap to call or message me anytime.
Marketing your home
Everywhere buyers are looking.
Buyers search in many places. I make sure your home is easy to find in all of them.
Local real estate sites
Your home is listed in the MLS and appears on the local real estate websites buyers and agents use every day.
My websites
Your home is featured on my own local sites, including HarrisonburgHousingToday.com and NewListingsInHarrisonburg.com.
Your home's website
A site named for your address, with every photo, floor plans and a 3D walk-through, as shown above.
National portals
Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and many others, so buyers find your home wherever they start.
Social media
I will continually promote your home on Facebook and Instagram to attract new buyers near and far.
Marketing your home
Brochures that invite buyers in.
Many buyers start their search by driving through neighborhoods where they'd like to live. I design a full-color, four-page brochure, printed on 11" x 17" cardstock and folded, to present your home in the most positive and inviting way and encourage buyers to schedule a showing. Brochures are available inside your home during showings and in a brochure box next to your yard sign.
Marketing your home
Direct mail that reaches the right people.
Your neighbors
Many of your neighbors likely have friends or colleagues who might consider buying a home in your neighborhood. I send them a cover letter, a full-color property brochure and information about your property website, so they can help spread the word that your home is available.
Likely buyers
I build a mailing list of prospects most likely to buy a home like yours, based on factors such as homeownership history, price range and interest in homes like yours, and send them information about your property to encourage them to schedule a showing.
Marketing your home
Let buyers see how it all fits together.
3D walk-through
Even with lots of beautiful photos, buyers are left wondering how the rooms fit together. A Matterport 3D Showcase lets them explore the inside of your home online, to better understand its layout, features and finishes.
Floor plans
Some buyers love photographs, some read the description and some understand a home best by studying the floor plan. I'll create a "blueprint" of your home.
After we list
Every stage tells us something.
From the day we list, buyers respond in stages. I track each one, and we use what we learn to adjust your price, condition or marketing.
Online views
Views on the MLS and my websites show whether the listing is getting sufficient attention.
Drive-bys
Many buyers look from the street first. Drive-by traffic reflects curb appeal and first impressions.
Showings
I log every showing in our online showing system, then contact each agent proactively for feedback and send any information that helps their clients decide.
Questions
What buyers and their agents ask after a showing reveals what they're weighing: price, condition, or something we can explain better.
Offer
The goal. If offers aren't coming, the stages above show us where buyers are dropping off.
How we use it
Views, few showings
We look at price and first impressions.
Showings, no offers
We look at condition and price.
Offers below target
We plan a negotiation strategy together.
After we list
Staying ahead of the market.
The market keeps moving after your home is listed. I keep you up to date on trends in our overall market and in your segment of it, so every decision about price and marketing rests on current facts.
Competing listings
Sees the competition
A regular report of homes that are active or under contract near your price and style, so you can see what buyers are comparing yours to.
Recent sales
Shows what buyers pay
Comparable homes that have sold since we listed, and what they sold for, to confirm or adjust our pricing strategy.
Market trends
Shows the direction
How sales, prices and time on market are changing across Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, and in your segment.
See today's numbers
Market reports, updated monthly
See current sales, prices and trends for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.
Under contract
Contract to closing.
Once we're under contract, I'll be by your side through every step leading up to closing, from inspections and the appraisal to contract deadlines. I stay in close communication with the buyer's agent and lender to keep financing on track, and if issues pop up, I'll help you understand your options. There are a lot of moving parts, but I'll take care of the details so you can focus on getting ready for your big move!
A bit about me
Scott P. Rogers, Associate Broker
I've helped buyers and sellers in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County since 2003, and I'm an Associate Broker with Funkhouser Real Estate Group. Each year since 2010, I've been in the top 1% of area REALTORS® by volume of real estate sold.
I'm a James Madison University graduate (B.A. 2000, M.Ed. 2002), and my background in graphic design, web development, management and counseling shapes how I market homes and work with clients. In 2007 I began writing about our local market at HarrisonburgHousingToday.com, and I've been tracking it ever since.
I live in Rockingham County with my wife, Shaena, and our two children. When I'm not working, I'm usually hanging out with family, going for a run, cheering on the JMU Dukes, or tending to TakeThemAMeal.com and PerfectPotluck.com.
Questions? Just ask.
I'm happy to chat, answer questions, or meet to talk through the process, the market, and your timing and goals.