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For sellers

Selling a home

Selling Your Home in Los Angeles County

You should never have to wonder what is happening with your own sale. Here is exactly how we price, prepare, market, and close your home.

A man painting a backyard fence while his dog watches from the grass

It's More Than a Listing. It's Your Home.

This is where birthdays happened. Where you painted the nursery, argued over paint colors, and learned which stair creaks. Selling it is a financial decision, and it's also an emotional one, and both deserve respect.

Most sellers come to us carrying a few fears. One told us, "What I really care about is selling fast without leaving money on the table." Another said, "I don't want to deal with showings every weekend for three months." Nearly everyone worries about pricing it wrong, choosing the wrong agent, or signing something they don't fully understand.

We built how we sell homes around those exact worries. You'll know your numbers before you commit. You'll know what's happening every week. And you'll have Michelle and Jon personally on your sale, start to finish.

Know Your Price and Your Bottom Line First

Online estimates are a starting point at best. They can't see your remodeled kitchen, the busy road behind your fence, or the three homes down the street competing with yours right now. We look at what's actually selling near you, what's active, and what didn't sell and why.

Then we answer the question that matters most: what will you walk away with? We prepare an estimated net sheet showing your likely sale price minus your loan payoff, selling costs, and any credits. If you're buying next, that number becomes the foundation for your purchase. Start anytime with your home's value.

The First Two Weeks Decide the Whole Sale

A home gets more attention in its first two weeks on market than it will ever get again. Every buyer watching that price range sees it at once, agents push it to their clients, and the listing is new in every feed.

Everything before launch exists to make that fortnight count. Price it right and prepare it properly and you compete for the buyers who are already looking. Price it to test the market and you spend that attention on nothing, and then you are negotiating from a listing that has been sitting.

This is also why the average days-on-market number is misleading. It is not really a measure of how fast homes sell. It is a measure of how sellers prepared. The prepared ones go quickly and the untested ones drag the average up.

The First Two Weeks Decide the Whole Sale

Two moves, one calendar

Pricing: The Honest Version

We will not win your listing by quoting a number you want to hear. Plenty of agents do, and the seller finds out sixty days later when the price gets cut twice and the home sells for less than it would have at the right number.

What we bring instead is a real pricing conversation grounded in comparable sales, current competition, and the condition of your specific home. Sometimes that number is higher than you expected. Sometimes it is not. Either way you will know why, and you will see the sales behind it.

Five things move a valuation more than square footage does: whether you have a view, what you have upgraded and when, anything you added that a buyer would pay for, anything working against the house, and whether you are on a main street. That is why a number quoted sight-unseen is worth nothing.

Start with a home valuation request and we will come back with a real analysis.

The first thing a buyer sees
The first thing a buyer sees

What Actually Returns Money, and What Does Not

A buyer decides how they feel about a house in about thirty seconds and spends the rest of the showing confirming that feeling. That is why the cheap things punch so far above their cost.

Reliably worth doing: paint inside and out, flooring, deep cleaning and decluttering, landscaping and curb appeal, lighting, and fixing anything that reads as deferred maintenance from the sidewalk.

Usually not worth doing right before a sale: full kitchen and bath remodels, room additions, pools, and high-end finishes that reflect your taste rather than the buyer pool.

What we do not recommend is the expensive middle: real money spent on the wrong things. We will walk through with you and give you a prioritized list with rough costs and what each item is likely to return, so you decide with numbers instead of guesses.

Selling as-is is also a legitimate choice, not a failure. If the money or the bandwidth is not there, we price for condition and market to the buyers who want that.

What Actually Returns Money, and What Does Not

The first six feet inside the door

Disclosure: The Instinct That Costs Sellers the Most

The instinct to stay quiet about a past problem is the single most expensive instinct in this business.

California requires a Transfer Disclosure Statement covering the condition of the property and known defects, and a Natural Hazard Disclosure reporting whether the home sits in a flood zone, a fire hazard severity zone, or an earthquake fault or landslide zone. Most sellers also complete a Seller Property Questionnaire that goes broader: past repairs, insurance claims, neighborhood noise, disputes.

Add a Mello-Roos notice if a district applies, a lead-based paint disclosure for anything built before 1978, and disclosure of a death on the property within the last three years.

Non-disclosure claims surface after closing, when you have no leverage left. Write it down, hand it over, and it is almost never the thing that costs you the sale.

Fix it, or disclose it. Never neither
Fix it, or disclose it. Never neither

What Launch Week Actually Looks Like

We don't put a sign in the yard and hope. Your home gets a planned launch, and you see and approve the photos, the description and the showing plan before any of it goes live. Everything that goes into it is here, stage by stage.

Two parts of that week matter more than people expect. The first is that buyers meet your home on a phone screen before they ever meet it in person, so the photography, the video, the aerial shots and the walkthrough are not decoration, they are the showing. If those make someone feel what it is like to live there, your calendar fills. If they don't, the house gets skipped by people who would have loved it.

The second is the follow-up. Attention only turns into offers if somebody actually calls the agent who brought a buyer through, asks what their client thought, and finds out what is holding them back. That call happens on every single showing here. It is unglamorous, it is where sales come from, and most of the time nobody makes it.

And we invite your neighbors in on purpose. The person who tells a friend about the home down the street lives two doors away.

Launch week, everything ready at once
Launch week, everything ready at once

From the First Offer to Closing Day

Comparing offers. The highest price isn't always the best offer. We look at financing strength, contingencies, timing, and requested credits, then explain each offer in plain language so you can choose with confidence.

Negotiating. We counter with strategy, and we keep calm when things get tense. After inspections, buyers often ask for repairs or credits. You can agree, negotiate, or decline, and we'll talk through what each choice could cost you.

Disclosures. California sellers complete disclosure forms about the property's condition and hazard zones. We guide you through the forms and encourage you to talk with a real estate attorney about any legal question.

Escrow. We track every deadline in your contract and keep the appraisal, the buyer's loan, and the paperwork moving until the keys change hands.

Moving out. We help you plan your move around the closing date. If you need a few extra days, we can ask the buyer about a short rent-back as part of the negotiation.

The room buyers walk into first
The room buyers walk into first

What Working With Us Feels Like

You get regular updates with real showing activity and feedback, so you never have to call and ask how it's going. And when something changes, like a strong showing or a new offer, you'll hear from us right away.

Michelle is ranked by RealTrends in their 2025 America's Best Real Estate Professionals list, in the top 1.5% of agents nationwide. She has been licensed since 2004, and most of our business today comes from past clients and the people they send us.

A seller once wrote that working with us was "a genuinely stress-free experience thanks to their constant support and patience throughout the entire process of selling my home." That's the experience we want you to have.

Empty, and ready for whoever is next
Empty, and ready for whoever is next

Will You Owe Tax on the Sale

Most people who sell a home they have lived in owe nothing, and they spend months worrying about it anyway.

Federal law lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain filing single and $500,000 married filing jointly, if you owned the home at least 2 of the last 5 years, lived in it as your main home at least 2 of the last 5, and have not used the exclusion on another sale in the past 2 years.

The piece people get wrong: gain is your sale price minus what you paid plus improvements and selling costs. It is not the size of the check you walk away with. That is why sellers who think they have a problem usually do not.

If your gain runs past the exclusion, or the home was ever a rental, depreciation you took gets taxed separately at up to 25 percent. Run your real numbers past your CPA before you list, and we will give them the sale figures they need.

The walk where it gets talked through
The walk where it gets talked through

Your Timeline, Not the Market's

How long this takes depends on what you are actually trying to do.

Finishing out a school year. Retiring on a specific date. Not moving before a holiday or a birthday. Starting a job somewhere else and needing to be there by a certain week. Buying the next house at the same time. Every one of those changes what we recommend.

We plan according to your real situation and tell you the truth rather than what you want to hear, because that is what gets you the most money. Book a conversation and we will map the actual timeline, or see our full selling process.

Find Out Where You Stand

There's no obligation and no pressure to list. Whether you're ready this month or planning ahead, knowing where you stand makes every decision easier. Request your home value and we'll send you a real analysis based on sales near you, or book an appointment or call 661-219-5517. We sell homes throughout the Santa Clarita Valley and across Los Angeles County. Life change behind the move? See our guides for downsizing, divorce, probate and trust sales, and selling a senior's home.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is my home worth right now?

The most reliable answer comes from comparing your home to recent nearby sales, current competition, and its condition. Online estimates can be far off. Request your home value and we'll prepare a real analysis.

How long will it take to sell my home?

It depends on price, condition, and how the home is prepared far more than it depends on the market. For context, homes across the Santa Clarita Valley averaged 50 days on market in August 2026, per the Southland Regional Association of REALTORS®, but that average blends the homes that were priced and prepared properly with the ones that sat while the seller tested a number. Yours will not be the average. We will give you a realistic window for your home once we have seen it.

What repairs should I make before listing?

Usually paint, cleaning, landscaping, lighting, and fixing anything an inspector would flag. Large remodels rarely return their full cost. We'll walk your home and give you a prioritized list.

How much will I walk away with after the sale?

Your sale price minus your loan payoff, selling costs, and any agreed credits. Commissions are negotiable. We prepare an estimated net sheet for your home so you can plan with confidence.

Will I owe capital gains tax when I sell?

Most people who sell a home they have lived in owe nothing. Federal law lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain if you file single and up to $500,000 if you are married filing jointly. To qualify you have to have owned the home at least 2 of the last 5 years and lived in it as your main home at least 2 of the last 5 years. The months do not have to be consecutive. You also cannot have used the exclusion on another home sale in the 2 years before this one. Gain is your sale price minus what you paid plus improvements and selling costs, not the whole check you walk away with, which is why people who think they have a problem usually do not. If your gain runs past the exclusion, or the home was ever a rental, depreciation you took gets taxed separately at up to 25 percent. Run your real numbers past your CPA before you list, and we will give them the sale figures they need.

What do I have to disclose to buyers?

California sellers complete disclosure forms covering known property conditions and natural hazard zones. We guide you through them, and a real estate attorney can answer any legal question about what must be disclosed.

Do I need to be home for showings?

Generally no, and buyers tend to feel more comfortable when sellers aren't there. We'll set showing windows that fit your schedule.

Should I accept the highest offer?

Not always. A slightly lower offer with stronger financing, fewer contingencies, or better timing can be the safer choice. We compare every offer side by side with you.

What if I need to buy another home after I sell?

We coordinate both sides so your timelines work together. See selling and buying at the same time.

How will I know what's happening once my home is listed?

You'll get regular updates with real showing activity and feedback, and you can call or text Michelle directly anytime.

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Ready to make your move with Dubner Real Estate Group?

Michelle and Jon Dubner, REALTORS with Equity Union in the Santa Clarita Valley

Meet the team

You would be working with our team

We are Michelle and Jon Dubner, husband and wife, and Dubner Real Estate Group is ours. Our team is here to serve you: to understand what you are hoping for, walk you through it step by step, and make sure you get there. Michelle answers her own phone and is quickest by text, so ask us anything, at any point, however small it feels.

Michelle Dubner DRE #01496647 Jon Dubner DRE #02118617 Equity Union