What to Expect at Your Consultation

Navigating the real estate maze to decide who you should work with can feel tricky. Thankfully, Orchard consultations are straightforward, no-obligation, and free. In short, a consultation with an Orchard Home Advisor is a great way to determine whether our service is right for you.

If you’ve already scheduled your consultation (and even if you haven’t yet), you may be wondering what to expect. How long will it take? And should you prepare anything for it?

During the consultation, you’ll meet with one of our experienced Home Advisors, who are licensed real estate agents. Depending on whether you are looking to buy and sell a home or just sell, they’ll walk you through the service that’s right for you.

Typically completed in an hour, Orchard consultations are broken into three parts:

1. Meeting your Home Advisor and touring your home
2. Discussing Orchard’s service and how it works
3. Reviewing a market analysis of your home compared with similar homes that were recently sold in your area

Most of our customers schedule their consultations in-person at their home, but you can also do this virtually over a video call if you prefer. In light of the coronavirus pandemic, our team is taking extra precautions for in-person consultations to ensure your safety. You can learn more about the steps we're taking here.

Meeting your Home Advisor

Soon after your Home Advisor arrives, they’ll ask to take a quick tour of your home. This is an opportunity for them to better understand the unique features of your house and how those features will impact your listing strategy. As you walk through your home, let your Home Advisor know if you’ve recently completed any upgrades, or if you plan to take or leave anything behind (such as appliances, treehouses, blinds, etc.).

This is also a great time to share what parts of the home you’ve loved and which parts you anticipate needing to spruce up. Ask your Home Advisor for their opinion. As experts in your area, your Home Advisor can advise whether replacing the carpet is necessary, if you’ll need to paint, and which features of the home should be highlighted to potential buyers.

Orchard’s service and how it works

Your Home Advisor will discuss how Orchard will help you set the right list price for your home, what goes into our comprehensive marketing plan, and how we will prepare and list your home for you.

If you’re also looking to buy a home, your Home Advisor will walk through our Move First service in detail, including how we’ll make you a non-contingent buyer and why that matters, as well as how we’ll line up your closings so you don’t have to deal with double mortgages or double moves.

If you’re not clear on a step or term, let your Home Advisor know so they can clarify. This is the perfect time to get your questions answered. Understanding your goals is at the heart of this meeting so expect your Home Advisor to ask you a lot of questions as well.

Your competitive market analysis

In advance of your consultation, your Home Advisor will have prepared a comparative market analysis (or a CMA) for your home to help you determine your list price. In this report, they’ll go over the initial and final sale price for recently sold homes with similar features, square footage, and location.

Your Home Advisor will walk you through their list price recommendation, as well as current buyer and seller trends in your area. Determining the right listing price when you enter the market can make the difference between selling your home in a few weeks versus selling it in a few months.

And that’s it! If you’ve also scheduled your home assessment to happen on the same day as your consultation, know it typically takes around two hours and will start after your consultation. Learn more about what to expect during your virtual assessment.

If you still have questions regarding the consultation or need to change your scheduled time for any reason, you can always contact our team at (844) 819-1373.