The method
Every number first. Then a launch, not a listing.
How I sell a home in Greater Peoria: every number before you decide, a home that's ready before anyone sees it, and a launch that finds your buyer.
The short version
Most sellers I meet have sold a home before. What they remember is a price on a sheet of paper, a sign in the yard, and then a lot of waiting. Somewhere after the contract, the calls got shorter and the updates stopped. They found out what was happening by asking.
I work the other way around. You see every number before you decide anything. Your home is ready before a single buyer sees it. Then it launches with a plan behind it, and from the day you accept an offer until the day you hand over the keys, you hear from me before you have to ask.
I call it Know Before You Decide. It has four parts:
- Equity. Where your home really stands, and what you walk away with.
- Presentation. How your home looks, reads and feels before it goes public.
- Impact. How I put it in front of the right buyers, including the ones who weren't looking yet.
- Campaign. The launch, the offers, and everything between contract and closing.
You don't have to decide anything today. This page is here so you know exactly how it works before we ever sit down.
Get My Home's Numbers
Equity: you see every number before you decide
The first question is almost always "What's my house worth?" I'm happy to answer it. Then I ask one back: what will that number help you decide? Selling, pulling equity out, or planning a move a year from now all need a slightly different answer.
A price on its own isn't a plan. Before you sign anything, we sit down with the full picture:
- Where your home stands. What similar homes around you actually sold for, what's competing with you right now, and where a buyer's eye will land when they compare them.
- What you walk away with. Your estimated net proceeds after the costs of selling, laid out line by line, so the number that matters most isn't a surprise at the closing table.
- Your property taxes. Illinois is a high-tax state, and taxes shape a lot of decisions here, especially if you're buying your next home at the same time. Many homeowners qualify for exemptions they never applied for. I'll show you the ones worth asking about. Amounts and rules can change, so always confirm with your county assessor.
- Your timing. Whether it makes more sense to sell first, buy first, or line the two up, based on your numbers rather than a rule of thumb.
Then I tell you what I would do if I were you, and why. You decide. If the answer is "not yet," that's a perfectly good answer, and you'll have what you need when you're ready.
Pricing is where a sale is won or lost, long before the first showing. A home priced where the market will meet it draws buyers in the first week, which is when attention is at its highest. A home priced on hope tends to sit, and a home that sits starts to raise questions. I would rather give you a number you don't love in my office than let the market deliver it to you three months later.
Every number first. Then a launch, not a listing.
Presentation: the home is ready before anyone sees it
Buyers decide how they feel about a home long before they walk in. They decide on a phone screen, in a few seconds, scrolling past dozens of others. Everything in this step is about what they see in those few seconds, and what they feel when they finally step through the door.
You'll get a room-by-room plan for preparing your home: what's worth fixing, what isn't, and what to leave alone. You don't need to renovate to sell well. You do need to know where a few hundred dollars and a free weekend make the biggest difference. If you need help, I have vendors I trust for repairs, cleaning, clean-outs and more, and I'll coordinate them with you.
Then I prepare the home to be seen:
- Interior merchandising. Arranging what's already in the home so each room shows its purpose and its space.
- Staging, when it pays. Sometimes that's live staging. Sometimes it's virtual staging of an empty room. Every home is different, and we decide together.
- Professional photography on every listing.
- Video and drone wherever the property allows it. Some homes and lots show their best from the air; some don't, and I won't force it.
- A floor plan for every home. It answers "will our furniture fit?" before a buyer has to ask, and it keeps serious buyers looking longer.
- Signage inside the home that points out what a buyer might miss on a quick walk-through.
The listing description gets the same care. Before real estate, I spent about 25 years in corporate sales, selling highly customized marketing to Fortune 500 companies. I write the story of your home the way a buyer will read it: what it's like to live there, not a list of features every other listing also has.
Impact: I go find your buyer
Putting a home on the MLS and waiting for the right buyer to search for it is not a marketing plan. Plenty of the best buyers aren't searching yet. Some are one good video away from starting. Others are working with an agent who hasn't mentioned your home to them.
So I go looking for them.
- Paid ads for every listing. Not some listings. Every one. Most of them are video ads, because video stops a scroll in a way a photo rarely does, and they reach local buyers who weren't looking at listings that day.
- Agent-to-agent outreach. I use MLS activity to find the agents most likely to have a buyer for a home like yours, and I contact them directly. A buyer's agent who already knows about your home is worth more than any number of people who scroll past it.
- Personal video texts. I send ten personal video texts every day to people I know. When I have a new listing, the right people hear about it from me, not from an algorithm.
- Email to my contacts, so past clients and people in my network can pass it along to someone who's been waiting for a home like yours.
- Facebook and Instagram posts, alongside the paid campaigns.
- Print and yard signs for neighbors and drive-by buyers, who still matter in Greater Peoria.
Open houses are a tool, not a ritual. I'm glad to hold one when it will help. Over the last several years, though, well-prepared homes here have often sold before an open house was needed.
You'll know what's running and what it's doing. I'll share showing activity and buyer feedback as it comes in, so you never have to wonder whether anything is happening.
Campaign: a plan from launch day to closing day
A home doesn't get listed. It gets launched. The first week on the market is when it gets the most attention it will ever get, so the photos, video, description, ads and agent outreach are all ready before it goes live and they start together.
When offers come in, I lay each one out side by side and walk you through it. The highest number isn't always the best offer. I look at the terms, the financing, the contingencies and the timeline, because a clean offer that closes is worth more than a big one that falls apart three weeks later. I'll tell you which one I'd take and why. The choice is yours.
The day you go under contract, you get a short video from me walking you through exactly what happens next and when. After that you get an update at every milestone: inspection, appraisal, the loan approval, the final walk-through. I work directly with the buyer's lender, the inspector and the title company so nothing slips through a gap, and you're not the one chasing people for answers.
When something goes wrong, and sometimes something does, I'll tell you plainly what happened, what it means, and your options. Calm, clear and fast. Most problems in a sale are solvable when they're caught early.
After closing, I don't disappear. My clients hear from me for years, and many of them come back when it's time for their next move, or send a friend who is tired of never hearing from their own agent.
That's the whole process. If you'd like to see what it looks like for your home, we can start with the numbers. There's no cost and no pressure. You'll leave knowing more than you did, whatever you decide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you decide on a list price?
I start with what similar homes near you actually sold for, then look at what's competing with you right now and how buyers will compare them. You'll see the full reasoning and your estimated net before you decide. I'll tell you the price I'd choose and why, and the final call is yours.
Do I need to renovate before I sell?
Usually not. Most homes sell well with targeted repairs, a deep clean and good presentation. I'll walk through your home room by room and tell you what's worth doing, what isn't, and roughly what each option costs in time and money.
Do you hold open houses?
I can, and I will when it helps. Over the last several years, well-prepared homes in Greater Peoria have often sold before an open house was needed, so I don't treat it as automatic. We'll decide together based on your home and your schedule.
How will I know what's happening after we accept an offer?
You'll get a short video from me the day you go under contract explaining every next step, then an update at each milestone: inspection, appraisal, loan approval and final walk-through. I work directly with the lender, inspector and title company, so you won't have to chase anyone.
What does it cost to talk with you about selling?
Nothing. We'll go over your home, your numbers and your timing. There's no pressure to list, and if the right answer is to wait, I'll tell you that.
Keep exploring
Ready to make your move with Shannan?