Selling with Marisa

Selling your home should feel prepared, not pressured

I'm Marisa Morello, a Metro Detroit realtor with eight years in the business, operating under my AreYou Closing brand and powered by eXp Realty. I've personally helped 150 families move, my listings average nine days on market, and I cover professional photography and video on every single listing myself. This page is the whole selling process in plain English, from the first conversation to closing day.

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A brick Tudor colonial home in Birmingham, Michigan at golden hour in early fall — A home goes to market the way it deserves No. 01

Years in Metro Detroit

150+

Families Helped

Avg. Days on Market

$340K

Avg. Sale Price

Why List With Me

I tell you what you need to know before you know to ask

I bought my first house when I was 20 and nobody educated me, not the agent, not the lender, nobody. I made just about every wrong decision a person can make in a transaction, and I didn't even know they were wrong until much later. That experience is the entire reason I'm in this business the way I am. I'm obsessed with making sure the person after me doesn't go through what I went through.

Selling is where that shows up most. I'm a Zillow Pro and Zillow Showcase agent, I keep full control of the marketing rather than handing it to a template, and I over-communicate instead of leaving you wondering. I care about discretion, especially with sellers who don't want their business broadcast, and I build relationships that last well past closing, which is why so much of my business is repeat and referral. I also run a referral program where I cover the home inspection for anyone referred to me.

Photo and video on me

Professional photography and video on every listing, covered by me, no conditions.

Showcase presentation

Zillow Showcase so your listing presents differently than most on the platform.

Discretion and truth

Your business stays as public as you want it, and you always get the honest version.

The Marketing

Your listing deserves more than a template

Most listings get dropped into a standard presentation. I don't work that way. Your home gets professional photography and video, a Zillow Showcase presentation, and a launch timed to the day the market pays the most attention.

10%

of listings on Zillow get Showcase placement, so yours stands out in a field where most homes look the same.

75%

more saves, shares, and page views for Showcase listings, which means more buyers actually opening your home.

2%+

more on the sale price for Showcase homes on average, and that difference matters at any price point.

14 days

10% of Showcase listings go pending within the first 14 days, because they get seen early and seen well.

Showcase is available to only about 10% of listings

Zillow Showcase isn't something every agent can offer. It's a placement the platform reserves for a small share of listings, which is exactly why it works: buyers notice the difference. It's part of how I present every single home I list, and it costs you nothing, because I cover the photography, the video, and the build myself. I don't do anything small.

Thursday launches

Homes get the most attention when they launch on Thursdays, so all pre-marketing runs backward from that day.

Photos carry the first impression

89% of homebuyers find photos very useful. That's why professional photography is the baseline on my listings, never an add-on.

A real launch sequence

Pre-marketing, photography, video, and the MLS launch are sequenced, not improvised, so the market sees one complete story on day one.

The Process

My Ten Steps to Sold

This is the exact process I walk every seller through. It's the same one that's in my listing guide, and it's built so you always know what step we're on and what comes next.

Consultation and signing the listing agreement

We sit down and talk about your home, your goals, and your timeline, and I walk you through the listing agreement line by line before you sign anything. This is also where we talk about what matters to you: timing around family events, how public you want the sale to be, and any details that need handling with care.

Home assessment and pricing strategy with comparable sales

I come to your home, walk every room, and build a pricing strategy from actual comparable sales in your neighborhood, not from a portal estimate. This is where I give you the honest number, the one the market supports. I'd rather tell you the truth now than watch your home sit while the market passes it by.

Prepare and stage the property

We go through the home together and make a practical list: what to declutter, what to deep clean, and which small repairs are worth making and which aren't. I've done this enough times to know what moves the needle and what doesn't, and I'll tell you the difference so you spend your energy where it counts.

Pre-marketing, professional photography and video

Before your home ever hits the open market, we build the launch. I cover professional photography and video on every single listing myself, no upsell and no conditions. Homes get the most attention when they launch on Thursdays, so we run pre-marketing backward from that day and make sure everything is ready at once.

Listing launch on MLS and Zillow and Realtor.com

Your home goes live on the MLS and the major portals at once, presented with Zillow Showcase on Zillow so it looks like the listing it deserves to be. The timing, the photos, the video, and the copy all come together on launch day, which is the day the market pays the most attention.

Showings and open houses

Buyers come through, and I'm honest with you about what I'm hearing from every showing: what buyers loved, what gave them pause, and what the feedback actually means for your position. You get the real picture as it forms, not the polite version at the end.

Receive offers

When offers come in, I bring them to you with the context that matters: the price, the terms, the buyer's financing, and how each offer stacks up against your goals. You make the decision, and I make sure you understand every piece of it before you do.

Negotiate and accept

I negotiate on your side and I tell you plainly when to hold firm and when to move. The goal is the best combination of price, terms, and certainty, not just the biggest number on the page, especially when a strong offer today beats a slightly bigger one that falls apart in six weeks.

Inspections and appraisals

Every inspection report looks scary until someone explains what's normal, and I do. I walk you through every finding, help you respond to repair requests, and keep the appraisal moving so your closing date stays real. From accepted offer to closing, the typical timeline is 15 to 45 days, and we track it week by week.

Closing day

We walk through every document together, you sign, and the keys go to your buyers. That's the moment this whole process has been building toward, and I'm in the room with you for it. Then I stay in your corner after closing, because most of my business is repeat and referral.

Facts That Matter

Three things every seller should know

These are the numbers from my listing guide that change how sellers decide. No hype, just the reasons the process works the way it does.

Market value pricing reaches about 60% of buyers

A home priced right at market value reaches roughly 60% of the buyer pool. The same home priced 15% above market reaches only about 10% of buyers. Overpricing doesn't leave room to negotiate down, it just makes the home invisible to the people who would have bought it.

Thursday launches get the most attention

Homes get the most attention when they launch on Thursdays, so pre-marketing runs backward from there. Photography, video, copy, and the Showcase build all happen in the days before, so the home opens on its strongest foot on the day the market is watching.

89% of homebuyers find photos very useful

That's from the research buyers report, and it's why I never treat photography as optional. Professional photos and video are the first impression for almost every buyer, and I cover the cost of both on every listing myself.

The whole timeline, from accepted offer to closing, typically runs 15 to 45 days.

And when you're selling and buying at the same time, I coordinate both closings so you and your family are never left exposed in between. That's the part where experience matters most.

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Where I Work

Metro Detroit, with real depth in Oakland and Macomb counties

My core areas are St. Clair Shores, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Troy, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Plymouth and Northville, plus downtown Detroit, because I genuinely believe in the energy and growth happening there and I like being part of it. If your home is somewhere on this list, I know the pockets, the buyer pools, and the price ranges that actually apply.

Oakland County