
Selling A Home
Selling your home is a tough thing to do.
Most sellers want to sell their home as quickly as possible. And, of course, they want to sell it at the highest price possible. That sounds simple, but it’s not. It takes the help of a good real estate agent to aid in setting the price, preparing the home, and marketing the home effectively to attract buyers. Once you are ready to get started, your real estate agent will help you:
• Properly prepare and stage your home • Strategically set the price
• Market your home to buyers
• Take the time to show the home to prospects
• Negotiate the best possible selling price
• Complete all of the required agreements to finalize the deal
• Our commercial real estate services include: land acquisition and sales, leasing, management and auditing, due diligence, tenant representation, investment consulting and valuation services
TIPS for SELLERS
Eleven Ways To Get Your Home in Tip Top Shape Prior to Selling It! | Many people want to know what the secret is to getting the most out of their real estate and to appeal most consumers looking for real estate today. This report will guide you through doing many of those things to help get the most dollars when selling your property...read more >
Step by Step Guide to Selling | There are hundreds of critical mistakes you can make when selling your home, however there is a universal cure for them all...qualifying and choosing the right agent...read more >
Five Reasons Homes Don't Sell | Most people believe there are lots of reasons that a home doesn’t sell. However, there are actually only five. If you address these five common mistakes, then you will never have a problem getting your home sold...read more >
Eleven Ways To Get Your Home in Tip Top Shape Prior to Selling It!
And Maximize the Most Income!
Many people want to know what the secret is to getting the most out of their real estate and to appeal to most consumers looking for real estate today. This report will guide you through doing many of those things to help get the most dollars when selling your property.
1 Paint the interior!
Most buyers appreciate a good fresh coat of paint and this will help enhance your properties value. It will also help brighten your rooms by giving them a new clean appearance. Stay away from bold and bright colours and focus more on lighter and softer earth tone shades. This will also help make the rooms feel larger and appeal to a bigger group of potential buyers.
2 Paint the outside!
Curb appeal is important and there is nothing worse for a Real Estate professional to try and market a home that has peeling paint or is in desperate need of painting. Of course depending on the time of year and the weather conditions you might not be able to paint the exterior but if at all possible paint the exterior. As noted with the interior suggestion of using soft lighter neutral colours do the same for painting the outside of your home. Stay away from bright colours that others may not like.
3 Pick Up Any Outside Debris, Trash or Clutter!
First impressions make a huge impact on potential buyers. Should your property have unwanted clutter at the initial greeting to consumers when your property is shown it will not help in the marketing and selling of your home. A few hard hours of raking cleaning and picking up odds and ends could add “thousands” to the sales price of your home.
4 Reduce Extras and Odds and Ends From Your Home!
Rooms with too much furniture or decorations can often detract from the showing of your home. Usually too much décor can make the rooms look smaller and hurt your chances of selling your home. Store unneeded furniture or items that you can do without during the marketing stage of your property listing. Your goal is to make your property look spacious and comfortable. Buyers also want to see rooms that appear and look spacious to them.
5 Be sure and Open Blinds and Draperies!
This is a great idea to help aid the salesperson sell your home. When your property is in tip top share and ready to show having as much light as possible helps brighten your home and give it a good feel.
6 Avoid Playing Music!
Although you may like the music playing in the background it can be a deterrent to the agent and buyers while looking at your home. Keep music off while your home is being shown.
7 Price Your Property Right From The Beginning!
Many buyers take the approach and attitude that they can always come down on price. This can be a bad thing to do. Many buyers feel if a home has been listed for a long time that there is something wrong with it. Most agents will tell you that the best activity occurs during the first two to three weeks of the listing begin date. After a few weeks the activity will begin to taper off and showings will cease. If your home is priced incorrectly from the beginning it will not get a lot of showings and the longer your home is on the market the more buyers will feel that it’s tainted or something’s wrong with the price.
8 Have Your Carpets Cleaned!
It’s a good idea to have your carpets cleaned or your hardwood floors polished or waxed. This is normally not too expensive and can usually add a lot of appeal to potential buyers.
9 Hire a Staging Company!
If possible hire a staging company to help show you ways to maximize room appeal and value to your residence. Many real estate firms have a staging company or people on staff who can aid in this service. Feel free to ask me about how I can help with staging too.
10 Purchase New Linens and Towels for Bathrooms!
This can help aid in giving a new appearance to your bathrooms.
11 Consider Wallpapering!
Be careful here and do not use bold or daring papers but use a basic light general theme when wallpapering. Dark colours make rooms look smaller and you need to stay away from any colours that may make the room look small or busy.
Source: John D. Mayfield ABR, ABRM, GRI, e-PRO, CRB
Step by Step Guide to Selling
Step 1 - Realtor Interviews and the Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
There are hundreds of critical mistakes you can make when selling your home, however there is a universal cure for them all . . . qualifying and choosing the right agent. Ask your agent lots of questions to ensure their motives are in the right place and they have the ability to properly represent you. Furthermore, you need to find out if you are comfortable with this person’s style of business.
In addition to an interview with an agent, have them look at your house and give you an idea of value. The agent will then assess the other homes in the area that are comparable to yours, make financial adjustments for the differences and give you an approximate value. This process is called a CMA.
Step 2 - Document & Material Preparation
In order to sell, there are certain documents and materials that you should obtain. These include an updated survey of your property called a Real Property Report (you likely have one from when you bought the home), any relevant repair receipts (such as a new roof or furnace), any home warranty documents, a spare set of keys, relevant rental or lease agreements, etc. If you live in a condo, pull all the documents you have received from the board or management company. Your Realtor should help you with the rest.
Step 3 - Home Preparation
If there are major repairs that need to be made, consider fixing them before you sell, or offering a credit to a buyer for the repair. If you try to hide it or don’t address the issue, then in the buyer’s mind it will drastically reduce the quality and price of the property...“If this is wrong, then what else is wrong”. In terms of a simple cleaning, the key is to de-clutter rooms (knick-knacks and excess furniture), and make sure the house looks clean and well maintained.
Step 4 - The Listing Documents
When you sign the listing documents, be sure that you understand you are signing a legal contract. Your Realtor should clearly explain each clause and the implications. When does the contract begin and how does the contract end? What are my rights and responsibilities within the agreement? Most standard contracts are written to protect you (the seller) and the brokerage as well.
Step 5 - Marketing
Be sure your agent mentions all the features of the house that convinced you to initially make your purchase, because other buyers will likely feel the same way. Look over the marketing materials and if you have any suggestions for additional information, feel free to let us know. Any house will sell if the value exists or is perceived in the mind of the buyer...this is the key.
Step 6 - Showings
No one likes to be forced out of their home, but it is extremely uncomfortable for a buyer if you are present during a showing. If possible, make arrangements with a friend, neighbour or relative to escape during showings. The more flexible you can be the better, however if there are specific times that will not work, or if you want a break, simply tell your Realtor. We are all human and buyers will understand that the home will not be accessible 24/7.
Step 7 - Strategy Assessment
After a couple of weeks on the market, we should have enough feedback to assess the current marketing strategy, and it may be time to make some adjustments. This may include changing the marketing medium (newspaper vs websites, etc), the features that are focused on, price, agent incentives, etc. Your agent should remain proactive so the listing doesn’t go stale.
Step 8 - Offer & Negotiation
When someone decides to write an offer, you will be contacted by your Realtor and a time will be set to present it to you. The agent bringing the offer may want to present in person, however you ultimately have the choice. After some negotiations, signatures and initials will be required to finalize the agreement. The goal in a successful negotiation is to come to a win-win solution. Remember, people will pay your price if they feel they are getting the value somewhere else.
Step 9 - Conditions
It is most common for an offer to have some sort of condition on it. This might be that the buyers agree to purchase your house as long as they can get a home inspection first, or subject to their financing being approved. A due date is usually between 7 – 10 days and your house will be considered “conditionally sold” during this time. The shorter the condition dates the better, but it is important to give the buyers a realistic amount of time to save the headache of extensions on dates.
Step 10 - Preparation for Possession
Once the conditions are removed, the deal is considered “firm” and you can prepare for possession. You will need to book an appointment with the lawyer (usually a date about a week before possession), and fulfill any part of the contract that you agreed to. If you said you would paint, clean, or something else, then this must be done before possession to avoid a contract breach.
Step 11 - Closing and Possession
Possession typically happens at 12:00pm unless otherwise agreed to in writing. It is best to have your furniture moved on the previous day as some people like to get in a couple hours early to do a walk through (this is not a requirement and is simply a show of good faith). Keys do not get released to the new owners until noon and only if the money has been transferred to your lawyer (they will notify the Realtors). Typically your cheque will be ready a couple days after, and if you are buying a new home, the lawyers will handle any money transfers that need to happen.
Five Reasons Homes Don't Sell
Most people believe there are lots of reasons that a home doesn’t sell. However, there are actually only five. If you address these five common mistakes, then you will never have a problem getting your home sold.
Over Pricing and Speculating
We all wish we could ask whatever we wanted for our homes, but unfortunately price is set by comparable properties and market conditions. If you are priced above either of these, then your home will sit for a long time. Looking at the price of homes currently listed for sale in your neighbourhood only tells part of the story. You must research how much homes are actually selling for, and price your home accordingly.
Exposure
Even a well priced property can’t sell, if no one knows about it. If you are not marketing your home where the buyers are looking, then you will not sell it. The more of your target market that sees your home, the better chance you have. More and more, people are using the internet as their primary source of research. Be sure your home is easy to find in the most common places that people look.
Poor Marketing
You have to make buyers want to look at your home. If your marketing makes your property look like every other listing, then you are simply “rolling the dice” and hoping for the best. Is your marketing truly compelling? A great question to ask is... Why should someone buy my home, versus any other home in the neighbourhood or city? If you don’t believe that you have a compelling reason, then the buyer won’t either.
Presentation
So now you’ve got someone to look at your home, but it’s a mess, smells bad, or simply shows poorly. If a buyer doesn’t feel comfortable in your home, you can forget about the sale. If you can, don’t be around for showings, keep the house clean, and do some research on staging your home for sale. A small investment can make or save you thousands.
Lack of Buyer Confidence
Purchases fall through every day because sellers cannot confidently answer the buyer’s questions; provide accurate paperwork, or verify important details. If you are not organized before you sell, then you may watch all your hard work go to waste as a potential buyer walks away due to a lack of confidence.
Do Your Homework
You need to be very realistic with your goals when you are selling and you must do your homework. As the marketplace changes so must your strategy. Too many people spend thousands of dollars, hours of their time (not to mention stress) and miss the best opportunities to sell or don’t have the proper information to make a sale possible. Gather all the information that you need and get the advice of experts when you can. At the end of the day, hiring a professional to ensure your sale is done properly may be one of the best investments you can make.