Home Seller Tips

Homes sell in any market. Regardless of overall conditions, each home is judged on its own merits. If you want your home to sell quickly, for a good price and with good terms, you have to properly prepare it - and yourself - for sale. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Getting your self ready: The market has 'corrected' (i.e. declined) from the highs of 2007 and early 2008. There is probably more to come. (The Canadian Real Estate Association is predicting a 3% decline in the national average this year.) To sell your home you have to be realistic about both the price at which you list, and the price at which you may ultimately sell. In short, lower your expections to keep them in line with reality. In a 'buyer's market' sellers can't be too aggressive (which many have been over the last few years). The last thing you want now is to over-price your home and end up sitting on the market for the next 3 months!

Let your agents work for you: With very few exceptions, your Realtor is the expert. Emily and I know how to market your home; we have the knowledge and experience to determine who is a real buyer (as opposed to a tire kicker or low baller); and we know how to deal with other Realtors - which is extra important during difficult negotiations. Everybody knows somebody who wants to advise them - and of course their agent was an idiot, wasn't she? Choose a Realtor (or two) whom you trust, then let us do our job.

Getting your home ready: Home preparation and presentation (together with pricing) are key to a successful sale. Take advantage of Emily's years of experience in the home styling industry and let us help you to get your home ready for sale. The money you spend (cleaning, patching, painting, etc.) is money well spent. It will help capture the interest of potential buyers, and overcome the objections that naturally arise (especially in a soft market). In short, making a good first impression is more important now than ever!

For "Style and Staging" tips, scroll through Emily's previous posts - and stay tuned for more! If you have any questions about market conditions or the home selling process, please feel free to get in touch with us. (Click on the headline above to get to our web site.)

By the way, despite the tough market, we just sold a beautiful home in the Beach for $1.2 million - one of only two million dollar-plus sales in the district in the last 2 months. Call us any time and we'll put our continuous marketing strategy and commitment to success to work for you!