Price your home right!
You’ve noticed what your neighbours listed their home for, and yours should go for much higher because of <insert amazing house feature here>, right? Well, to put it short. Maybe.
First of all, you probably only know what price your neighbour was originally asking for their home. They may have had a price reduction, or negotiated a lower amount with their Buyers. Buyers dictate a home’s price. You don’t need to accept lowball offers, but as a group it’s true. Your home is only worth what a Buyer is willing to pay. Supply and demand.
That doesn’t mean you have no say in the matter either. We’ll need to decide what is the right pricing strategy for you and your home. This changes based on the current local market (neighbours listed for sale and sold recently), the time of year, both the positive and negative selling features of your home, etc.
So, how much is it worth? There is no RIGHT number.
We could do the wrong thing, give you a showy presentation, then write down some voluminous number to encourage you to use us to list. But, we won’t. We’ll educate you and let you pick the right price based on your needs.
We know what is selling, what is sitting, and why.
Market your condo or house.
What we want to do is invite educated Buyers to your listing. How?
Simply having your home on the MLS gives you a big leg up on those that are trying to sell their home themselves… but that’s not enough to sell your home, especially if you want top dollar.
Who is your ideal Buyer? What specific target audience are we aiming to reach? That’s the easiest way to effectively market your home. Who would buy your home? Why (location, house features, transit nearby)? Where are they coming from and how old are they?
Once we have an idea of the type of Buyer in mind, we need to target our marketing to reach them. Different types of Buyers respond to different types of advertising.
Younger buyers respond to sponsored ads on social media. Seniors will still find homes in the newspaper or by direct mailing. Is your buyer the type that is already working with an agent, or perusing Craigslist casually in the evenings? What sort of descriptive words and language will they respond best to?
Exposure!
Can a Buyer find your home easily online? If they do, do they engage? Or do they continue on to a home with better photos that captures their interest? Professional photos are an absolute must, and we won’t list your home without them. That’s how strongly we feel about the difference between an agent’s cellphone photos vs what a professional can produce.
We know how to highlight your home and make it stand out above your neighbours to get it the attention that it deserves.
Prepare your home for showings.
If you put in the work now before photos, then you won’t have to stress about what type of first impression you’ve put out there.
Declutter
You have too much stuff. Yes, you. Unfortunately it might be your favorites that you want to display, but it distracts potential Buyers and crowds photos. Start boxing up stuff that you don’t need and put it in storage. You’ll need to neutralize your home by removing personal photos, collectibles, and putting it all somewhere safe. Try taking a test photo of your room with your cellphone and looking at your livingspace this way. It’s easier to see your home the way that a Buyer would, as you become deaf to your home’s visual noise.
Cleaning
This is the MOST hated part of the listing process. You want your home as clean as you would expect your hotel room to be. And you have to do that every day that your home is listed for. Some Buyers don’t provide a day’s notice to come and look, and you don’t want to be caught at work worrying about last night’s dinner dished all over the counters. And don’t forget to get your carpets cleaned professionally. Keeping your home in immaculate condition is key to getting you top dollar.
Repairs
Those little things that bother you every once in awhile but hasn’t been enough of a bother to actually fix yet? Now is the time. Burnt out lights, nail pops, uneven cabinets, leaky sink, peeling trim paint…
These are all little things that Buyers will notice and make them wonder what else is wrong with the home (which is not the direction we want their minds heading). If you’re not feeling up to the task, hire a handy man.
Staging
Little things add up. We view homes every day with our Buyers and see how certain styles cause the general public to react. We’ll give you tips on how to make your home seem more inviting, whether it be some fresh paint, a reorganized living room, or some flowers outside. This isn’t meant to make your home seem undesirable, but rather allow you to transform it into exactly what your Buyers are looking for.
Negotiate Terms
An offer? Yahoo! But wait… there’s more.
There are a few ways that you might receive the offer. We may forward it to you and discuss on the phone for an electronic signing, or come over in person to discuss the merits of what was presented. The Buyer’s agent might present the offer. If you only want to deal with us and not another agent at your kitchen table, then we need that in writing beforehand.
The nitty gritty of the deal. It’s not all about price (although it is a big part of it). You’ll also want to consider the closing date (6 weeks or 3 months to move out?) and the conditions/subjects and how long they require to remove them. Try not to pay too much mind to the deposit. Some have their money locked away as equity in their own home and don’t have a large sum to cough up right away. But beware of no deposit either.
Ok, so what now?
You have 3 options to respond. If it’s a great offer, you can accept it as is! If it requires some tweaks (pricing, subjects, etc) you can counter the offer which essentially declines the offer at hand. Be careful with this one, as you can counter offer back and forth… but as soon as you counter, the other party can decline your deal altogether and walk away. And that’s your last option, say no thank you and let the Buyer walk away.
We have taken countless classes/courses/etc. on how to negotiate and want you to know that we ultimately want you to be happy with the sale, but will also ground you with reason if we think it calls for it. We won’t be bullied, and will make sure that you are comfortable with every step. You don’t speak legalese? We do (remember those courses we mentioned?), so I guess you could also call us your translators on top of everything else.