Where do I start when I want to sell my home?

I’m glad you asked! Selling your most valuable possession could be intimidating. When you have a professional helping you with selling your home, you can feel at ease and stress free. You will know I’m there to protect your best interests.

The following is a list of a few things that I will take into account

Preparing your home so it’s attractive to buyers

When you are ready to sell your home, there will be many things to consider so that you will have an advantage against the competition.  Your competition are all the comparable homes for sale at the present time.  Buyers will be comparing your home with what else is on the market.  They will be comparing the lot size, the square footage of the home, the garage type if any, what upgrades have been done to the home, if there is a walkout or a finished basement, what direction the property faces plus many more factors. 

Lighting

When a potential buyer walks into your home, lighting is a very important factor.  If you have any burnt-out light bulbs or broken light fixtures its important to get them changed or replaced.  Most people don’t want to buy a house that is dark and gloomy inside or if they see any light fixtures broken they will automatically think there is something wrong with the house.  This could put up a red flag in the buyers mind which you don’t want to happen.

Smell

Nobody enjoys foul smells, if a potential buyer comes into your home and there are pet smells or maybe food smells this could detract from the overall appearance of the home.  Its important to make sure your home is smelling good before any viewing.  And note some people are allergic to dogs and cats.

De-cluttering and de-personalizing

Before your home’s pictures will be taken, its important to fully clean the home, removing things that don’t have to be there would be ideal.  If you have a big shoe collection, put it in the closet or basement out of the open view.  Your personal pictures should be moved out of the main areas of the home, it just looks more professional if your personal photos are not included in the listing photos.  As a rule the less clutter the better your home will show to buyers.

Cleaning

When you will list your home for sale, one of the most important things is to clean it.  This will include cleaning those areas you might have not gotten to in years, your baseboards, any cobwebs in a corner of a room, mirrors and windows, your kitchen stove and fridge.  Appearance is everything, if your competition has a cleaner house that potential buyer might choose to buy the cleaner home.

Repairs and Renovations

Buyers look for a functional home with no problems which they would be able to just move in and enjoy.  Not everybody is a home flipper that’s willing to renovate and update your home before they move in to it.  This is where those problem areas in your home should be either fixed or updated.  If you had a leak which damaged drywall or flooring it would be wise to repair it.  To determine if it will be viable to do a renovation or an upgrade please seek my guidance as there are a lot of variables involved.

Landscaping

The landscaping of the home is an important factor to consider because anyone that looks at your home can see if the grass hasn’t been taken care of, or if there are overgrown trees and weeds all around your property.  Its important to at least cut the grass every 2 weeks so that it looks decent.  Adding a few flours and plants here and there would never hurt either.

Strategically setting an asking price

One of the most important factors it to place your home for sale at a price that is reasonable and coincides with your homes valueIts important to get it right on the market value so that it will sell in a short period of time.  If you over price your home, it will not sell because the comparable homes are priced better and the buyers are always looking for the best deal out there.  I know your home has sentimental value to it, but sometimes what you might think its worth might not be the reality of what the market is saying. 

Comparable Homes

These homes are essentially your competition.  I will determine all the comparable homes in the area currently for sale.  There will be many factors in this research, such as comparable lot size, building type, age of home, garage type, any upgrades etc.  Its important to compare your home to what’s on the market right now to help determine the price to list it at.

Sold Homes

Recently sold homes in the area tell a story of the market and what homes are selling for.  This is the reality of the market and proof of what people are willing to buy homes in your area for.  This is a very powerful tool at my disposal.

Market Statistics

The real estate market is a lot like the stock market.  Values go up and down, there are times growth is exponential and at times there are corrections.  The long-term price trend shows that home prices in the GTA are constantly increasing.  Ideally this should coincide with the rate of inflation but of course this doesn’t happen.  Before setting a selling price on your home its important to go over how the market is performing.  There are sellers’ markets, buyers’ markets and neutral markets.

Days on The Market

This is essentially the number of days a home has been for sale.  If you see a home that’s been on the market for 60+ days, it usually tells a story.  Over priced homes won’t sell so they will stay on the market for a long period of time.  And they eventually expire.  This is a powerful tool at my disposal as well.  These homes have already tested the market and the numbers speak for themselves. 

Effectively marketing your home

In my opinion marketing your home is the most important factor in getting your home sold.  Putting your house on the MLS system and having a sign on your front lawn, is the bare minimum marketing that is required to sell your home.  MLS gets your home exposure to every single real estate agent in the area, which is great but not enough.  I go above and beyond in my marketing plan to sell your home.

 I will get a professional photographer to take HDR photos of your home.  Not only that, I will also get a video tour made for your home. This day and age we must adapt to all the technology that is available out there.  

I will send out “Just Listed” postcards to everyone in your neighbourhood, as well as door knock and let all your neighbours know that your house is for sale!

I will conduct an open house the 1st week your home goes on the market, many buyers like to see homes on the weekends so this is a great opportunity to further expose your home to the public. 

I have a global reach of investors and home buyers around the world.  Century 21 is in more than 80 countries around the world.  Which also connects with over 118,000 Realtors worldwide!

Century 21 is the first Brokerage in Canada which has a partnership wit Zillow.  Zillow is the largest real estate website in the world by amount of traffic, It’s the American version of Realtor.ca.  Zillow is in the process of transitioning to Canada and we are taking advantage of the market reach that will provide for your home.

There are surveys that show that 97% of homebuyers start their search online.  My marketing plan provides your home to be on many websites and online advertisements.  This will include but not limited to:

  • My personal website
  • Century 21 Corporate website
  • A designated website just for your home
  • Realtor.ca
  • MLS
  • Broker Bay
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Point2Homes
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Kijiji
  • Pinterest

I work very hard to expose your home to every possible platform out there.

Negotiating the best possible deal

I have years of negotiating experience to fight to get you the best price for your home.  Lowball offers often have turned into offers over asking price.  I will negotiate with your best interests as my priority.  If you have certain conditions you require, I will do my best to get those conditions met.  The goal is to have several buyers having a bidding war for your home, this situation will get you an offer over asking price.  This is the best-case scenario in selling your home.

Real estate agent in Toronto, Newmarket, Thornhill, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Aurora, Stouffville, Newmarket, Bradford, East Gwillimbury.

Completing the transaction

Now that you have accepted an offer, there will be more steps to completing the transaction.  By this time, you will need to retain a lawyer to handle the closing process.  Your lawyer will have many things to review and take care of for you.  The lawyer will look for items such as outstanding encumbrances, restrictive covenants, expropriations and matrimonial home status.  They will investigate adjoining lands to ensure compliance with the Planning Act.  The lawyer will search the title for any issues that may arise.  They will calculate outstanding amounts from property taxes and utilities if any.  The lawyer takes care of the mortgage changes on title as well.  They will provide a statement of adjustments which shows all the costs associated with the sale of the home.  All disbursements will be given to the people when the transaction closes.

First step is to book a FREE home evaluation, to see what your home is worth.

Ready to sell?

A Real Estate Agent You Can Rely On.