Buyers look for HOMES, not houses. They buy homes in which they FEEL they would like to live. Selling your home quickly is simple: make it feel like a home! I know it is your home, but will it attract as many buyers as possible? Most buyers select homes based on emotions.

Your home is not the only home buyers will see; the average buyer may see 6-8 houses in London before choosing.   You're competing with other homes for sale in your price range.

  Here are a few tips to showcase your home to sell:

• First impressions set the tone for a buyer’s visit. Approach your house in your car as any buyer would.  Examine the outside as you’re approaching.  How does it look?  Are shrubs trimmed?  How clean is the foyer?  How do the grass and landscaping look?  Clutter detracts from the house's architecture.
• Take a look at your house's exterior. Is the paint fading or chipping?  Is the colour outdated or impersonal?  How does the roof look?  What do you see first as you drive up to or away from your home?
• Now go inside just like a buyer would. Be aware of four senses: smell, touch, sight, and hearing.  Go through room by room and test all four senses.  Check flooring and carpet for stains and odours.
•  Pack away most counter appliances, get rid of excess furniture, put away unused dishes, and make your home neat and orderly. If you’ve ever visited a model home, you’ll notice it’s clean and uncluttered. You are going to move anyway, so you might as well pack early and make your home more saleable.
• Hire someone to clean your home professionally. Top to bottom!  Cleaning and cosmetic fixes, especially in the kitchen, bathrooms, and primary bedroom, can often add up to $10 in sales price for every $1 you invest.
• Pets should be out of sight (and smell!). Remove pet odours for showings.  Remember the four senses.  Some people are uneasy around pets, and they may distract attention from your home's features.
• Pay particular attention to lighting. During the day, open all your blinds and curtains.  If it’s cloudy out, turn on all lights for showings.  Leave your front drapes open at dusk and turn on all the lamps and lights.

At night, do the same, but close your blinds and curtains. When showing your home, turn off all appliances, the television, the radio, and anything that will distract from your home. You might want to play a little light music to enhance the emotional experience for your buyer.

Showcasing a home for sale takes more than plopping a sign on your lawn, listing it on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), and hoping it sells; hope isn't a strategy!

Successfully marketing your home (getting the highest price at the right time, with fewer hassles and problems) takes much more than open houses; fewer than 1% of homes sell at an open house! Realtors use open houses to attract buyers, not to sell your home.

When your home is for sale on MLS, you enter one of the most competitive businesses anywhere! The key to marketing any home effectively is identifying potential buyers.

When you pick up any real estate magazine or flyer, all content looks virtually identical. 2 -6 homes with a small picture of the property and a massive picture of a Realtor and #1 this, #1 that, or a member of so & so club. Or, (I can see your eyes rolling now!), they say honesty, integrity, we care, etc. Well, they better care, be honest, and have all that and more; it’s your home and your money!

Does three bdrm, two baths, a beautiful home, lovely floors, a clean, good neighbourhood and close to schools put you to sleep? Your home has a story; it is your past, and your marketing must reflect its feel and energy, not just the number of rooms. Most people who can afford to buy a home can count!

Frustrations Affect People Differently

Everyone says they have the technology but lack the personal touch, or hide behind a keyboard. In a recent Canadian Real Estate Association poll, potential home buyers’ most prevalent frustration was not getting a next-day response or never getting a return call. The key to generating buyers for your home is reaching them first. Great Realtors will have an up-to-date automatic response notifier, an online virtual tour, floor plans & excellent marketing copy personalized for your home, neighbourhood reports, and calls to action to reach buyers first.

So again, the first one to reach the buyer wins the sale; don’t settle for anything less!

An appraisal is an opinion of value for an entirely different purpose than selling your home. Usually, an appraisal gives banks or mortgage lenders information to fund a loan. If a lender is motivated to lend you money, their estimate may be higher than your property's true market value.

What’s the difference between a comparative market analysis & an appraisal?

There are subtle but significant differences between a CMA and an appraisal. A licensed appraiser performs an appraisal to determine current value for lending or insurance purposes. A Realtor performs a comparative market analysis to determine a list price based on comparable sales and market trends. 

Market value is what a qualified, willing buyer will pay! 

Accurate information is king; avoid being misled by outside experts, like well-meaning relatives or co-workers, who may have a skewed view of your market value.

Real estate law and purchase-and-sale contracts are legal documents. When you sign an offer to buy your property, it becomes legally binding; an improperly written offer can create serious problems: a sale could fall through and cost you thousands in forced repairs, inspections, and remedies for items included or excluded in the purchase offer.

You must understand which repairs and closing costs you are responsible for under the contract. Have you disclosed everything? The courts do not accept “Oh, I forgot to mention that” as a defence.

Review your title carefully and determine whether your property conflicts with local restrictions or laws. (I recently helped a buyer purchase a home; three outstanding city work orders were four years old. And get this: the seller did not even know they existed. So, two real estate people and two lawyers should have done due diligence. (All I did was check with city hall; it's one of the top to-dos on my Listing Preparation Checklist!)

If you have to remedy these items yourself, you can spend thousands on legal bills, fines, contractors, and other costs. In that case, it was $ 5,318. 43! A competent, experienced  Realtor upfront can help identify and avoid these issues before they become “problems.”

Notice that I did not start this step #6 with “If you sell, do you know where you are going? It may not be an issue for some, but?

• You have found your dream home, but you cannot finance it until your home sells. Do not be misled by this statement: “Oh, not a problem; your house will sell or should sell within a week or in a month.” Really?
• You make an offer on your dream home, but the sellers won't accept a conditional offer contingent on you selling yours, or worse, they accept it with a 24- or 48-hour bump clause, and you get bumped! That hurts.
• You are counting on clearing or netting x amount of dollars from the sale of your home, and you either get no offers or the offers you get are nowhere near what you thought you'd clear. Not Good.

Many scenarios can crop up, and I can name 31 more I have seen or heard. Don’t go there. We will not let you gamble with the most significant investment of your life, give you false hope, or convince you to take a costly risk. We take the time to explain the pros and cons of the options available before you sign anything.