Home selling true facts

It’s not rocket surgery, or brain science. It’s easy as pie, selling a house is. You just have to do most things right. There are things that you cannot control, like competing listings entering the market, an economic shock to the economy… sometimes luck deals you a bad hand but we all know in our heart of hearts many of these irrefutable truths in real estate home selling. 

Let’s review how to sell a home

How’s the local market?

What’s happening in Toronto or Taipei has little relevance to what is happening in Laurelwood or Colonial Acres. Condo units may be selling well and homes over $800,000 might be lingering. Local real estate statistics give us a good general idea of what is happening in the market with average days on market and sales volume statistics, but to be better informed you will need to understand what is happening in your specific neighbourhood and with homes most similar to yours.

A clean, uncluttered home sells fast

Nobody wants to clean up someone else’s mess. Spend the time and money to get your home in the best state and you will be rewarded with a faster sale and a better price.

Market pricing

Resist the urge to price it too high just to ‘try it out for a few weeks’. All you are doing is losing a few weeks and maybe the attention of some ready buyers. You only have one chance to make a good first impression. Don’t squander that chance. We are all working from the same information. If the price is too high, you’re not going to fool anyone.

Disruptors at the door

Selling a home is really really inconvenient. Plan to be out for a lot of dinners, visits to the mall or park. Your dog will likely really like all the attention he gets at your office. You’re not going to be able to find your toaster. You can’t leave dishes in the sink for washing up later… you get the idea, right?

You can pay me now or you can pay me later

(But it’s going to cost you more later)

There used to be ad on TV when I was a kid about maintaining your car with this line in it. “You can pay me now or you can pay me later”, implying that it’s going to cost you more if you do it later. The same is true with home repairs. Take the roof for example; if a new roof will cost you $6,000 the home buyer is going to overestimate the cost, rounding up to $10,000 and taking that off the offer. 

The law of comparative value

If you overprice your home all you are really doing is helping your neighbour sell his. Think of the local real estate market like a supermarket. Your home is in the produce section and the buyer doesn’t really care if he buys HoneyCrisp or Granny Smith.  

Loose lips sink ships

I always cringe when I hear or see buyers talking with sellers. Buyers are clever and often direct in their questions and home sellers seem to be oblivious about what they are saying and how that may hurt them 

You can’t buy a house on the internet

The pictures are great. Your agent can show you histories and comparables. But you have to visit if only to smell the place. Smelly homes sell for less. Pets, cooking, smokers…can leave strong smells that will hurt your sale.

Hurry up and don’t wait

Time is not on your side when selling or buying a home. You never know who else is out there about to list or shopping for the same home you are shopping for. We don’t want a competing house to knock yours out of the running and we don’t want a competing buyer to put in an offer when you are thinking it over. 

Just the facts

Also, buyers ask questions for their own reasons. Whatever those reasons are, it is important to give them good clear answers as soon as possible. If they don’t get the answers that they are looking for they will think you are hiding something.

What’s wrong with this picture?

You’re in it.!

Buyers have to be able to visualize themselves living in your home. Family photos, diplomas, knick knacks from your travels…all have to go.

Photos

The most important thing about selling a home is pricing it right. The second most important thing is having the best photos. 

Not marketing

All the marketing in the world will not sell a home with an obvious flaw, a price too high or some other issue. It is what it is. Deal with it.

Communication and cooperation

Deals don’t get done when people dig in, get positional, and fail to communicate, cooperate and compromise. They say the best deals are when both sides think they could have done better. Think about that. 

Vanilla

Baskin Robbins may have 31 flavours of ice cream and you may personally like mint chip and your buyer may love butterscotch ripple, but when selling your home vanilla is a flavour that goes with everything. See what I’ve saying here? 

Experience sells

Hire an agent that will tell you need you need to hear, not what you want to hear.