Pricing your home is not an easy task. If your property is listed too low, you could potentially be leaving money on the table in a buyers market. If you list too high, you’ll drive buyers away to competing listings. In addition, selling your home can be a very emotionally-charged experience.

Finding the perfect price, one which maximizes the sale price and minimizes the time it takes to sell, requires strategy and experience. Experienced listing agents will prepare a detailed CMA (comparative market analysis) and present it to you with their recommendations, based on their insights on market conditions, local trends in your neighbourhood, competing listings, and recent comparable home sales.

Correct pricing of your home results in higher exposure, more showings, and potentially more offers. It’s tempting to list at a high price, but it’s important to base pricing on data rather than emotions.

Once you’ve established the right price, it’s time to prepare your home for showings.

Buyers often have a tough time visualizing the complete potential of a home, especially if it isn’t a vacant property and you’re currently living in it.

There are a number of important steps you can take to dramatically improve the look and feel of your home so that buyers can picture themselves living in it:

1. Keep your home clean at all times. For many prospective buyers, cleanliness is an indication of how much you care for your home.
   
2. Decluttering is crucial because it makes your home look more spacious and more neutral. Getting rid of unneeded items and hiding personal toiletries during showings helps the buyer see more of the home.
   
3. Ensure that any minor repairs that are required around the property are addressed. This includes spots where there is chipped paint, cracked tiles, squeaky hinges, and leaky faucets.
   
4. Consider staging. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, staged homes sell much faster, and for 7-11% more money. RE/MAX Team Paliwal always provides full staging services to its clients.

Sound overwhelming? You don’t need to do it overnight. RE/MAX Team Paliwal can make arrangements to have someone help you with your preparations.

Think of it this way – everything you remove, replace, clean, or repair potentially puts more money in your pocket. You’re getting paid to do it!

The time has come to put your home on the market for potential buyers to see. Having a sound marketing strategy is important because the more eyeballs you can attract to your property, the better your chances of selling it for a higher price!

Marketing your home to the widest audience takes more than a sign on the front lawn. Here are some ways that your property can be discovered by prospective buyers:

• Realtor.ca is the largest MLS system in Canada and is the most widely used real estate platform.
• A video tour can give an engaging and appealing look at your property for people to view at any time.
• Online exposure on high ranking real estate websites such as our website located at www.RealValueHome.ca.
• A proactive campaign involving direct contact to our own pool of buyers.
• Open houses that will allow prospective buyers to see your home in person.
• Digital advertising including Facebook, Google, or Instagram ads.
• Print marketing through postcards, just listed flyers, and other promotional pieces.
• Social media posts on all the popular platforms to increase exposure and engagement for your property listing.
• Exposure across the RE/MAX global network to other RE/MAX agents with buyers looking to purchase a property.

Here are some important tips for ensuring that your home shows well in person:

• Make sure to leave the property when buyers book an appointment to visit. If you’re home at the time, consider taking a walk around the block for 20 minutes to give buyers privacy to view your home and discuss their thoughts with their agent.
  
• Pay attention to the little details. Adjust your thermostat to a temperature that is appropriate for the weather and the season. Make sure that all the lights, including lamps, are on in the home. Open all doors and blinds, and avoid cooking meals prior to showings that may fill the home with strong smells.
  
• Avoid using an abundance of air fresheners as some people are sensitive or allergic to artificial scents.
  
• If you have large pets, make sure they are not left alone at the property for showings. It’s also recommended to arrange having any small pets (such as cats or small dogs) temporarily moved to a friend’s home for buyer appointments.
  
• In the summer, have your front and back lawn well-maintained so that the first impression of your home is a good one.

The most exciting time during the listing period is when your real estate agent informs you that a buyer has submitted an offer. Whether the offer is emailed or presented in person by the buyer agent, here are some things to keep in mind that will help you navigate the process:

• The initial offer is just that, an offer. The price may come in low or the terms may not be favourable, but don’t get offended. Consider it a starting point of the negotiation, and you’ll have an opportunity to review the terms and counter back.
  
• You can counter-offer on anything you like, including the price, deposit amount, closing date, clauses/conditions, and chattels and fixtures.
  
• You have a lot of pride in your home, so the experience will be emotional. Try to remove your emotions from the process and be as neutral as possible.
  
• Some negotiations can be done in one night, others may take several days of back and forth. Be prepared.

If both sides finally come to an agreement, consider the home sold conditionally (if there are conditions in the offer).

The buyer will provide a deposit cheque, in trust, to the listing brokerage.  This amount will be held until all conditions are met. Typical conditions in an offer to purchase a home might be a financing condition or a home inspection condition. Conditions will have a time period in which they must be fulfilled.

If the conditions are met, the buyer will provide a waiver and the deal is firm.

Congratulations, you just sold your home!

There are a number of important costs and fees that are associated with selling a home. Here are some that you should be prepared for:

• Legal Fees: Lawyer’s fees vary, but you’ll often find the prices for buying and selling a home listed on a real estate law firm’s website. Typically, it costs less to sell a home than it is to buy a home.
  
• Disbursements: These fees cover additional legal expenses such as travel, copies, couriers, registration fees and preparing document transfers, and are typically NOT included in your legal fees.
  
• Mortgage Fees: You will need to contact your lender to determine if there are any fees associated with selling your property. If you are breaking your mortgage early, there could be substantial fees you’ll have to pay, so it’s important to find out the specifics of your mortgage product. If you are buying another home, you may have the option of porting your existing mortgage over to the new property.
  
• Adjustments: Depending on the closing date, your lawyer will make some slight adjustments to the final costs to account for utilities, property taxes, maintenance fees, and any other costs that you would owe right up to the day you move out. These adjustments may be in your favour, or in the favour of the buyer. Your lawyer can provide you a statement of adjustments on closing which will outline all of these costs.
  
• Moving Costs: Don’t forget to calculate your moving fees, as this cost can be substantial depending on how far you’re moving and how much of your belongings are being moved.

We hope that you feel a little bit more informed as a seller!

There’s a lot to selling a home. Team Paliwal is happy to provide you with a complimentary market evaluation of your home, and answer any other questions you have.

Here are the unique benefits of working with us:

1. We ALWAYS have a detailed in-person or Video call meeting with every client because we know you have specific needs. We plan a personalized road map and process for your move.
2. We aim to reply to every inquiry within 10-30 minutes because we know you want reliable communication with your agent.
   
3. We work hard to stay ranked in the top 50 teams in Canada at realtor.ca. and  RE/MAX  because we know you want experience and expertise.

How are we so sure we are the right fit for you?

RE/MAX Team Paliwal is a small team of highly accomplished real estate agents with more than 40+ years of combined experience in the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area. Our reputation for a thorough process attracts many first-time homebuyers, but we also work with all buyers and sellers aiming to upgrade their homes.

After hundreds of successful deals, we are fortunate to be one of the most trusted and highly reviewed real estate teams online. You can find all real testimonials and reviews of our team on RankMyAgent.com, a verified review platform by the Canadian Real Estate Association and realtor.ca.

Our team has ranked in the top 50 teams in Canada at RankMyAgent.com for the last 3 years, and our team leader Gyanesh Paliwal is the recipient of RE/MAX International’s Hall of Fame Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Titan Club Awards.

Picture by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash