Presale Preparation

Curb appeal is important. It’s the first thing buyers see when they drive up to your home — and, often, the first impression they get. Fortunately, you don't have to break the bank to achieve a great-looking exterior. Here are some simple and affordable ideas for enhancing your home's curb appeal:

1. Add a fresh coat of paint: One of the easiest ways to make your home look brand new is by adding a fresh coat of paint to the exterior. Choose a colour that complements the architectural style and surroundings of your home.

2. Upgrade the front door: Your front door is the focal point of your home's exterior. Consider painting it a bold colour, replacing it with a modern style, or simply adding a new doorknob and knocker.

3. Install outdoor lighting: Outdoor lighting not only improves your home's curb appeal but also adds security and safety. Consider adding solar-powered pathway lights, wall-mounted fixtures, or even string lights to your front porch.

4. Update your mailbox: An outdated mailbox can detract from your home's appearance. Consider upgrading to a modern style or painting your existing mailbox with a fresh coat of paint.

5. Add landscaping: A well-manicured lawn and some strategically placed plants can instantly improve your home's curb appeal. Plant colourful flowers or add potted plants to your front porch.

6. Power wash your driveway and sidewalks: Over time, dirt and grime can build up on your driveway and sidewalks, making them look dull and dirty. Rent a power washer or hire a professional to clean them up.

Improving your home's curb appeal doesn't have to be expensive or time-consuming. By implementing these simple and affordable ideas, you can make your home more attractive to potential buyers and increase its value. Remember, the first impression is the most important one, so make sure your home's exterior looks its best!

When it comes to selling your home, preparing the exterior can be just as important as preparing the interior. The outside of your home is the first thing potential buyers see, and it can greatly impact their first impression of your property.

Luckily, there are several low-cost outdoor improvements that will make your home more appealing to buyers.

First, consider adding some potted plants or flowers to your front porch or entryway. This can help add some colour and life to your home's exterior, and create a welcoming atmosphere for potential buyers. Even in winter, small potted evergreens can have an impact.

Next, consider cleaning up your landscaping. This can include trimming overgrown bushes and trees, mowing the lawn, and removing any dead plants or debris. By doing so, you can make your home look well-maintained and attractive to potential buyers.

You may also want to consider adding some outdoor lighting to your property. This can include adding some solar-powered lights along your driveway or walkway, or even adding some outdoor string lights to your patio or deck. Outdoor lighting can create an inviting atmosphere, and make your home look more attractive to potential buyers.

Finally, consider giving your front door a fresh coat of paint. Your front door is a focal point of your home's exterior, and painting it will make a big difference. If you’re changing the colour, be sure to pick one that complements the façade.

These outdoor improvements don’t cost much, but will increase your home's curb appeal, which is proven to help sell your property faster and for a better price.

Need more advice on how to create the “wow” factor in your home when you sell? Call today!

There are several ways to make the selling process easy and relatively stress-free. One way is to create a selling timeline that fits your needs, lifestyle, and capabilities.

Say you’d like to list your home in four weeks and expect it to be on the market for an additional four weeks. That’s an eight-week timeline. How do you create a manageable schedule that works for you? Try these steps:

1. Determine what you need to do to get your home ready for sale.

2. Assign who will be doing what. For example, if you need to paint, will you hire a contractor? Do it yourself? Make a family day out of it?

3. Estimate the time it will take to do those tasks. Then add 50% as a buffer. (It’s easy to underestimate time on tasks.)

4. Look at your current schedule and block out times on your calendar so you can complete those tasks at a comfortable pace.

Go through these same steps for other selling activities, such as finding and meeting with a real estate lawyer, having buyers come to see your property, etc.

When you create a manageable — and realistic — schedule, you may find that most of the stress and worry of selling evaporates. A manageable schedule also ensures you won’t miss anything and then have to scramble.

When prospective buyers visit your listed home, the room they tend to check out most closely is the kitchen. So, it pays to ensure it looks its best.

However, no matter how tidy, clean, and well-adorned you’ve made your kitchen, there are some issues — which can seem minor — that can distract a buyer from appreciating those positive qualities.

Here are just a few to watch out for:

1.    Stained sink. Use a specialized cleaner for the type of sink you have. (For example, Stainless Steel Sink Cleaner.)

2.    Garbage in the garbage bin. Buyers don’t mind seeing the bin, just not garbage in it! Don’t forget to also empty the organic waste bin.

3.    Left-over cooking scents. Avoid cooking anything prior to a viewing that may create lingering odours. For example, not everyone appreciates the aroma of spaghetti sauce!

4.    Cluttered countertops. You want the countertops to look spacious to buyers. So remove any items that don’t absolutely need to be there.

5.    Old or worn mat in front of the sink. Replace it.

6.    Cluttered or disorganized cupboards. Declutter and organize your cupboards. Buyers are most likely to open upper cabinets.

7.    Poor lighting. You want the lighting in your kitchen to be bright (but not blinding) and evenly distributed.

8.    Damaged or stained countertops. Replacing your countertops can improve your kitchen's look considerably, so it might be worth the investment.

Would you like more suggestions on how to stage your home so that it gains the interest of buyers? Contact us. Call today!

There are many reasons homeowners may need to sell their property — fast. Work relocations, changes in family makeup, and financial needs are among the most common.

If you find yourself in a position where you need to sell quickly, you don’t necessarily have to go to market with a temptingly low price. Here are some other ways to accelerate the sale of your home:

1. Make your property as move-in ready as possible. Get any needed repairs done. Ensure everything is tidy.

2. Hire the help you need. Getting a professional to do some or all of the prep work, will save you time. And, the cost may be offset by a boost to your home’s sale-value.

3. Use the latest staging techniques to make your home look great to buyers. Staging is proven to help sell a property faster.

4. Remove as many impediments to a quick sale as possible. Consider offers with conditions. Be flexible when it comes to a buyer’s need for a particular closing date.

5. Accommodate as many viewing appointments as possible in the early days of the listing. They may be inconvenient, but the more buyers see your property, the more likely you are to get a quick offer.

6. Make sure your home is marketed in a way that attracts qualified buyers, quickly.

These are just some of the many ways to list and sell your property, faster, while still getting a good price. There are other techniques that can be employed, depending on your listing and market conditions.

Want to learn more? Call me!

If you’re thinking of selling, you’re probably planning to do a few minor improvements to make your property more appealing to buyers. That’s a smart idea.

So, what are the best small improvements to make? Here are a few ideas:

• Cabinet hardware. Upgrading the hardware on kitchen and bathroom cupboard doors and drawers can have a surprising impact on the look of those rooms. The best part is, this improvement is about as DIY-friendly as it gets!
• Cover plates. If you have older light and electrical switches, replacing the cover plates with something more stylish can make a difference. It’s probably the simplest way to give a room a more modern look.
• Countertops. Replacing kitchen or bathroom countertops isn’t cheap. However, it’s substantially less expensive than a full-on kitchen or bathroom renovation. And, new countertops make those rooms look refreshed.
• Kitchen sink and faucet. If your current sink is old and stained, replacing it is a fairly simple improvement that will have a big impact. Also consider updating the faucet to further enhance the look of the space. There are hundreds of styles available.
• Carpeting. Of all the types of flooring, carpets are the easiest and most affordable to replace. New carpets also create a clean and upgraded look. If you have old carpeting on the main floor or stairs, consider replacing it when selling.
• Lights and fixtures. If you have old light fixtures in your home, especially in key areas such as the foyer and kitchen, your lighting may be dim. New fixtures will not only make those spaces more modern-looking and appealing, but the lighting will probably also be better too.

Finally, don’t forget one of the simplest and most effective improvements of them all: painting. A freshly painted room almost always looks more attractive to buyers.

When you’re selling your home, you want to promote those features that will be of highest interest to prospective buyers. After all, the more reasons a buyer has to love your property, the more likely they are to make a great offer.

Increasingly, one category of features that buyers are looking for is energy-efficiency. So, if there are specific energy-saving characteristics of your home, make sure those are highlighted when selling.

When considering the energy-efficient characteristics of your property, consider the following:

• Appliances: Fridge, stove, washer, dryer.

• HVAC: Furnace, air conditioner.

• Insulation. (Especially in the attic.)

• Home technology. For example, a system that automates heating, cooling, lighting, etc., to keep energy usage to a minimum.

• Lighting. Have you switched to LED bulbs or fixtures?

• Windows and doors. For example, did you replace windows in recent years to help lower heating and cooling costs?

If something stands out as particularly energy-efficient, it will be of interest to many buyers. And obviously, if your home has a unique energy-efficient feature, such as solar panels, you’ll definitely want to point that out in the listing description. Want more tips on maximizing the appeal of your property? Call today.

Photo by Complete Roofing

Imagine you’re shopping for a car. You find one that’s a suitable model, a recent year, and hasn’t been driven a lot. The price is right, too.

But, there’s a caveat.

The paint is worn off in several places. The driver’s seat upholstery is torn and requires repair. And, the tires needed to be replaced... a long time ago.

Would you still buy it? You might. However, unless you enjoy fixing up cars, you’d probably hesitate to make the purchase.

After all, in addition to seeing the car itself, you’re noticing the work that needs to be done to fix it.

The same holds true when selling your home.

The more “move-in” ready you make the property the more likely buyers are to become interested in buying it. Like when viewing a car, you want buyers to focus on all your home’s wonderful features, not on the repairs and updates that need to be done.

That being said, how important is it that your home be “move-in ready” when you sell?

That depends, in large part, on the market. If it’s currently a seller’s market in the neighbourhood — lots of buyers but comparatively few properties for sale — getting your home move-in ready is less important. There is already high demand for your property. (However, getting all repairs done and staging your property effectively will still provide a significant advantage.)

In a buyer’s market, where there are more homes for sale than buyers, you’re in a competitive situation. So, anything you can do to give your listing an advantage is worth the effort. That includes making it as “move-in” ready as possible.

There are many ways buyers can find out about your home for sale. Some will see the lawn sign. Others will notice the listing on MLS. Still others might find out via an advertisement or social media post.

But, there is one other way buyers will discover your listing — and it can be pivotal to the success of your sale.

The agent can make sure they know.

In some cases, buyers shopping for a particular type of home, or those who are targeting a specific neighbourhood, will get on an agent’s alert system. The agent will arrange for the buyers to be alerted as soon as an ideal property comes up on the market. That’s why being strategic when creating an MLS profile and other listing materials is so important. You want interested buyers to be notified of your listing!

Agents often also have a network of buyers they are in touch with regularly or who are actively looking to buy a home. They reach out to these contacts as soon as a desired property is listed. Say, for example, you put your property on the market. The agent you work with may already have qualified buyers in mind. If so, that increases the chances of your home selling quickly and for a top price.

Good agents also have a robust network of professional contacts — such as real estate lawyers, contractors, and even other agents — that they can potentially tap to find qualified buyers.

Overall, well-connected agents are more likely to be able to leverage their networks to attract ideal buyers to your listing.

Want to discuss how I can attract high-interest, qualified buyers to your listing? Call me.

Throughout the history of journalism, reporters would pride themselves on getting the “inside scoop” on a story. In fact, that’s where that expression came from.

So imagine you’re shopping for a new home and click on a listing online. Up comes all the property information. But, chances are, there is more to the story of that property than is presented in that listing. For example, you might want to know more about:

• The empty field behind the home.
• The addition that was added to the house. (Was it professionally done?)
• What the neighbourhood is really like.
• The age of the roof shingles. (Will they need to be replaced soon?)
• Noise levels on weekends.
• Upcoming new development that might change the character of the area.
• Most property information listed on MLS and elsewhere is incomplete. There’s almost always more to the story of a listing than you can find online.

And, even after viewing a listed property, you may still have lingering questions or concerns.

So, you’ll want to get the “inside scoop” and find out more. But how?

To get the inside scoop on a listing, call me. I can get the additional information you need on a property so that you can make a more informed decision.

There are numerous reasons why you might need to sell early in the year. Perhaps you even need to sell this month! Whatever your reasons, preparation is key. Make the right moves now and your sale is likely to go smoothly and successfully.

Follow these tips:

1. Make a list of what needs to be done around the property to prepare it for listing. That includes decluttering, cleaning, getting needed repairs done, and so forth.

2. Schedule those tasks. On a calendar or planner, block out ample time to do everything on your list. Give yourself a time buffer because things can often take longer to do than expected.

3. Get help.You don’t need to do everything yourself. Consider hiring a painter, contractor, cleaning service, and other professionals. Outsourcing can reduce a lot of the stress of selling while ensuring your property is prepared in time.

4. Dispose of unwanted items that may have accumulated over the years in the garage, basement, and closets. You can have a yard sale, sell stuff online, donate items to charity, or take them to your local recycling centre.

5. Free up your schedule during the period you expect your property to be on the market. You want your home to be accessible for showings as often as possible, giving prospective buyers a lot of flexibility when scheduling.

The idea is to get your property as “sales-ready” as possible — as early in the year as possible. That way, when it comes time to list your home, you won’t have to scramble to get it ready. The hard work will be done and you’ll be able to focus on selling your property quickly and for the best price.

Want more tips on preparing your home for sale? Call today.