One of the most common mistakes we see sellers make is contacting their REALTOR® one to two weeks before they want to put their home up for sale. We have many clients who reach out and say “I didn’t want to waste your time until I knew I was ready,” not realizing that there is way more to listing your home then putting a sign on the lawn and getting photos done before it is live on the web. First impressions are everything in this market! Here are our top tips for engaging with our team when you’re thinking of selling.
- Give yourself enough time to prepare
It’s all about preparation in this market. We want to ensure you have time to prepare your home for sale, but also engage with us to gather all the documents we need on the property. An important part of the process of listing your home includes due diligence, including pulling all records, checking for an oil tank or doing a pre-inspection report. We also enjoy setting our sellers up for success by educating them about the real prices in their neighbourhood a month before they are going to list, so they have a great understanding of their area. What you see in the newspaper or what your neighbour told you they sold for can be false or misleading.
- Create a custom timeline to sell
We will organize a timeline and create a customized strategy and marketing plan to sell your home. If you want to move out on a certain date, we will work backwards and pick an appropriate listing date to give you time to sell your home as well as provide time for the buyer to take ownership of your property. Depending on the market conditions and the type of home you’re selling, this time frame may change, so it’s important to get advice from a REALTOR® about how long it will take.
- Let us help you determine what should be on the to-do list
Most sellers have things they want to fix before putting their home on the market and we are here to help you with a “to-do” list of things that we know buyers are looking for. We also want to ensure there’s enough time to clean and declutter your home and bring in a stager. We recommend a staging consultation with a professional stager who can work with your items and ensure your place presents its best in person and online.
- Choose a pricing strategy that works for you
We will do a thorough analysis of your home and work together to decide on a pricing strategy that best positions your home on the market, to maximize market value. Our goal is for you to feel educated about the market, the comparable listings in your neighbourhood, and feel confident when selecting a price and strategy.
- Pre-listing marketing.
We want to market your home before it is listed online to get you top dollar. We aim to get photos done in advance of your listing going on the market so we can start marketing “coming soon” advertisements and get buyers excited for your property. We also have a network of REALTORS® we want to promote your home to, so please contact us early so we have enough time to do that and generate buzz before it goes on the market.
It’s a good feeling when our sellers have a plan and we are all working together. A buyer will know when you’ve prepared your home before you list, so let us set you up for success and create a good first impression to get you top dollar for your home!
Contact us today to book an appointment with our team.