Selling Guide – Ontario
Written by: Bilge Isikdogan Instagram:
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Below you will find a very simplified 6 Step Guide on selling your house in Ontario.
GET YOUR FINANCES STRAIGHT
If you are looking to buy a house once or before your house sells, it would be best for you to find out if you qualify for that purchase. Depending on the market prices, or the changes in your life you might or might not qualify. You should also call your lender and find out the payoff for your current mortgage. See if you have to pay any penalties or additional fees for ending your mortgage once the sale goes through.
ESTIMATE COSTS
Selling a house will cost you money and calculating these correctly will help you determine whether you can sell your house or not. Some costs related to selling your house include: real estate commissions (the seller pays both the selling and the buying agents commission), lawyer fees & disbursements, adjustments (property taxes, hot water tank, etc.), mortgage fees, staging, buying a new house (down payment, inspections, legal fees & more), moving costs and others.
DECIDE WHEN TO SELL YOUR PROPERTY
This could depend on a lot of things such as: time of year, competition in the neighbourhood and similar neighbourhoods, the state of the real estate market and the economy. But the most important one is looking at your personal needs and goals. Why are you selling your property? Do you need to sell your property? Do you need to sell your property now? Are just some of the questions you should ask yourself first, then look into other factors mentioned. DETERMINE PROPERTY MARKET VALUE The real estate agent you work with to sell your house will have access to a database where they can see the recent sales of similar houses in your neighbourhood or surrounding neighbourhoods to come up with the right price for your house. But depending on your house you might need to hire an appraiser to get the value.
PREPARE YOUR HOUSE FOR SALE
To maximize resale value, most houses need to put in some work. Curb appeal is the first appearance of your house. Fixing your driveway, porch and the front garden will make a big impact to buyers. Small repairs inside the house such as painting (neutral colours), touching up any scuff marks, making small repairs such as changing cabinet handles, changing and adding more light (don’t forget the brighter the better!), decluttering your house and having staging done, even partially, will make your house stand out amongst other houses in the market. Most people forget about their backyards when selling. Re-staining the deck, fixing the fences, adding flowers, etc. will make a lot of a difference and it could be the one thing that might get the potential buyers to remember your house. Depersonalizing the house is also very important. Hiding any valuables and personal items will allow the potential buyers to picture themselves living in the house. *During winter months don’t forget to shovel your driveway and add salt to your walkway. * During showings make plans not to be home, this way potential buyers feel comfortable during their showing.
SHOWING THE HOUSE
Your house should always be available for selling the house (unless you have tenants, then there are other legal regulations surrounding this topic). It is most convenient that you have your real estate agent place a lockbox in front of your house for potential buyers with their agents to easily do showings. You should do your best to not be home during showings, this way potential buyers feel comfortable during their showings. You should always leave the property with the lights on when the visitors are coming, so the house looks nice and bright from the entrance all the way to the back. The way your house smells is very important. I recommend baking cookies right before showings, not only for a nice smell to take over the house but also for the potential buyers to feel like they are home during their showing. Or simply having a nice scent diffuser will save the day! If you have pets, make sure your agent lets the visitors know in case they have allergies/fear and also for visitors to be careful in opening the door and not allowing the pet(s) to run away! And more importantly, always leave the house nice and tidy. It is very important to fix your bedrooms and other rooms in the house a habit during the time you are trying to sell your house. Having your house look its best will allow it to stand out among the other houses in the market.
For a more detailed conversation, you can always book a call with me via: https://calendly.com/bilge-/meeting
SOURCE: Bilge Isikdogan: Sales Representative
Search Realty/Mortgage Corp., Brokerage
c: 647.802.8069 Bilge@SearchRealty.ca