You probably know there’s more to selling a home than putting up a For Sale sign. But, if you don’t understand the process in detail, you might feel intimidated and stressed when it comes time to put your property on the market.

Fortunately, the home selling process isn’t that difficult to understand.

Selecting the right REALTOR®. You need a knowledgeable, trusted expert who can guide you through the process, take care of all the details, and help sell your home quickly and for the best price.

Preparation. You need to ensure your home is clean and uncluttered. It’s also important that you take care of any needed repairs, even minor ones like wall dents.

Listing price. You need to select a listing price at or near the fair market value of your property.

Promotion. How will buyers find out about your property? An effective promotion plan is critical.

Dealing with offers. Ideally, you’ll get several. But the best offer is not necessarily the highest one. An offer can fall through for many reasons, so dealing effectively with offers is, perhaps, the most important part of the home selling process.

The transaction. Once the sale is made, you want to know that you have the right professionals in place – your lawyer, mover, etc. – to make sure all the after-sale details are taken care of properly.

Want more ideas for making sure the home selling process goes smoothly for you? Call today.

There’s a famous saying in the real estate business: “Location, location, location”. It simply means that where your home is located — the neighbourhood — is just as important to potential buyers as the features of the property itself.

Sellers often make the mistake of creating a long list of home features while ignoring neighbourhood features. They tout the spacious kitchen, and the newly renovated bathrooms, but say little about the area.

So, when you’re ready to sell your home, sit down and create two lists: home features and neighbourhood features. Buyers want to know both.

On the neighbourhood features list, include:
• Location of schools and daycare centres.
• Major retailers and shopping centres.
• Proximity to major commuting routes.
• Theaters, festivals and other entertainment.
• Rinks, gyms and other sporting facilities.
• Green space, walking trails, ponds.

When buyers have their eyes on two properties which are comparable in features, the neighbourhood is often the deciding factor.

There has been a lot of emphasis lately on the importance of going green. That simply means being environmentally-responsible. You likely already recycle, use energy-efficient lights, and turn down your thermostat when no one is home.

Yet, most of us don’t think about the garden or flower bed when we think green. We should. Here are a few practical things you can do to tend to outdoor plants — without negatively impacting the environment.

• Pull weeds instead of using a weed killer.
• Avoid strong pesticides. (Products that target only one or two types of insects tend to be less harsh.)
• Don’t use flower bed ornaments (i.e. gnomes) that might bleed colour dye into the soil. (Ask your garden centre before you buy.)
• Be careful not to leave hand spades, trowels, and other garden tools lying around, especially over winter. They can rust, which contaminates the soil.

These tips may seem minor, but if you want to be environmentally- conscious, every little bit helps!

Imagine buying a product from a store, taking it home, and then discovering there’s a problem with it. Disappointing, yes, but not a catastrophe. You can simply take it back for repair or exchange.

But, what if it’s moving day, and you discover there’s a problem with your new home? Whoa. A house isn’t so easily returned! What are the most common problems encountered on moving day?

• A delay in getting the keys.
• The seller not having completely moved out.
• An item expected to be included with the property is missing. (For example, the window blinds.)
• Something needs repair that was not disclosed by the seller, nor did it come up during inspection. (For example, the dishwasher not working.)
• Damage to the property caused by the seller. (For example, a heavy item dropped during the move and cracking a floor tile.)

Fortunately, these are rare events. In most cases, you can expect no serious issues when you move into your new home.

But, if something is wrong, you have options. So, call your REALTOR® immediately. In all likelihood, he will be able to quickly resolve the issue.

If it’s a serious matter, such as missing items, you may need to get your real estate lawyer involved to arrange for the return of the item(s) or compensation.

So don’t worry. Let the professionals handle it. You can just enjoy your new home!

The more you know about the best way to reach a goal, the more likely you are to get the result you want. So, whether you’re hunting for a new job, assembling a backyard BBQ, or training for a 10km run, you’ll want to use a proven process to help you get there.

That certainly holds true when shopping for a new home. There is a proven process to getting the home you want, in the neighbourhood you want, at a price you can afford. Here are the highlights:

Get ready. There’s a lot you must do before you pack your energy snacks in the car and go looking at homes. If you own your current home, you must prepare that property for sale. You should also get financing for a new home pre-approved, so you know exactly how much you can afford.

Go shopping. Your next step is to view the right homes currently available on the market. It’s a good idea to make a wish list of property and neighbourhood features you’re looking for in a new home. You may not be able to get everything you want, but you can probably come pretty close.

Make an offer. When you see a home you like, the first thing you’ll need to do is make an offer. This can be tricky, especially if there are other interested buyers.

Get an inspection. Get the home checked out by a qualified home inspector. A property may have issues, such as a foundation leak, that are not obvious during a viewing.

Prepare for the move. Once you’ve made the purchase, you need to arrange for moving and deal with other details, such as utilities, telephone, mail forwarding and so forth.

Want a smooth home buying process? Call today

Over the summer, the demand for water to maintain lawns and gardens can stress supply and reservoir systems, and increase costs for taxpayers and users. Bearing in mind watering restrictions that may apply in your municipality, consider the following ways to minimize your overall water consumption during extended periods without rainfall.

First, check your hose or irrigation equipment for leaks, and position sprinklers so that you’re not wasting water on hard surfaces such as driveways and patios.

To apply water more directly to the soil and reduce evaporation, use a soaker hose placed on the ground at the base of plants. Whenever possible, water slowly to avoid run-off, ideally in early morning – before the heat of the summer sun can cause evaporation.

For conservation, direct rainwater from your roof gutters and downspouts to one or more rain barrels, but be sure to use insect screening to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.

What do you want from an open house? Obviously, you want to attract a lot of potential buyers — and have at least a few of them become seriously interested in your property.

So how do you make your open house as successful as possible?

Get minor repairs done. A dripping faucet, a squeaky fence door, or a scuff on the wall may seem minor to you, but these problems can stand out like a sore thumb to a potential buyer.

Brighten things up. Make sure all areas of your home are well lit. Natural light has the most appealing effect. Open all the curtains.

Put away personal items. Trophies, pictures, mementos — all remind potential home buyers that they’re strangers in someone else’s home. Make each room look as impersonal yet inviting as possible. Stage your rooms as though they were in an attractive furniture store display.

Sniff around. There are probably smells around your home that you’ve become used to, or even like, such as lingering perfume scents in the bathroom or remnant odours from cooking an exotic meal. Try to make your home as scent-free as possible.

Make sure everything works. Check for burnt out light bulbs, running toilets, and derailed closet doors.

A final tip: Unless it’s absolutely necessary, don’t be at the open house yourself. Your presence can be intimidating to potential home buyers, no matter how cordial and helpful you try to be.

Need more tips on selling your home quickly and for the best price? Call today. 

When you list your home for sale, you want as many buyers as possible to find out about it. So consider how many friends, neighbours and work colleagues you have. Then think about how many people they know.

The number is likely in the hundreds. One of those people could be looking for a property just like yours.
That’s why getting your friends to spread the word about your listing is so effective.

How do you do that?

One strategy is to have a moving party. This gives you an opportunity to ask your friends, as a group, to tell others about your listing.

You can also encourage your friends to bring a guest who is currently in the market for a new home.

Another good idea is to put a profile of your listing on Facebook. This is the fastest and most convenient way for your Facebook friends to point others to your listing.

Do you have friends who work at larger organizations like banks and factories? They probably have access to an employee lunch room with a bulletin board. You can spread the word by asking them to put up an information sheet on your listing.

Try one or more of these ideas. Combined with my marketing plan for you, they can help get more qualified buyers to your doorstep.

Want more tips on promoting your listing? Call today.

When preparing your home for sale, you want to make sure every room looks its best. But, pay particularly close attention to the kitchen. Many buyers will spend a lot of time determining whether or not it meets their needs. In fact, some buyers will even form an impression about the entire property based primarily on how they feel about the kitchen!

How do you make it look its best?

Start by making sure your kitchen appears as roomy as possible. Put away all countertop appliances, even the toaster and the coffee machine, so that the counter space is completely clear.

Check that your cabinets and pantry shelves aren’t stuffed with dishes, foodstuff and other items. While that’s normal in most family homes, it doesn’t promote the image of plentiful storage space. Clear out as much as you can. Make sure anything you leave behind, is stored neatly.

Got a junk drawer? We all do. Empty the contents into a box and stow it away.

Of course, you want to ensure that the kitchen is clean and shiny. The area in and around the sink is critical. There are some excellent specialty cleaners available that will remove even the most stubborn stains in a stainless steel sink. (Never use steel wool or other abrasive cleaners. They leave unsightly scratches.)

If you have a window over the sink – a great selling feature – make sure it’s especially clean. You can be sure that buyers will linger for a few moments to look through it.

And, finally, don’t forget the space under the sink. Make sure that the space is as clean – and empty – as possible.

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

When you suffer damage to, (or the loss of), your home or its contents, you expect your insurance company to help you out. And, most do a good job of doing just that.

Still, it’s a good idea to review your policy with your insurance advisor and find out what’s covered and what isn’t. You don’t want to discover that your policy will not cover the cost of repairing the damage caused by a flood in your laundry room.

Pay particular attention to coverage in the case of water damage. Some insurance policies don’t cover floods and sewer backup unless an additional rider is purchased.

Also, check liability limits. Ask your advisor to recommend an appropriate level. Finally, make sure you know exactly how much your home is insured for. Are you covered for the full replacement cost? Are you comfortable with that coverage or the actual cash value?

Having the right insurance gives you peace-of-mind and is an important part of enjoying your home.
Keep in mind that experts advise you to review your insurance with your advisor. Ask lots of questions. Make sure you understand your coverage fully.

You’re probably familiar with the term “home staging”. It involves cleaning, de-cluttering, reorganizing, and decorating, specifically in order to make your home more attractive to potential buyers. Furniture stores do something similar when they “stage” a bedroom suite in a showroom.

Most sellers focus their staging efforts on the inside of their homes. But the outside is important too. After all, a property’s exterior is the first thing potential buyers see. So you want to make sure that the first impression is a good one.

Here are some ideas on how to make sure that happens.

When preparing your home for sale, imagine you’re a potential buyer and take a walk around the outside of your property. Do you like what you see? Are there issues that concern you? Try to be as objective as possible.
You may notice, for example, that the deck is faded and worn, some of the border stones around the flower bed are chipped or missing, or the fence gate squeaks. If you notice these things, so will potential buyers. So consider getting these minor problems repaired.

As you inspect your yard, pay particular attention to sheds and other areas where items tend to accumulate. Just as you would unclutter the inside of your home before a showing, you should also make sure the exterior areas of your property are as uncluttered as possible.

Then explore simple ways you can make the exterior of your property look even more attractive. For example, giving your hedges, shrubs and other plants a trimming, can dramatically improve the look of your yard.

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