Here is a New Year Resolutions breakdown list that might help with a sold sign.
The new year rolls around every year about this time and as the champagne is sipped and the words flow it is common for people to announce new year resolutions. Some choose to lose weight, others quit smoking, change their food choices, get fit and slow down or stop alcohol. By the beginning of February, the gyms are as busy as they were all year with many of the people who committed to “gym mornings” sleeping in as the resolutions are forgotten.
A “resolution” is just a fancy name for a “goal.” Some goals are realistic and others aspirational. If selling your home is something you are truly interested in this list may help. Having set and worked on goals in my business for the past 4 decades, here are a few thoughts on how to achieve the goals you have committed to.
For a new year resolution of selling your home, this list may be the difference between celebrating and ending up disappointed.
- Set a timeline for when your home will be on the market. Having a set date to work toward helps with all the items needed to be done prior to the first Buyer touring the home.
- Interview a local Agent. When you are considering selling your property local Agents know the market, what Buyers are looking for, and the best way of marketing. All realtors in the GTA use the same MLS system. Don’t be led astray by an Agent who lives in Toronto selling you on marketing to Toronto Buyer. A local Agent will use the MLS system and know the best place to advertise.
- Declutter. Before the stager visits, create a list of the items you will not be taking with you and start the process of either selling them or ordering a bin to dispose of them. Much of what the stager will discuss will be around decluttering.
- Once the stager has visited your home, consider renting a storage unit to store any large items that the stager feels will make the rooms look smaller. A storage unit at under $200/mth may put thousands in your pocket.
- If you have set a time frame of a month out for selling, encourage your agent to have the exterior pictures done when the snow has melted. The snow that fell over the Christmas holiday has melted and when a home hits the market showing grass, patios, and decks visible they stand out from the others buried in snow. (This is something we have done for decades.)
- Have the windows cleaned, both outside and inside. Winter is hard on windows and when they sparkle, they make the home much more appealing.
- Change your furnace filter. This may seem small, however, if a home inspection is required by a Buyer, inspectors regularly comment that if the filter has been changed regularly, the Sellers most likely are on top of home maintenance.
- Collect any bills you have, to make available to prospective Buyers. Heating bills, water, oil, electricity, and even insurance bills. Buyers make decisions to buy not only a home they love but also a home that fits their budget.
- Collect any exterior pictures you have on hand from summer and fall. “A picture tells a thousand words,” they say, and pictures can help a Buyer make their decision that much faster.
- As you are freshening up your property, ask your Agent to give you market updates. The winter/spring market changes very quickly and it might be in your best interest to fast-track your home sale if inventory is low or wait a few weeks if the competition in your area/ price range is too great. Timing is everything in Real Estate.
- Call Lindsay Smith or Wendy Starr at Buy Sell Love Durham, to increase the odds of your home selling. With decades of experience, we have the strategies to help you achieve the best price and terms. Recently we had the opportunity to work with an elderly couple. They had a 2 – 3 month window before their home hit the market. We saw that there were almost no homes available in their price range which helped get the home on the market in the first month. They ended up with multiple offers and a price dramatically higher than any of us could have imagined. Timing is everything.
Selling a home is a common new year resolution, and we at Buy Sell Love Durham would love to help you start 2023 off with your goals and dreams achieved.
All it takes is a call, email or message on Facebook.
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