Selling in a Nutshell

When selling a property, the primary goal of maximizing the sale price remains in common to all sales. A successful sale is not only price driven. Selling your home promptly and stress-free is an asset too.   

Getting the Most Out of Your Listing

At Fine Homes Real Estate, our well-versed agents will ensure your property listing is optimized for best results. Not only will our agents take advantage of MLS to reach all Ontario’s real estate professionals, we take pride in going the extra mile! Our agents will guide you every step of the way to prepare for listing the property, maximizing showings of your property, as well as negotiating the highest sale price. We achieve this by offering:

1. Professional real estate photoshoot of your property.
2. Professional design or decoration consultation to prepare for listing and showings of property.
3. Increase listing’s exposure with marketing and advertisement efforts, including: private client database, social media, and paid advertisings, thus reaching various circles of influence.
4. Open house events
5. Ongoing follow up and engagement of generated traffic

Important considerations to keep in mind when selling your property:

Which Comes First: Selling Your Home or Buying a New one?

The answer to this question is never simple, given that you may be required to manage two mortgages if you buy a house and don’t sell in time. Alternatively, if you sell your home but fail to find your next one, you may end up without a residence at the closing date.. This would be, of course, if there were no hope of amending the contract to extend the closing date between the seller and buyer.

Making sure buying and selling aligns ideally for the client,  begins with finding the right real estate agent. Our expert real estate agents maximize the exposure and promotion of the listing using proven marketing efforts and paid advertisements, while empowering our clients with expert knowledge of the current market trends. Our agents excel in establishing a collaborative approach with clients ensuring our clients’ goals, timelines, and expectations are not only met but exceeded.  

Having a professional by your side can make or break the situation and save the client unpleasant experiences such as moving twice! Generally speaking, it is more common to list the property before or when  starting to look for a new one. This way, you can take time searching for the perfect property  while your current  one is  on the market and closing dates are still fluid.

Make Your Property Appealing to Buyers

When selling a property, first impressions really count. Since looking for a home starts with online search or in-person showing, it is crucial for the property to show well and the real estate photos to be high-quality to impress potentials buyers. Achieving that level of quality begins with a clean, tidy, and organized property. In the real estate business, beautiful neat spaces can sway prospective buyers in your favor.

Use these practical tips as a checklist to make properties look stunning, cozy, warm, and ready to live in.

General preparations:

1. The best look starts with a clean, organized space. Clean the house thoroughly. That means vacuuming the carpet, mopping hardwood floors, wiping furniture, etc. Get rid of unwanted items such as junk, shoes, and cardboard boxes.
2. Remove personal photographs and replace them with ones that feature landscapes, general objects, abstracts, etc. Do the same with personal collections and items.
3. Arrange furniture and appliances so that cables and outlets are hidden from view if possible.
4. Fix sofas, beds, couches, and other upholstered furniture. Make sure they are wrinkle free, and the pillows are arranged neatly.
5. Use bulbs of the same temperature (e.g. daylight, incandescent, etc.) on all lamps and other light sources (at least in the same room). Doing so creates a uniform glow when everything is turned on. Burn out bulbs should be replaced.
6. Open windows and blinds to let natural light in. 7. Turn off televisions and computer screens to avoid unwanted glare.
7. Remove any pets stuff as dishes, beds, toys, etc. 9. Remove any clothes from the laundry machines. 10. Turn on all the lights in a property a few minutes before the showing.

COMMON ROOMS

1. Polish counters, tables, and podiums so they shine.
2. Put a centrepiece on tables such as a bouquet of flowers, a tray of scented candles, or a sculpture. A centrepiece makes the image more cohesive.
3. Space the chairs and ottomans evenly.
4. If you wish to use magazines, books, and journals as accessories, choose ones whose colours complement the room. Arrange two or three neatly. 5. No more than five decorations or artworks should be placed in the room.
5. Fluff up pillows and cushions. Make sure tablecloths, covers, and curtains are free of wrinkles and stains.
6. Remove children’s toys, family photos, and personal memorabilia.

KITCHEN

1. Wipe countertops clean and remove big appliances, mail, baking supplies, leftover food, and other kitchen tools.
2. Remove refrigerator magnets, photos, and other paraphernalia. Limit kitchen decorations to just one item such as a vase or a fruit basket.
3. Include a couple of small kitchen appliance such as a coffee maker, microwave oven, or blender.
4. Remove dishes, cleaning stuff and utensils from the sink, and hide garbage cans.

BATHROOM

1. Clean and polish countertops, sinks, and bathtub rims.
2. Leave no shampoo, soap, medications, toothbrush, and other toiletries in the bathroom.
3. Make sure the toilet seats are down and closet doors are closed.
4. Remove dirty towels, and replace them with clean and fresh ones.
5. Remove dirty floor mats.
6. The number of decorations should be kept to a maximum of 3 items.

BEDROOMS

1. Make the bed by pressing and smoothing out linens, pillows, and shams.
2. Remove personal items and clutter from nightstands and dressers.
3. Conceal all charging cables.
4. Take out family photos from the walls.
5. Remove any sport equipment. It’s a bedroom, not a gym.

FRONT EXTERIOR

1. Clean up the yard by mowing overgrown grass, trimming shrubs, blowing away leaves, etc.
2. Remove garbage bins, visible water hoses as well as other unwanted objects such as toys, inflatables, garden equipment, empty or old dry planters, etc.
3. Park vehicles inside the garage OR on the other side of the street not closer than 10 meters to the property.
4. Clean porch, eaves, window frames, gutters, and other exterior structures.
5. Turn on water features.

BACKYARD

1. Tidy up the deck and outdoor furniture. Pillows and cushions should look fresh.
2. Conceal toys, hoses, cleaning supplies, and other unwanted objects.
3. Keep trash cans out of sight.
4. Clean a pool and hot tub. Make sure there’s nothing floating on them.