The number of things to do before selling your house can feel mind-boggling. As if life wasn’t busy enough, now you’ve got to think about the Toronto real estate market and a task list that never seems to end.
The first step is to take a deep breath, and begin thinking of the big picture. Next, start forming a plan to help you stay on track. Everyone is facing a different situation.
Whatever you are up against, the home-selling process will always be much easier if you are organized from the very beginning. So here it is, all in one place: your complete checklist for selling a house and moving on to a bold new adventure in your life.
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Jump to Section:
- How to Sell a House: One Step at a Time
- How to Prepare Your House for Sale
- What Not to Fix When Selling a House
- Staging a House to Sell
- Home Staging Tips
How to Sell a House: One Step at a Time
One of the best tips for selling your home is to start as early as you can. This gives you time to either handle every item on your list or find a professional to take care of it on your behalf. It also gives you some breathing room to get back on track if something doesn’t go according to plan.
First things first, a real estate expert who specializes in your area will help you understand the deeper nuances of the market. From there, you can formulate a customized plan to price, promote, and prepare your house for sale for maximum results.
Start by clarifying what exactly you want to achieve. Then list anything that might be standing in your way.
For example, do you need tips to sell your home faster, or are you listing a property that has been vacant for months? You may also need a contingency plan for selling during a particularly tough market. Understanding specific nuances like these and knowing how to work around them ensures you make the absolute most of your transaction.
The techniques for getting your house ready to sell will vary, but decluttering is always one of the highest priorities. It’s so important that we have an entirely separate post dedicated to the topic! Read more in Decluttering Your Home? Where Do You Start?
How to Prepare Your House for Sale
Comprehensive marketing and strategic pricing are essential components to a successful home sale. However, neither of those things can even come into play until you first know how to get your house ready to sell in the first place.
The preliminary steps are about impressing potential buyers though captivating photos and videos so they are motivated to book an in-person visit. The roadmap below can help you present your property in the best possible light.
Identify the type of buyer who might be looking at your home.
A young couple making their first purchase will have some financial limitations. That affects the structure and location that they are searching for. They also likely want something move-in ready that they won’t have to worry about making repairs later.
A luxury buyer looking for a high-end home might have the funds to perform any renovation they want. Still, they will be on the lookout for quality, and stellar presentation is critical.
Make a list of what challenges you are facing and any advantages you might have in the current market.
When you list your home, any number of situations can come up. Your house may need a refresh before bringing buyers through, or the market may be on the slower side.
Since you can’t always wait for better conditions and don’t have unlimited resources to prepare your home, you’ll need to do the best you can with what time you have. Here are three possible scenarios.
You can list and sell your home while doing few, if any, repairs.
The downside to this option is that you may not earn as much from your transaction as you hoped. In addition, you must be careful about going too light with your preparations or selling your house as-is.
A buyer might be willing to make some repairs and updates; they may even prefer doing much of the work themselves as it allows them to personalize their new home. If your price is compelling, they’ll be intrigued. But if they or their agent spot any potential red flags, they will think twice about placing an offer. Your home might actually take longer to sell even if you drop the price.
You can perform a few strategic repairs and updates to showcase your home’s potential.
Many homeowners take this mid-level approach. Extensive renovations aren’t always necessary. By focusing on a few high-value upgrades, you stand to earn more and possibly even sell faster.
With an emphasis on cleaning, decluttering, painting, and modernization, you help a buyer begin to imagine all of the potential for the home. It isn’t about doing everything for them. To a great extent, it’s about letting them see what they could do for themselves.
Remodel your home top-to-bottom with the buyer in mind.
Going all out with new floors, a full kitchen and bathroom transformation, fresh paint, and landscaping can really impress potential buyers. This option will cost more and take longer during the preliminary stages.
That said, it can really pay off once your home hits the market – but only if those projects appeal to your demographic. Your real estate agent can help you decide what has the most profit potential.
Our Toronto luxury real estate agents work with all types of clients facing every type of challenge imaginable. To see how we overcome them, check out Our Home Selling Success Stories.
The right guidance and representation is critically important when selling your house in Toronto. How do you find the perfect fit? Start by reading the posts below:
- Real Estate Concierge Service: Is It Right For You?
- 5 Reasons Your Agent Should Be A Neighbourhood Expert
- What Is Luxury Real Estate in Toronto?
What Not to Fix When Selling a House
Could anything be worse than investing thousands of dollars and months of your time, pouring your heart and soul into a stunning new upgrade, only to find buyers don’t appreciate your hard work at all? Without a plan and insightful guidance, it happens more often than you might realize.
Sometimes, an unnecessary repair simply doesn’t add value to your home. Other times, it can even make your listing less appealing to buyers.
The market evolves and style trends change faster than the Toronto weather. Knowing what not to fix is as important as knowing what repairs you should make before listing your home.
How can you know what upgrades to focus on and what to avoid? Your real estate agent can give you more specific advice based on what’s happening in Toronto today. However, you can sort most repairs into one of the following categories.
Upgrades based on your own personal tastes
When you have no plans to sell, you are free to perform any home improvement projects you want. Quirky accent walls, water features, or even a luxurious new swim spa might add years of enjoyment for your family.
Selling a house requires a different mindset if you want to get the best results possible. You should avoid anything over-the-top – unless you have third-party confirmation that your preferences align with the market.
Upgrade to meet minimum expectations
When touring a home, most buyers have minimum expectations of its quality. At the very least, it’s reasonable for them to be reassured that the foundation isn’t crumbling and that the roof won’t collapse two weeks after they move in.
Those example may seem like exaggerations, but they illustrate the point. If a pre-listing inspection turns up any red flags, you should fix them. Just be aware that a buyer isn’t likely to pay more for a roof that doesn’t leak. Thus, that old saying holds true, if it isn’t broken, there’s no need to fix it.
It’s usually enough for buyers to know that these vital structures are in good repair. A home that appears well-maintained can give them the confidence to make an offer in the first place. A new HVAC system or upgrade to the electrical panel could fall under this category. Showing any positive results from the pre-listing expectation can also help.
Staging a House to Sell
You may hear a lot about home staging and why it’s important. Done right, this elevated technique can help you sell faster, which lets you fully capitalize on the initial excitement of a new listing on the market. Once again, it comes back to helping a buyer see themselves living in the home.
All of your hard work in cleaning, decluttering, and performing renovations are about to pay off. Staging is adding the final touches that paint a vivid picture of the buyer living in the house and loving every minute of it. To get those results, you need someone with an eye for design as well as intricate knowledge of what buyers want in Toronto right now.
Do you want even more guidance in how to stage your home for sale? You’ll find plenty in the posts below:
- How Much Does Home Staging Cost?
- What Are The Secrets Of Staging A High-End Home In Toronto?
- 5 Reasons You Should Stage Your Home To Sell
Home Staging Tips
As long-time real estate agents in Toronto and the GTA, we have always placed a high priority on customized staging that works for our clients. Each listing gets concierge-level service, and all strategies revolve around your goals as the home seller.
There are too many individual tips and tricks to name. However, we always ensure the principles of colour, theme, and design work together to create an exquisite sense of flow and spaciousness.
This effect can also encourage a buyer to look beyond the minor imperfections that every house has and highlights its already beautiful features all the more. For example:
- Expert landscaping impresses buyers in that critical first 10 seconds that they view your home. They’ll have a positive, warm feeling before they even open the door.
- Stylish lighting in an otherwise dark, unusable corner creates visual interest and opens up the possibilities. More importantly, this area no longer comes off as a flaw; it looks like an intentional design.
- Switching out worn, bulky furniture with a few sleek, designer pieces creates beauty and can even make your home more spacious.
Whatever your budget, staging should feel completely unique to your home. Your listing stands out front and centre when it appears one-of-a-kind and not like every other house on the block.
It should be creative and memorable, but most of all, it should be designed for the most likely buyer of your home. When all of these pieces come together, a home sale with outstanding results could be around the corner.
Are you ready to list your home? Our Toronto luxury real estate agents can help you achieve outstanding results in today’s market. Reach out to ana@asantos.ca or call us at 416.575.7317 to learn more.
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