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Five Tips For Selling A Home Privately

In the last 10 years, the average selling price of a home in Toronto has risen from $293,067 to $539,058. This means the cost of a 5 percent commission when selling traditionally using an agent has almost doubled, increasing from more than $14,000 in 2003 to almost $27,000 today. During this period, the Internet has also changed how buyers search for homes, giving them more information and tools they can access at any time. These are two of the reasons why Canadians are using alternative services when selling their homes. I've been working for five years in Toronto helping people to sell their homes privately, and in this time I've learned what works, and more importantly, what doesn't work.

Here are 5 tips to consider when selling your home privately:

1. Do-It-Yourself vs. Private Sale Company

There has always been a small percentage of people who want to sell their home on their own with no assistance. While admirable, this is not necessarily a good idea for most people, as they will want professional help when selling their home, their most valuable asset. There are private sale companies who can help with every step of the selling process, from pricing, to exposure, to handling offers, and closing the deal, adding a level of credibility to the process. When all of these services are bundled together, there is a consistent experience and often a cost savings versus buying the same services individually. Some private sale companies as of late offer MLS listings that connect buyers directly to sellers, allowing for maximum exposure.

2. Price Your Home Wisely

Pricing incorrectly is one of the biggest mistakes made. I commonly see prices based on insufficient information, and emotions. Often a home seller has a neighbour who sold for a record price, and based on this single sale, they think their home is worth much more than any buyer would ever pay for it. The best way to price any home for sale is through a full real estate appraisal done by a licensed appraiser. This is a professional, unbiased report containing all the sold properties in the area, and the appraiser's guidance on pricing. It is also an opportunity for the seller to add to their credibility by letting the buyer see the appraisal. This leads offers to start around market value, and gives private sellers more tools when negotiating.

3. Make Your Listing Look Professional

In today's world, buyers go through several different mediums, including online listings and photos, newspaper ads, virtual tours, feature sheets, and a showing in person. If the online listing is not up to par, then a showing may never happen. If the online listing looks great, but the house is in terrible condition during a showing, then an offer may never come. Every step is important. During a showing, dress the part by looking professional, and some simple staging of your home and a deep clean are essential. Most people know that staging is about de-cluttering and de-personalizing. Hiring professionals like photographers and stagers, and if necessary, renting a storage unit, are smart investments.

4. Enhance Your Listing's Visibility

This is probably the biggest concern home sellers have when considering whether to sell their home privately. There is a lot of misinformation out there, often geared very negatively towards selling privately. Here are some things of note:

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Have you ever pictured yourself selling your house quickly? How about selling it without a Realtor?

Discover which rooms are the best ones to stage
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Learn the real secret to how long to list your property with a realtor and why

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Selling your home is a big task and your house is likely your biggest asset. You are more invested in the outcome than an agent could be, but in order to succeed you’ll want to be engaged at every step, from preparing it for sale, to pricing, to negotiating, and finally, in closing.

Your realtor will set you up for success with how-to’s, legal forms, referrals to professionals, and other tools that you need to sell your house. Plus, our Start to “Sold!” Checklist will track your progress through each phase of the selling process. Here are the key steps for selling on your own:

Your Personal Timeline

Two months before listing:

Evaluate your finances and budget
Add up transaction costs and remaining equity
Collect key documents including your title, survey, mortgage and insurance
How urgently do you need to sell your house? Is a career or job change prompting your relocation? Is your move tied to the school year, medical concerns, or financial pressures?

Urgency determines price. The more quickly you need to sell, the lower you’ll need to price your house. If you can wait for the ideal offer, you can price your house accordingly.

Either way, you’ll want to price your house in line with current trends for your neighborhood.

Assess the Condition and Ability to Sell Your House

Two months before listing:

Evaluate the condition of your property
Fix problems

Nobody wants to buy your postponed projects. These days, a house must be in top condition to sell – especially if you want to sell quickly.

Tour your home with a critical eye. (You may want to get an outspoken friend to give you an honest opinion of how your house looks to an outsider.) Look for three types of problems:

Cosmetic problems that can be fixed or neutralized quickly at minimal cost. Grimy walls should be painted. Torn carpeting should be replaced – or, better yet, removed and the underlying hardwood floors, refinished. Small repairs, such as torn window screens and crooked light fixtures, all must be made. Touch-ups and freshening can also update your decorating and even soften strong color schemes to make your house more appealing to more people.

Functional repairs and upgrades. Sure, you’ve lived with that gold-tone refrigerator for four decades, and it may still have ten more useful years…maybe. But why would a buyer pay top price for a kitchen with an ancient refrigerator? Ruthlessly examine the condition of appliances, plumbing, electrical, heating, air conditioning, the roof and structural elements of your house. When you repair or replace iffy systems, you remove a reason for people to reject your house. And, your house will appeal to cash-strapped buyers who are worried about expensive surprise expenses.

Problems you can’t fix. The location of your house is something you can’t change. The same can be said for your neighbors; the school district; noise and traffic patterns; and other factors. Be honest: are there factors that damage the appeal of your house? If so, you will have to price and market your house accordingly.

Some unfixable problems (such as seepage in the basement) must be disclosed to buyers, per state law. You can provide ease of mind to buyers through a home warranty, which covers the cost of repair or replacement for some major house systems.

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Establish the Price

One month before listing:

Research the local market
Establish your price range

Establishing a simple baseline for your asking price can be simpler in a rising market: just add the cost of home improvements to the most recent purchase price and calculate the average rate of appreciation. When market conditions are uneven foreclosures, short sales and bank-owned real estate can drag down the value of neighboring properties by as much as 30%, further complicating your estimate.

Here are the essential steps to establishing a fair market value for your house.

Check the sale price of recently sold properties. You can find prices through local property records, which are open to the public.
Get a top-line value estimate through an automated valuation service. ForSaleByOwner.com offers an automated home pricing tool.
The most in-depth, and most authoritative, valuation is an appraisal done on-site, in person, by an appraiser who is familiar with your neighborhood. The appraisal will compare the condition of your house to others recently sold, adding value for unique features (like a fireplace) and deducting for features you don’t have, or for the worn condition of the house. An appraisal can cost as much as $500, but it can also help prioritize spending for repairs, replacements and upgrades. It will also validate your asking price to the buyer, giving you a authority when negotiating.
Calculate selling expenses. If you sell by owner, you can save all or much of the agent commission. Use our Pricing Guide to estimate how much your expenses could be.

Whether you use an agent or sell by owner, you will still have to pay for preparing the house for sale; marketing costs; legal fees; and transfer taxes, if required by your state or municipality. It’s important to estimate these expenses as closely as possible. Many homeowners have little equity. Marketing and transactional costs – especially the commission – can slice away what little equity they hope to claim from selling. Especially if you are counting on getting a check at closing, you must have a firm grip on selling expenses.

Monitor the latest mortgage rates and lending news at our Mortgage page, with fresh content delivered daily by LendingTree. Why? So you understand the lending conditions that potential buyers must navigate. Understanding that will equip you to negotiate the best deal.

Get Ready to Sell

One month to two weeks before listing:

Declutter
Clean
Stage
Declutter and Clean

Clearing out the debris of everyday life will help sellers see the actual house. You might want to rent a storage unit for out of season clothes, decorations, memorabilia, sporting equipment, furniture and other goods that come between a house hunter and the house. First, clear out the clutter. Then, clean your suddenly-spacious house.

Stage

Staging is the art of creating a welcoming environment that helps buyers envision their life in your house. Chances are you can stage using accessories and furniture you already have. Staging might also involve light renovations, such as painting and replacing window treatments.

List and Market

One week before listing:

Assemble materials for listing (photos, pricing documentation, room measurements, etc.)

List with ForSaleByOwner.com – 1 day
Collaborate with ForSaleByOwner.com experts to list on MLS and Realtor.com
Produce print fliers and ‘house book”

Essentials include:

Yard signs
Flyers, handouts and printed materials. Don’t forget to include the required array of disclosures and other legal forms dictated by your state and municipality.
Advertise on Craigslist. ForSaleByOwner customers get a template to make it even easier to place an ad at this popular online classified site.
Listing through your local Multiple Listing Service and Realtor.com. Both the MLS and Realtor.com position your house to be found by the 92% of buyers who start house hunting online. The local MLS is used by agents for their clients, and by the public. Realtor.com is based on MLS listings from around the country and is one of the most popular online listing sites.
The ForSaleByOwner.com Seller’s Guide includes dozens of stories, tips, and how-to articles for all elements of marketing.

Negotiate and Accept an Offer

Confirm buyers’ financial qualifications
Negotiate terms

If you can justify your asking price with recent market research, you are in a strong negotiating position. Still, you might want to hire a lawyer to coach you through the negotiations. And, a lawyer can advise you on the specifics required by your state and municipality.

Prepare Paperwork and Closing

6 – 8 weeks before closing:

Cooperate with home inspector
Cooperate with lender’s appraiser
Provide buyer and buyer’s agent, lawyer, and other professionals with legal documents
Contact your lender to start mortgage payoff process
Make your own arrangements to move
The paperwork has just begun once you accept a buyer’s offer.

Be prepared to handle:

Disclosures as required by your state and municipalities
Property records, building permits and receipts for the appraiser
Property records for the title insurer
Insurance documents
Mortgage, loan and lien documents
Related legal documents for financial and estate planning
Many of these documents can be purchased through ForSaleByOwner.com.

Selling a home always takes time, attention and energy. When you sell by owner, you will receive maximum benefits for your efforts.

Dos And Don’ts Of Buying Your First Home

Thinking of buying your own place? It’s normal to feel a little overwhelmed. After all, it’s the biggest purchase you can make. In an effort to remove some stress from the equation, here are a few tips from the experts.

1. Get pre-approved.

Some real estate agents won’t even work with you until you’ve been pre-approved for a mortgage. This is an important first step in the home-buying process. You don’t want to start house-hunting and fall for a home you can’t afford.

Plus, there may be problems with your credit that you don’t know about.

“Sometimes people are just unaware that they may have like a Sears card that they forgot to cancel and it’s caused a problem on your credit rating,” said B.C. realtor Sarah Daniels.

2. Find a real estate agent.

While having a real estate agent is not necessary when buying a home, it is recommended — especially if it’s your first time going through the process. Having someone who is knowledgeable about the market leading you through the process could take a big weight off your shoulders.

3. Stay mindful of your budget.

“One of the biggest things you have to consider in this decision is your lifestyle,” said Trisha Fineza Forbes with RBC. “And what that requires from a cost perspective.”

“You may be able to afford [your own home],” Daniels added, “but you’re also going to have to realize that you might be giving up going out for drinks after work or out for dinner with friends because you’re going to be paying a mortgage now.”

The B.C. realtor suggests asking yourself: if you lost your job and weren’t working for three months, would you be able to afford your home? Or are you stretching yourself too thin?

4. Be open.

We’ve all seen the real estate shows with the gorgeous multi-million dollar properties. Your first home will most likely look nothing like that.

What not to do when you’re a first-time home-buyer:

1. Don’t think you’ll be in that home forever.

“The reality is, on average, people only live in their first two homes for seven to ten years,” said Sherrod.

So remember that not everything has to be 100 per cent as you’d always imagined. They call it a “starter home” for a reason.

2. Don’t be too emotional.

Experts say this can be quite common with first-time buyers. Check the emotions at the door and think with your head.

Always keep in mind the re-sale value of the home you want to purchase, and remember that in real estate it’s all about location, location, location.

Daniels also recommended purchasing something you can see yourself in for five years.

“If you’re just going to buy something as a stopgap, then why are you buying it at all?”

3. Don’t make big purchases before getting approved for a mortgage.

That may seem fairly obvious, but you’d be surprised.

“I’ve seen it happen time and time again where buyers run out and finance a car or spend a large amount of their savings and then the bank will adjust their loan terms unfavorably or flat out deny them a mortgage,” said Sherrod.

4. Don’t forget about closing costs.

Closing costs can add up. The CMHC recommends putting aside anywhere from 1.5 to four per cent of the purchase price to cover them.

Oh, and don’t forget to also save for a rainy day. You never know when that hot water tank could break down.

On the bright side, first-time home-buyers can qualify for a tax credit of up to $750. It may not be much, but hey, every dollar counts when you’re a new homeowner.

Things Every Home Buyer Should Know Before Buying A House

As housing prices fell for the first time since 2013 this past August, according to RBC, Canadians may think it’s a good time to buy a new home.

But as homebuyers compete for properties, they risk overlooking some important details when undergoing the overwhelming homebuying process in haste – details that could make or break their experience.

It can be a stressful experience as well, especially for next generation homebuyers, a survey by Mortgage Professional Canada found. In fact, stress levels were the highest in Toronto, followed by the rest of Ontario and Vancouver – the lowest stress levels were found to be in Atlantic Canada and Quebec.

So to avoid getting lost down the rabbit hole, Dianne Usher, director at large on the board of directors for the Canadian Real Estate Association, offered some tips that will be beneficial to both first-time homebuyers and veteran homebuyers.

What to buy and when

According to Usher, there isn’t one golden opportune time to buy property but there are a few moments throughout the year that prove to be advantageous to home buyers.

“There’s no real bad time to buy a house,” Usher says. “It depends on why and where you’re looking. Often markets are considered to be slow at certain times of the year, like the mid-summer or over the holidays and beginning of the year. If you’re thinking of buying, often if somebody’s on the market in the summertime for example, [homesellers] are highly motivated to sell so you can sometimes get a better deal.”

However, come Fall and in the Spring, there are more options to choose from, Usher says.

“So you can wait and buy when there’s a little bit more to choose from, but there’s also more competition,” she warns. “There are pros and cons to both approaches and it all depends on your situation.”

The strongest type of dwelling in today’s market, Usher says, continues to be the condo. Part of the reason for this is because society is becoming more urban.

“Secondly, what we got is two generations vying for the same product,” she adds. “You’ve got the Baby Boomer generation wanting a more urban lifestyle and downsizing into condos. Then you got the Millennials that want to get their feet wet in the real estate market and they’re buying condos as well. So that’s why this market is a little stronger today than the freehold market.”

Do your homework

“Real estate purchase of a home – regardless of whether it’s a condo, a home or garden home – is a very emotional decision,” Usher explains. “So people forget sometimes to do their homework and to think things through.”

For example, it’s important to understand the historical data so that you know what you’re buying and where you’re buying so that you, the homebuyer, understands the nuances of the neighbourhood.

Know what you’re buying

“Ensure that you’re getting what you think you’re getting,” Usher says. “Get an inspection of the property – condo or freehold home.”

Even when it comes to a condo, it’s important to know the health of the condo building you’re buying in, Usher adds.

“This means knowing the financial health of the building, as well as the physical health of the building,” she says.

Understand your surroundings

Often buyers will go house shopping and visit open houses and start the process of buying right away because it’s an active market, Usher says. But before you do, research the neighbourhood.

“Get to know the neighbourhood of where you plan to buy,” Usher advises. “Figure out crime rates, parking lots – is that parking lot going to become a condo tower, for example. Also, understand the zoning and what you can and can’t do with property.”

The financial aspect

“When you’re buying a property, it costs you to buy a property,” Usher says. “Understand those costs that come with buying a house, like legal fees, land transfer taxes in some communities, a possible foreign buyer’s tax, etc.”

A realtor can be a big help to guide any homebuyer through this process, Usher says, including getting pre-approved for a mortgage (which shopping homebuyers should do, Usher advises).

Even condos come with extra fees like condo fees.

“It’s a good idea to have a realtor help you because even building developers are only working for the building developer,” Usher points out. “They don’t have any obligations to the buyer. So there are often some hidden costs associated with new constructions.”

Don’t get emotional

The most common mistake homebuyers will make is to get caught up emotionally in the process, Usher says.

“Particularly if it’s a multiple offer situation, it’s easy to get caught up in the emotion and for homebuyers to get caught up in themselves,” she adds. “You might not be able to close the property if you require financing. They’ll get caught up in the emotion even before checking if they can afford the property.”

Five Inexpensive Tips For Selling Your Home

Are you getting ready to sell your home? Do you want to move your property fast – and for the highest selling price possible – with these easy, affordable, inexpensive staging tricks. These deal-sealing changes will make your home attractive to the largest pool of potential buyers, and the best part is, you can start at any stage in the game. Who knows – you can decide to “Love It.. or Leave It.”

Tip #1 Paint Dollar for dollar, a fresh coat of paint gives you more bang for your decorating buck than anything else. Even if your current palette is relatively new, any scuffs or wear marks will channel an unkempt vibe. And an unusual colour choice – even if the height of fashion – may limit your home’s appeal. So break out that roller and slap on a couple coats of crowd-pleasing warm white or sand paint.

Tip #2 Improve the lighting Replace any dated light fixtures ASAP. How can you tell if it has to go? If it’s over 15 years old and looks it – yet isn’t a vintage (50-75 years old) or antique piece (older) – it should probably go. “Retro” is not something most homebuyers are looking for. You don’t need to break the bank, just head to your local box store.

Tip #3 De-clutter all the rooms and living space Take the collectibles off the mantel, put the mismatched armchair into storage (or better yet, donate it) and pare your closets down to what you’re actually wearing this season, packing away the rest. Ideally, all this extra stuff would head to charity, the garbage dump, or into storage. The more you store onsite, the more cluttered and small your home appears.

Tip #4 Give older bathrooms a facelift A nice bath helps sell a house but, don’t invest in a total renovation. Renos are costly, and you won’t recoup your costs unless you find your exact décor doppelganger. Bring an out-of-date bath up to speed with a fresh coat of paint or ceramic tile and new lighting. Buy neutral shower curtains, a simple new bath mat and/or a vanity set.

Tip #5 Get rid of the curtains Dated window treatments need to come down (if it’s over 10 years old, get rid of it). If privacy isn’t an issue, just leave the windows bare to maximize natural light and make the room’s dimensions seem more generous. Otherwise, buy basic-issue cotton or linen drapes. Always tie drapes back during viewings and open houses.