Selling a home you have lived in for years is always a very emotional time. That’s why it is so important to have someone you trust to walk you through it every step of the way. Unfortunately there is also a lot of preparation that goes into it before that sign goes in.

Get early advise

Its important to have your Realtor involved early in the process as they can help you with a lot. They will suggest things that will assist in the sale of your home. Don’t make the mistake of spending a lot of money before you talk to a Realtor. Many sellers do a lot of renovations in preparation for selling and spend a lot of unnecessary money. Often it is the small things you can do to spruce up your place that has the most impact.  Just giving everything a good cleaning is a great start. De-cluttering is probably the single most important thing. Take everything you can out of a room and then take one more piece. The idea is to make the space look as big as possible. Take personal pictures down off the walls. Remember you want potential buyers to imagine themselves in this home. If it has pictures of all your kids all over the walls it is hard for them to imagine themselves in it.

The Paper Work

Yes, there is a fair amount of paper work that has to happen when you decide to sell your home.

One of the first things your Realtor will go over with you is the “Working with a Realtor ” brochure. This is a very important document in that it explains the agency relationship you have with your Realtor. It also explains how this relationship may change during the course of your business together. It also explains the need for collection, use and disclosure of personal information that may be required in the course of representing you and selling your property. It can be a little complicated so don’t be afraid to ask questions.

The “Multiple Listing Contract” is the actual contract that you will sign that put s your home on the market. Your Realtor will go over the contract paragraph by paragraph and explain what each means. Again if you have questions feel free to ask.

One of  the more important items on the Multiple Listing Contract is the asking price for your home.  Your Realtor will help you in ascertaining this by preparing what is called a CMA or a “Comparative Market Analysis”. this is a comparative analysis between your property and other similar properties in the area that have Sold recently as well as properties that are still on the market. We also look at properties that have not sold and what prices were being asked for them. Based on these factors we will suggest a “Listing Price” that we feel is appropriate for your property. However, the ultimate decision is still yours as to what you feel the asking price should be. Its important to get the price right as you don’t want your property to become stale or people disregard it as it is too expensive.

Next we come to the “Data Input Form” This form itemizes all  the features of your home, such as type, year built, size of rooms, size of lot, etc.

Another document is the “Property Disclosure Statement”. This is a very important document and one which we will ask you to fill out. We will assist you in understanding the questions but we will need you to actually fill it out. It has questions such as ” Are you aware of any problems with the water system?” The idea is to advise any potential buyers of any problems that the home may have.

One of the biggest questions sellers often have is ” How am I ever going to get this place ready for sale by myself”? That’s where your Realtor comes in. They can assist you in finding people who can help you . We have worked with Handymen, plumbers, clean up people etc. We will not give you specific recommendations as this could be viewed as a conflict of interest . However we will give you a list of people to help you and you can speak to them and choose the one you feel best suites your needs.

Showing the property can be stressful in that you are expected to keep your home ready and available for showing at any time. Many times Realtors will advise potential buyers that the seller (you ) will need at least 24 hours notice to show your home. this at least allows you to live in your home and gives you a chance to “tidy up” when it is going to be shown. Most Realtors suggest you try and not be home when the property is shown. It cause you stress in that potential buyers sometimes can be critical of some of your decorating or choice of furnishings etc. Its best if you can just go out for the time the property is shown This usually doesn’t take any longer than 30 minutes.   Its also better for the potential buyers in that they feel more comfortable looking through your home if your not there. Don’t worry the Realtor is there to protect your property.

What do you do when an offer finally comes in? Your Realtor will call you and advise you that an offer has come in. Normally this will be either faxed to your Realtor or e mailed to them. On some occasions the other Realtor will ask that they be allowed to present the offer in person. Your Realtor will speak to you to see how you feel about this and then you can proceed on which method you feel more comfortable with. If the Realtor is presenting the offer just listen and ask only questions that you need to ask to clarify the offer. Remember you do not want to “tip your hand” when it comes to the negotiations for a fair price and conditions. This is the time for your best poker face. After you are alone with your Realtor they will explain the offer to you. remember an offer is more than just a dollar amount they are offering. There will be subjects that are attached to the offer that form a substantive part of the offer and you have to review them carefully. An important point to remember is when you offer a counter offer the original offer is no longer “on the table” in other words if you counter offer and they refuse your counter you can’t go back and say you will accept the original offer. It is no longer there!

What does all this cost

The Realtors commission is paid by the Seller. This amount is negotiated between you and your Realtor. The commission not only goes to your Realtor but is shared with the Realtor who brings the Buyer to your home. The commission split is not usually 50/50 as the Selling Realtor carries all the expenses for advertising etc so they usually get a small amount more to cover these expenses. You are responsible for your own lawyer or Notary Public charges which will include costs for clearing title and GST. One cost that seems to catch many Sellers by surprise is the cost for their share of the property tax. Basically this is you share of the property tax that has not been paid to the date the home is sold. The municipal taxes are usually paid on July 1, so if you sell your home prior to that date you will owe the new owner the portion of the taxes than accrued while you lived in the home. For example say the home was Sold on April 6  you will have lived in the home for 96 days of the given year so you will owe 96/365 of the total taxes. On the other hand if you sell after the taxes have been paid then you get a credit on your statement because you paid taxes for the whole year but did not live in the home for the whole year.

Hope this helps but if you have any questions please feel free to call me.