REAL ESTATE IN A NUTSHELL      

PART 9 - THE PRICE IS RIGHT... WHAT'S NEXT?

Parts 1-8 explain how to find the right (for you!) Realtor, learn about the REAL (not imaginary) market, determine the right price for your house and... what's next?

Now it's time to list! Wait, but it's fall now, don’t houses sell better in the spring? Again, maybe I'll get more money then, right?

Not necessarily... No one knows whether the market will be up or down next spring (if someone says he does, call him a liar!) plus you will be competing with tons of properties that come on the market then, while in the fall the inventory traditionally goes down so you get a better chance with motivated buyers.

Houses are sold all year around, so you can call your Realtor to list your house at any time. Of course, after your house is ready.
How to prepare your house for sale – it's a separate topic and I can't compete with countless websites advising on this.

Only one suggestion – less is certainly more, both when pictures are taken and when your house is being shown to potential buyers. So remove as many items (from older pieces of furniture to countless souvenirs on shelves) as you can, and put them into storage (even your own garage).

Speaking of pictures... we all know a good (!) picture is worth a thousand words, so make sure that the pictures taken of your HOUSE are not just good, but stunning!

(I personally am happy to spend thousands and thousands of dollars buying the best professional-grade camera and especially lenses to take pictures of my listings. Honestly, this is the favourite part of my job as a Realtor... please, don't tell my wife or the tax guy!)

What to pay attention to while signing a listing agreement? We already talked about the listing price and listing commission in Parts 1-8. What else? Very important is the length of the listing. If it's less than two months (theoretically it can be 24 hours), then your house will not get on the MLS, which is not a good idea at all.

If the listing period is too long, then you might have a hard time getting rid of the Realtor whose performance you are not amazed with. Plus buyers will see something like "157 days on the market" on their computers, which isn't good.

So I would list for a shorter term (2-3 months) and re-list later, resetting the "days on market" counter to zero.

Theoretically you can reject a "for sale" sign, but it's not a good idea at all.
With all the modern computer stuff, a simple wooden post and "for sale" sign still help A LOT! If your house is on a busy corner – ask for two signs, one on each street.

Some sellers are scared of lockboxes where the Realtor puts the key to your house so other Realtors can access it. Sure, in theory somebody could break this lockbox, but in reality it's MUCH easier to break into the house itself, than into this very protected box.

Your Realtor will ask if you want your house to be on the Realtor tour. Answer "yes, yes and yes!" So in a few days, tons of the best Realtors (of course, if you listed your house with the best company!) will walk through your house and hopefully later bring the right buyer. I can't see any reason why NOT to put your house on the Realtor tour.

It's not so black and white about open houses. Some sellers prefer not to have them at all (“this is just for nosy neighbours!”), while others insist on having them every weekend. Just use common sense, listen to your Realtor and most importantly – to yourself. Whatever you feel about having open houses or not – is right!

About showing times... yes, you can say something like "showings only on Wednesday and Saturday and I need at least 24 hours’ notice", but it will reduce the chances of a sale dramatically.

We have tons of out of town buyers, who are here for a day or two and sometimes (actually, pretty often) they buy on the spot... the houses they can get into on short notice.

(By the way, think about it when choosing your Realtor. If it takes him/her a couple of hours or even days to call you back, what are the chances they will be quick responding to those "here and now!" buyers?

What else is critically important? A lot of stuff, which is impossible to say in a limited space in the newspaper. But quite possible to say in an e-mail, over the phone, or during a meeting.

So feel free to call (directly!) at 250-713-5402 or e-mail victor-k@shaw.ca