Seller's Tip Courtesy of teambeckett

teambeckett Tip of the Week: Focusing on the Exterior of your Home 

Last Seller’s tip we talked about how to add curb appeal to your property. This week we’ll focus on the exterior of the house. First..Lighting. Exterior lighting goes a long way in showcasing your home during evening showings. Good lighting helps provide potential buyers with a sense of security and is also a safety issue for the showing itself - be sure the bulbs are working in all your exterior light fixtures and use low voltage lighting along pathways or in gardens or if that’s not an option, try solar lights in principal areas.  Next:  Check your front door – does it need a fresh coat of paint to dress it up? Remember there’s only one chance to create a good first impression and the front door is the first thing seen when preparing to enter the house. Make sure eaves are cleaned out, and that downspouts extend away from the house. Wash windows, power wash siding and decks if required and clean out any debris from window wells. Remember - A well cared for home typically results in better offers.

teambeckett Tip of the Week: Creating Great Curb Appeal 

Last Seller’s tip touched on some advice for preparing yourself and your family – during the showings of your home .  Our next couple of Sellers’s tips will continue with this topic , but shift focus to preparing your property for showings.   This week we’ll narrow in on adding great curb appeal to your home. We’ve all heard the term curb appeal but what does it mean? Well it doesn’t necessarily mean having to re-do your entire landscape but simply making the most of what you have and creating a pleasing first impression from the street or curb.  Here are some items that should be monitored and attended to:

Keep litter picked up

Keep the lawn mowed and trim areas that the mower doesn’t reach.

Define garden edges

Trim shrubs, maintaining a neat and tidy appearance and keep pathways free of obstructions such as overgrown shrubs

Prune tree limbs away from roof and eaves

Keep gardens weeded – Better yet  - Add mulch to your gardens giving an instant facelift to your home’s appearance with the added benefit of helping to slow weed growth – just be sure to apply 2 to 3 inches thick to maximize effectiveness

Add hanging baskets or urns with seasonal flowers – an instant welcoming effect

teambeckett Tip of the Week: Your house is Now on the Market 

Last Seller’s tip had advice for hiring a Real Estate Professional –  now you’ve hired a professional and your home is listed “For Sale”  – so what happens next?  Ideally, it’s being marketed on the MLS system and Real Estate Professional.ca , there’s a sign in the yard with a recognized brand, an Open House is scheduled  and your  Real Estate Professional’s personalized Marketing Plan for “you“ has been activated – now buyers want to see your home. For security reasons small valuables should be safely stowed away – any Real Estate Professionals showing your property will be attending clients during viewings and while an incidence of theft is unlikely it’s like the saying goes -“an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” -small children move quickly and could slip something in their pocket before anyone notices. Try to be flexible about showing requests, especially for buyers coming from out of town. Unfortunately this part of the process can be tiresome - make a plan for what will happen during showings of your home. – Where will you or your family go/ what will you do during showings? If you have pets – consider what arrangements need to be made or instructions need to be left. You’ve begun the search for your next home so it’s a great opportunity to set up viewings and head out for your own home shopping. 

teambeckett Tip of the Week: Hiring a Real Estate Professional 

This week’s tip is for Sellers considering hiring a Real Estate Professional…So you’ve got your house fixed up –Safety concerns have been addressed …aesthetically you’re  ready to go… and if you haven’t already -  it’s now time to interview Real Estate Professionals to ensure a – Right Fit- Real Estate professional for you. Be sure to interview more than one Real Estate Professional and ask lots of questions…Do they have any Special Skills or Designations? How long in the Business? Full Time …OR Part-time Real Estate Professional ?? ?  and so on…You should be confident in your Real Estate Professional’s skills and competence to handle any situation that arises during the selling process from listing …to…marketing …to…objection handling…to…negotiating to… sale completion. Your Real Estate Professional should provide you with a Current Market Value for your home -as well as- a Solid Marketing Plan. The services of a Real Estate professional go well beyond sticking a For Sale sign in the yard and waiting for Buyers to come. Yes…there will be bumps along the way …but…the END Result should not be a Surprise. A –Well Researched Value…and…well thought out Marketing Plan maximizes your home’s exposure to potential buyers; in turn maximizing  your…Return on Investment. Don’t get STUCK with a –SIGN STICKER- Hire a Professional!

teambeckett Tip of the Week: Getting your House Ready to Sell 

This week’s tip is for Sellers wondering -  . How do I get my home ready to sell? Well this is a broad topic but this week we’ll look at it from a general aesthetic & safety approach – I would advise you to go out to the road and approach your home as if you’re the buyer seeing it for the first time. Remember you only have one opportunity to make a good first impression. Walk into each room attaching sticky notes to items of note and consider whether those items would prevent you from buying your home or would these cause you to offer a lower price? Remember don’t fix things yet – Now is the time to contact a Real Estate Professional  who should be able to advise you on what items will help to sell your home and maybe even put more money in your pocket and which items may simply trade dollars or even lose you money. Any items that are addressed as safety issues should definitely be remediated to reduce the risk or eliminate potential lawsuits and remember to check for working smoke detectors and an operational C02 detector which must be installed in all Ontario residential properties with gas or fuel burning appliances and remain upon sale.

teambeckett Tip of the Week: How do I know if its a Good Time to Sell 

This week’s real estate tip answers an important question for Sellers – How do I know if it’s a good time to sell my home? Well that depends on many factors, Your “Reason” or motivation to Sell is ultimately the determining factor as to how you approach the Sale of your home, But is it a good time to sell? This week I’m going to address this question strictly from the perspective of price. If you have a house that’s affordable for a first time home buyer and you’re looking for a larger home or right sizing for a growing family then you’ve got the best of both worlds in to-days market. On the sell side there is a low inventory of -available affordable homes- for those entering into home ownership resulting in a high ratio of buyers –to- inventory.  Because of this these homes often sell quickly and for more than asking price in many cases. On the buy side there is more inventory available in these typically large higher priced homes and fewer buyers. Again opportunity is on your side as you are less likely to encounter competition for your purchase from other buyers and more likely to be negotiating on a -one to  one- basis with sellers. If this sounds like you then you are in an enviable position to Sell High, Buy for less and Finance with historically Low interest rates. Is it a good time to sell...absolutely.

teambeckett Tip of the Week: Agreed to Facts in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale 

Continuing this week with Clauses that would be found in Schedule A of the Agreement of Purchase & Sale, today we will explore clauses pertaining to Agreed Facts. These clauses are written for the purpose of ensuring that both Buyer and Seller are of the same understanding of certain terms of the contract. An example would be a clause written in specifying what kind of condition the property will be left in by the Seller or looking back again at clauses which contain representations and warranties, there may be an additional clause which spells out the time period that the parties agree that the representation and warranty is valid for. The use of this type of clause could be used for any number of circumstances but the important thing to note is that this type of clause should be used where there is any chance of misinterpretation of the intentions or obligations of one or both parties.

teambeckett Tip of the Week: Specific Action Clauses

Today we continue to highlight Clauses that may be included in Schedule A of the Agreement of Purchase & Sale - specifically Action clauses this week. The purpose of Action clauses are to instruct the Buyer or Seller to do something for advancement of the contract. The clause may be written in such a way that the Buyer authorizes and directs the Seller to perform some action on their behalf . For example, if a tenant is currently occupying the property then a direction is made to the Seller to deliver to the tenant the required notice under the Residential Tenancies Act for them to vacate the property thereby providing the Buyer with vacant possession of the property as of a certain date. Or it could be a clause providing authorization by the Seller for the buyer to obtain information about the property from an outside source such as an authorization and direction for the Fire department to provide an existing fire inspection report to the Buyer.

teambeckett Tip of the Week: Representations and Warranties

This week’s Seller’s tip we continue looking at types of Clauses found within Schedule A of the Agreement of Purchase & Sale. Looking more closely at Representations and Warranties –The definition of Representation is “A statement made regarding some existing fact or event that induces a contract and could be the basis for rescinding that agreement, if found false” The definition of Warranty is “A statement providing assurance or a guarantee that something is as presented”. While these two terms are defined differently they are often used in conjunction when writing clauses so as to prevent something being discounted due to a technicality in the legal definition. Typically the extent and the time period to which the representation or warranty applies are outlined as well. For example, a Seller may represent and warrant that a swimming pool is in good working condition and will be on the day of completion but no representation or warranty subsequent to that.

teambeckett Tip of the Week: Acknowledgements 

Last Seller’s tip we had a brief look at the main types of Clauses which could be found within Schedule A of the Agreement of Purchase & Sale. Now we’ll look at these in more detail. Acknowledgements are included to establish that either Buyer or Seller or both have an understanding that some sort of situation, circumstance or fact exists. An example of this would be the inclusion of a chattel or chattels by the Seller but with no warranty by the Seller on the condition or working order of the Chattel. Another example would be of a property being sold in “As Is Where Is Condition”. In both cases a clause would be inserted to indicate the Buyer’s acknowledgement of those circumstances. An example where an acknowledgement by the Seller might occur is The Buyer intending to develop the land being sold. By inserting an Acknowledgement of these types of situations it is anticipated that misunderstandings or false impressions can be avoided.