Buyer / Seller Tips

BUYING YOUR HOME

1.  Buying What You Want, Not What You Need

Look at the space that you are already living in.  It will help you to realize what you have been missing and what you need in your next home.  Make a list of those needs and then ask your agent to start shopping based on those needs.  On average, Americans live in a house for about nine years.  Remember, you can always trade up a few times before you find the ultimate home.

2. Buying a Home Without a Professional Inspection

There are a lot of things a home inspection can reveal about a property that are not visible to the naked eye.  Be sure to hire someone who comes with a good referral basis, who’s been in the business a while and knows what to look for.  Look up the Canadian Society of Home Inspectors and get a list of qualified home inspectors in your area.  Once you find an inspector, insist that they compile a written report, complete with photos.  Photographs are important because there are areas a home inspector will go that you might not look at.

3.  Skipping the Loan Pre-Approval Step

When you are pre-approved, the bank is saying, “we will give you a mortgage of up to this amount, so now all you have to do is find your home.”  Some sellers only allow real estate agents to show their house if someone has a pre-approved letter.  That indicates that the shopper really is serious about buying a home.

4.  Visiting the House Only Once

It’s important to visit a house more than once because the neighbourhood itself may be very different depending on the day of the week and the time of day.  It’s also a good idea to go home and think about it, even sleep on it, before you go back again.

5.  Buying the Most Expensive Home on the Block

The most expensive house will only depreciate in value over time, rather than appreciate, which is what you want.  Also, those houses are often not the first house to sell because they are usually overbuilt to the neighbourhood.  It’s absolutely critical that you research the neighbourhood before you buy to find out what the price point should be.

6.  Not Thinking About Resale

When you are decorating and renovating your home, you need to think about what is going to appeal to a broad section of buyers when it comes time to sell it.  Buying houses and being in the real estate market is like chess:  You always want to look two or three steps ahead in the game.

7.  Not Researching the Neighbourhood

It’s absolutely critical that you research the neighbourhood before you buy.  Check out the area, amenities and the school system to be sure that your address corresponds with the correct school district.  Also attend a community meeting, if possible.  You’re not just buying a house, you’re buying a piece of that real estate and the land around it.

SELLING YOUR HOME

1. Failing to showcase your Home and Making Small cosmetic Changes

When you are selling your house, you have to really look at it objectively and think about it from the viewpoint of the house hunter.  Make minor enhancements to the house and maybe hire a professional stager to come and arrange your furniture.  Staging is about decorating your house for the buyers’ taste, not yours.  A great place to start is with the front of the home and the main entryway.  Home staging is designed to increase the potential selling price and reduce the amount of time the house stays on the market.

2.  Setting Too High of a Sale Price

As a seller, it’s really important to do your research.  To come up with your sale price, look up what comparable homes in your neighborhood have sold for.  Figure out what the going price is and try to put yours right in the middle of that, unless you have something extra-special to offer.  It’s always better to price a home that way than to start too high and have to reduce.  Once you reduce, it always looks like something is wrong with the home.

3.  Doing Major Renovations/Remodelling Before Selling

Minor upgrades usually have a higher return on your money than tackling major renovations before placing a home on the market.  The main reason?  Huge construction projects always cost more than you think they will, and they also take longer than you expect.  The best place to spend money is outside.  Research shows that increasing the curb appeal often returns the most value on your money.  It’s what gets buyers inside the house.

4.  Picking the Wrong Agent

Treat meetings with agents like a job interview because that’s really how it works.  Keep in mind that the person is going to be working for you.  Talk to your friends who’ve sold houses and had good experiences with their particular agent. And go to open houses and observe how that agent interacts with other people.  It’s also a good idea to meet with the agent in their office.  It allows you to see how organized he or she is, what kind of environment they work in and whether that’s conducive to being able to do a good job for you.

5. Waiting Until Spring to Sell Your House

Spring is the busiest real estate activity period, but that does not mean that people don’t buy houses 365 days of the year.  That doesn’t mean you can’t emphasize your home’s seasonal amenities.

6.  Not Providing Easy Access for Showings

Make your house easily accessible to potential buyers.  If there’s nowhere to park or it’s difficult to get into, buyers may just skip it and look at someone else’s property.