Thinking of selling?

The process of selling your house, can be confusing, frustrating and costly without professional help. A listing agent can help you through the process, from listing to closing. My commitment is to help you in this complex process to sell your house with the best possible price in the quickest possible time. Here are some guides:

A computerized comparative market analysis, (To make sure asking price is right):

To determine the asking price is very important. After researching the history of neighbourhood, your agent presents you a free comparative market analysis (CMA). The CMA compares your house to similar recently sold homes in your area based on lot size, age, features and market data, including current economic conditions and local facilities. Then agent recommends you a listing price. Remember overpricing is one of the major reasons a home doesn’t sell. Usually buyers don’t visit the home which looks overpriced.
To have a market evaluation of your house, please fill in the following form and I will contact you within the next 24 hours. Thank you.

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Recommended improvements

Before start marketing, your listing agent tours your home and suggests improvements that will increase its appeal to potential buyers. Buyers are attracted to houses that don't require much work. There are some tips to help a home sell quickly.
Curb appeal: You have only one chance to get first impression. In fact, it can add up to 10 percent to a home's value. Many buyers decide to look inside by the appearance of the home. So, check the gutters, do some touch up repairs if necessary .keep your lawn trimmed , clean the driveway and if a house has curb appeal when you buy it, maintain it, for the day you want to sell it.

Keep the house clean, inside and outside, empty garbage.
make the home bright, turn on enough lights, open drapes and blinds.
clean floor, hardwoods, tiles and carpets.
Kitchen and bathroom are places that buyers look at closely, keep them spotless and very shiny.
remove pets and keep them outside while buyers are looking at your home.
don't forget basement and backyard, collect tools and keep these places organized.
Also get rid of tones of useless items in garage.
Have beautiful plants in view and make sure you have fresh air inside the home.

Marketing plan to attract buyers

Your realtor provides you a customized marketing plan for your house. Here are a few common marketing techniques you can expect me to include in the plan:
"For Sale" sign in your yard, Which shows the Agency information and contact phones.
Flyers that include a picture of your home and a description of its size and features.
Listing in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is a database of all the homes listed by agents
Advertising in local newspapers magazines and the Internet.
Open houses, which invites potential buyers to look at house without previous appointment.
Showings of your home to buyers or preview tour for othe agents.
Negotiating Offers After you get offers your realtor negotiate and help you for counter offers, in some cases the higher offered price is not the only one you most notice, there are some conditions that your agent would explain when presenting each offer.
Closing and move your realtor is with you to make sure everything is going smoothly, even if you need help to find a new home you can count on me.
Call me at (647) 290-0884

Some tips in selling:

If you're thinking that renovation helps sell your home faster, you can not get back 100% of the money you invest on that. A study by Appraisal Institute of Canada is showing the average percentage of return in different renovations as bellow:

Interior painting and décor, interior - 73%
Kitchen renovation - 72%
Bathroom renovation - 68%
Exterior paint - 65%
Flooring upgrades - 62%
Window/door replacement - 57%
Main floor family room addition - 51%
Fireplace addition - 50%Basement renovation 49%
Furnace/heating system replacement - 48%

When interviewing a realtor, here are a few questions you should consider asking:

What can I do if I am not happy with your service?
What is your marketing plan?
Do you have website?
Are you available for me ? Can I call you anytime?
Do you Prepare an activity report and feedback after each showing?
Why should I list with you rather than any other agent?
Do you advertise our house in your web site? What is your web address?

Five reasons homes don't sell

Although the real estate market is hot, mortgage rates are relatively low and so many prospective buyers are looking for home, still you can see lots of expired listings remain unsold.
1 - Overpricing: Today many home buyers use the Internet for home search, MLS.ca provide much useful information for them. they don’t even look at the overpriced houses. seller has to adjust the price after a while and end up with low offers.
2 - Condition of the home: A complete renovation with the purpose of selling faster is not recommended, but you have to do anything you can, to make your home look good. Curb appeal, Cleanliness, brightness are some examples.
3 - Bad location: if the location of your home is not good, You can not do anything about that, just try to improve appealing the house. no easy access to transportation, poor neighbourhood maintenance, no school in area are some examples of bad location.
4 - Poor marketing plan. Putting a "for sale" sign and sitting aside in not enough for marketing your home. Your agent must have a marketing plan which works for your home.
5 - Difficult to show. During the showing time, have your home accessible for prospective buyers, make sure your realtor can show your home anytime.
Avoiding 9 Costly Home-Selling Mistakes
Marketing your house needs a wise strategy. there are number of common costly mistakes from sellers who don’t use of a professional guide.
Mistake #1: Putting the home on the market before it's ready.
First impression is very important for marketing your house. Please visit the seller's tips in this web site to see some recommendation before you start your selling process. Your agent can provide you a report about what has to be done before marketing your house.
Mistake #2: Over-improving the home.
Certainly so many things must be done before marketing your home, like small repairs, a fresh coating paint touch up, clean up, some upgrades but Don’t spend so much money for renovation in order to sell the house for more. According to a study by AIC you can just get back between%45 to %75 of the money you have invested for renovation.
Mistake #3: Overpricing the home.
This pricing strategy always ends up with disappointment and finally it attracts some low offers as an unsold house. Pricing the home too high leave it in the market alone for a long with getting no offer. Sellers can determine the "asking price" but only market determine the "selling price".A lender may estimate the value of your property lower or higher than what you may actually get in real selling effort. Ask your agent for a FREE computerized comparative market analysis before you start your selling process. It helps you to know how much has being paid actually for the similar house in your neighbourhood.
Mistake #4: lack of information in Hiring an agent .
Make sure you're hiring a professional and knowledgeable realtor. Interview with your realtor, make sure you can find him or her anytime you have a question. ask about the education, the company he or she is working for.
Mistake #5: Limited Marketing and Advertising of the Property.

Make sure Your agent has a wide variety of marketing techniques for your property. a "for sale" sign on your lawn or a single advertisement in a newspaper is not enough to find a buyer for your house.A professional agent has a marketing plan which is best suited for your house.

Mistake # 6: To get emotionally involved in sale process.
Some sellers are very emotional in selling the house. One might say:"I sell my house to this buyer because it seems he/she takes care of my house better than the other one". But remember when you are marketing your house it’s better to follow the market rules.
Mistake #7: Not Knowing your seller/agent relationship.
A professional realtor explains clearly related documents and the seller/agent agreement. Failing to understand your rights and responsibilities might be costly.
Mistake#8: Staying around in showing the home.
sometimes buyer doesn’t feel comfortable in looking home when seller is around, also seller might say something that negatively affect the buyer decision,like "I got tired of small kitchen"and then buyer consider that as a problem with the house.

Mistake #9: Missing good offers.
Some sellers miss the first offer from a serious buyer, because they think in the near future they would get the better ones.
If you have any questions, please call me at: (647) 290- 0884
Hallmark Realty Ltd. Brokerage (Independently owned & operated)
245 Fairview Mall Dr., Ste. 108 Toronto, On Office: (416) 494 - 7653