Let’s find out! 

Well, there are many things to consider. Understanding the market’s seasonal trends is a good place to start, but the decision to sell is usually a personal one. In addition to the local market condition, it’s important to take all factors into account like your financial situation, your home’s current condition, and whether you plan on making improvements. Ultimately, the best time to sell is when it makes the most sense for you. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the current trends or need advice on whether now is your time to sell, let’s connect and discuss the best options for you.

Increasing your home’s value will also increase its equity and luckily, there are a number of things you can do to boost it. Below are a few tips and tricks sellers can do to maximize the equity in a home:

Add usable square footage. The more livable square feet you have in the home, the better. Some examples of this are adding a bathroom, a great room, or an in-law suite.

Clean and declutter. A simple deep-clean and subsequent upkeep cleanings can make your home appear more livable and attractive to prospective buyers.

Make your home more energy-efficient. Just a few examples of this are installing a smart thermostat, a high-efficiency furnace and AC, and making the switch to LED lightbulbs.

Freshen up the paint and flooring. Have a few scuffs on the wall? A fresh coat of paint can work miracles! And to freshen up old, dated hardwood flooring, sanding works well. Shampooing carpets can also make a big difference.

Improve your curb appeal. A well-manicured exterior indicates the interior looks just as good.

Upgrade exterior doors. Replacing the front door and even the garage door can boost curb appeal. After all, a home’s exterior is the first thing people see.

Since the statistics prove nearly all home buyers search online for homes, I know investing in an effective digital advertising strategy is crucial when advertising listings. Each of my listings get posted on their own landing pages so they can be easily shared on the internet. With the help of digital advertising tools, I also can track how many times each page was viewed and shared, as well as how many interested buyers it attracted.

Another thing to note is social media algorithms prevent general posts from reaching more than 13% of followers. This is why I go a step further and incorporate targeted ads into my strategy. These ads target relevant audiences so my listings will get in front of interested buyers looking for a home like yours.

I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. In a 2016 study, homes that had a video component—in addition to a slideshow of pictures—received over 403% more inquiries than listings without video. And ones that feature a Realtor talking? They always had better response rates. 

Listings with videos just tend to perform better than those without and here’s one reason why. When setting up a listing on MLS, we are allowed a maximum character limit, causing us to scramble to fit all of the home’s top features in such a small amount of space. This is why having a shareable video link comes in handy. Plus, it allows anyone to share the link, maximizing the listing’s exposure in your social circle.

Virtual tours are another great tool to consider, especially when physical viewings may be limited. The use of 360° virtual tours allows viewers to inspect the whole home while walking through it at their own pace. It provides them a unique perspective while viewing the whole space and not just what the photographer chose to highlight in images.

Simply put, technology makes life easier. 

In 2019, humans made history. It was recorded that people spent more time on their mobile devices than doing any other activity each day. And no wonder. At the click of a button, you can find whatever you’re looking for within seconds. Believe it or not, 95% of homebuyers will choose to incorporate the internet into their home search and over 50% will purchase one they found online. Those are impressive statistics, which is why it’s so important to choose a Realtor who will incorporate an advanced digital marketing strategy into how they sell your home.

When homes don’t sell, it likely means a number of avoidable errors were made during the listing process. There are a few different reasons why a home isn’t selling and here are the most common ones:

1. The price is too high. One of the biggest mistakes is listing your home for the wrong price; it’s detrimental to list your home at too high a price in hopes of negotiating down. This strategy will limit the amount of buyer appointments and will bring in little to no offers, meaning the home will sit on the market longer. The longer a home sits on the market, the more likely the seller will need to reduce its price. When this happens, homes usually sell for less than it could have sold for if priced correctly in the first place. Pricing a home for sale is tricky, and while data from comparable homes in the area is important, a top agent’s experience is invaluable when building a pricing strategy.
2. First impressions are everything. You only get one chance to make a first impression, which is why having a good pricing strategy is crucial. It’s actually better to list the property at asking or below, depending on the market. Listing below market value in a hot market could lead to multiple offers, meaning you’ll likely get the price over ask. Staging also comes into play here. When done right, beautifully staged homes help make a great first impression on buyers.
3. You hired the wrong Realtor. There are over 56,000 Realtors on the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) and it’s important to choose one who will provide the services you need. Your Realtor should help with pricing, staging, curb appeal, marketing, responding to feedback from interested buyers, and provide you with open and honest communication.

According to the industry standard in Ontario, the seller usually pays 5% commission of the final sale price of the property. This commission is split evenly so that 2.5% goes to the listing agent and 2.5% goes to the buyer’s agent. In addition, HST is added to the commission and is a fee the seller is responsible for.

However, you might still see a range of commissions floating around because, well, just like purchasing any type of service, sellers can choose the service they’d like to receive. There are independent or discount brokerages that might charge below the listing commission standard in exchange for minimal services, others that provide ad-hoc services to clients who offer above average commissions, and those who receive standard commissions that still charge an additional fee for ad-hoc services.

I offer a full-service experience at the average commission standard.

Because it works. Staging has become one of the most popular ways to increase a home’s value and decrease its selling time. A recent study found over 85% of staged homes sold between 6-25% higher than unstaged ones. According to the National Association of Realtors, staged homes sell 87% faster. When done properly, home staging earns you a huge return and is something I always recommend.

I understand how valuable your home is to you, which is why it’s so important it makes a great first impression. This is where staging comes in. Simply put, its goal is to make your home appeal to the highest number of potential buyers in as little time as possible and is a service I highly recommend.

The staging process prepares your home for selling and includes an initial walk-through consultation; the creation of a well-thought-out to-do list; the rearranging, addition or removal of furniture; and suggested improvements like decluttering or throwing on a fresh coat of paint. It’s not quite redecorating, but a way to depersonalize your space so that prospective buyers can imagine themselves in it. With the help from the boutique styling agency Spaces Collective, we can stage your home exceptionally well for its big debut on the market.

Deciding to sell your home is a huge step and knowing you’ve put your trust in the right agent is a good start. Over the years, I’ve developed a reliable three-part system and 13 steps to help sell homes for the most amount of money in the least amount of time. This method has brought me to the top 1% in the industry, helping my clients sell their homes in an average of two weeks or less. 

The first thing I do is understand your home’s value. I identify the key areas to do cost-effective improvements that will increase your home’s value… before putting it on the market. Next, I supply the right team—anywhere from cleaners, painters, and design consultants—to help transform your home. Finally, I provide a cutting-edge marketing strategy. This includes stunning photos, high-impact videos, and laser-targeted ads on Facebook, so you get a flood of potential buyers coming your way.

An exclusive listing is when a seller agrees to list their home with a brokerage without listing it publicly. Unlike non-exclusive listings—the ones you’re more familiar with—exclusive listings do not appear on the MLS or public websites. During this arrangement, it is entirely up to the listing agent to find an appropriate buyer for the home. Since traditional open houses and showings are not part of the process, no other agents are involved in these listings. This also means the selling agent receives the entire commission on the sale of the home.

Though this type of listing sounds a little unconventional, listing a home exclusively has its benefits. For example, if a home isn’t ready to be listed on the MLS just yet, listing it exclusively first helps create a buzz in the broker community.