It's a Buyer's Market!

When you are deciding on choosing a realtor you need to think about how that person will work for and with you. Choosing a realtor will help outline the dos and don'ts of choosing someone to help sell your property. For more information, click on the link above to read the entire article, or check out Realtylink.org for more information.

The third thing you need to make sure of is that your property is well presented to the public. Once your property is listed in the MLS listings it is available to the public. The majority of people who are searching for properties begin doing so online. It is imperative that your property be well presented in your listing photos as these are what prospective buyers see first.

There are a number of ways to prepare your property for selling. Home maintenance is very important, especially regarding curb appeal. Make sure the entrance to your house is neat and tidy, grass trimmed, garden weeded, bushes neat, and perhaps some seasonal flowers in pots by the door, or on the porch. Make certain any chipped or flaking paint is scraped off and touched up. Perhaps repaint your front door, maybe change dated hardware. You want to present a welcome to those who enter. If home maintenance is not your thing, then hire someone who can do the work for you. Click here for a google listing of local GVRD handymen.

Once prospective buyers are in the door, you have about 5 seconds to make a good first impression. But, as well as a good first impression, you want to provide an overall lasting impression, so when those buyers return to their homes at the end of a long day visiting Open Houses, yours is the property that stands out in their minds. There are a number of ways to prepare your home. One of the biggest is probably to make certain that you have cleared the clutter in your rooms.

Clutter Buster ideas include giving any children a plastic tub with a lid where they can select, and store, favourite toys, games, and possibly books, for the duration of the time the property is on the market. Then pack up everything else and either store it or give away what you can. Then, when you have a showing, all the items go back in the tub and it can either go in clutter free closets or be neatly placed in the bedroom. clutter

Another Clutter Buster idea is to pack/store away all out of season clothing. If it is spring, pack all winter clothing away and get it out of the closet, this way you increase the closet space visually and large closets appeal to buyers. In addition to personal seasonal clothing, pack away all out of season sports equipment. Winter sports typically take up a lot of space: hockey equipment, ski equipment, etc. In the Hall closet, have one coat per person and then have hangars for guests.

You need to know that prospective buyers will look in your closets; your linen closet needs to be tidy and fresh, your pantry needs to be clean and somewhat organized, your kitchen and bathroom cupboards should only hold necessary items. It is a good time to sort through all of that accumulated 'stuff' and either pass it on to someone who needs it more, or get rid of it.

Think of clearing away the clutter and sorting through cupboards and closets as the first steps toward packing for your move. In fact, you should think about packing up as much as possible and then possibly renting a storage locker until you do move, in this way, your home can then be truly Clutter Busted!

Does this sound like a lot of work? Then consider hiring a professional in your area to help you.

The Professional Organizers of Canada or POC should be able to put you in touch with someone in your area. Click here to find out more.

Does the mere idea of preparing your home for sale seem like a momentous task?

Consider having a Home Staging company come in to do a pre-staging consultation. You have several options when it comes to staging. You can have a Home Staging Professional do all the work for you, or, you can do some of the work yourself, or you can request a Home Staging Report and using the guidelines of the Home Staging Professional complete all of the work yourself.

Remember, your house is no longer your home once you have decided to sell. Your house becomes a product in the marketplace and you need to detach yourself from your house to prepare it to appeal to the broadest range of buyers. You can check out Casaguru to find Certified Home Staging Professionals in your area. Twiques: The Art of Home Comfortis listed for the Greater Vancouver area, so if we can help you prepare your home for selling, give us a call!