Real Estate can be nerve wracking if you let it. I see why some Agents have chosen to be Buyer's Agent or a Listing Agent with a Team, it's a way of streamlining your workday.
However, I feel I can be more effective to my clients because of my personality to do both.
Listings are a game of numbers, what sold in the area plus the currently active listings play a role in determining the subject properties value, but it's not the only factor. Clients are craving education in this area, I like taking the time to really understand their viewpoint with their home and meshing the two together.
Buyers need a Buyer's Agent. Period. It's a dangerous game to simply not have an Agent working with you on a deal. Would you go to court and stand before a Judge and Jury without a Lawyer? Would you purchase a brand new car without speaking to the Sales staff even once? Yet I see it over and over where a Buyer works without representation. The key factor here for Buyers is that the Seller pays the Buyer Agent's commission from the sale of the house, so why wouldn't you have an Agent on your side of the table?
"Bidding wars"; "Hold all offers until this certain date and time". These are selling tactics, used to create a buzz around the home knowing full well that it's been priced below the current market's expectations for a property in that area, that standard type of home and it's features. Caution is advised regarding overpaying for a house because of a bidding war you chose to get involved in. You may get a nasty shock if you require the Bank to mortgage the property and it falls short on the appraisal value. The Bank under no uncertain terms will inform the Buyer that they have to come up with the shortfall and remember you're in a legally binding contract and probably as part of the 'war' ended up removing such clauses as Conditional upon Finance from your Offer. Oops. You're stuck my friend.
Home Staging prior to Listing the home for sale. This is HUGE!! Ask your listing Agent if they will assist you in staging the home or at the very least offer up some tips and tricks. Be prepared to part with a lot of your favourite knickknacks. I liken it to when you're walking around a furniture store looking at the furniture vignettes. The visual merchandisers have made it easy for you to envision this arrangement of a sofa, love seat, chair, end tables, coffee table and maybe lamps and a centerpiece on the coffee table fitting into your home or for that matter any home as you're not their only customer today, tomorrow, this week maybe even this year!! Staging works to sell furniture in groups and it works to sell the home. Your moving, get some boxes and decide what is going with you, what is going into a Garage Sale and what is going to Charity.
To renovate or not to renovate this is the question. Price everything out right down to the knobs for the kitchen cabinets or the grout for the tile in the bathroom to make sure you're not going overboard. If you do end up renovating go neutral in the choice of decor. This is not the time for loud busy patterns, red hot paint on the walls in the kitchen or leopard wallpaper in the bathroom. Clean and bright, even choose white you can never go wrong with a white kitchen or bathroom and a nice accent colour of a vase on the table or flowers in the bathroom on the vanity.
If you need assistance call someone and call them early in the planning stages. Don't close the barn doors after the horse is GONE......
Madam E
(all opinions are my own)
Excellent
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