Toronto Condo and Real Estate Blog

You are not hiring a realtor to put a sign on the lawn, an ad in the paper, and hold an open house - you can do this yourself. You are hiring a realtor to provide you with maximum exposure to the greatest number of qualified buyers for your home.

Supply and Demand

We are sure you’ve heard of supply and demand, right? The more potential buyers that can be supplied, the higher a price you can demand.

The absolute number one tip we can give you to help you get the most money possible for your home is this: make sure you get full Multiple Listing Service (MLS) coverage.

Don’t look at any offers until you are sure your home is on the MLS system. Again, just to be sure - don’t look at any offers until you are sure your home is listed on MLS. This gets your property in front of every real estate agent in your area. An army of realtors at your disposal just can’t be beat.

Dump any realtor that tries to tell you to list your house exclusively (only his/her company) or wants you to negotiate offers before it gets on MLS. Dump any realtor that wants to list your house on a Friday and have a public open house the following Sunday. There is not enough time to get your home on the system.

We do not care how good a realtor’s marketing plan is (or appears to be), it is worthless compared to the value of having your home on the MLS system. Think of it this way: realtor = home on MLS = more realtors = more buyers = more money.

Is the first offer the best offer?

There is a saying in real estate. The first offer is usually the best one. This is only true if everyone knows it’s for sale. We have had many situations where the first offer IS the best offer, but there have been instances where that was not true. In fact, when we have sold our own properties, the first offer was never the best. But different situations have different outcomes.

MLS Comes First

Ask any realtor you are contemplating dealing with what the order of their marketing plan is. If submitting to the Multiple Listing Service is not the first thing they are going to do, look for another realtor. Ads and signs and open houses are nice, they make you feel that your real estate agent is DOING something for you… but that is not always the case.

Most people who call on ads end up buying a different property, experience has shown this to be true. And to be honest (our fellow realtors are going to kill us for this one), signs and open houses mainly generate leads for the listing real estate agent. Most people who call on signs usually cannot afford the property they call on. Same with open houses, everyone who comes through leaves with your agent’s card, generally buying someone else’s house afterwards.

If you took away every selling tool we have and said we could only have one of them back - we would choose the MLS service. Seriously. This is not a commercial for MLS. It is just the best weapon realtors and the public have for getting maximum exposure on a property.

If you are selling a property, listing with a realtor who uses the MLS service means your property gets maximum marketing exposure to all other members of the local Board. You’ll have realtors everywhere trying to find a buyer for your property.

And with all those realtors working for you, how can you lose?

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

Many sellers consider selling their homes privately rather than listing with a traditional real estate agent. It has been estimated that private sellers account for up to 20% of the total resale home market. However, statistically MLS listings get 8-12% more cash return on the sale of their property. Some American studies have shown the difference to be as high as 16%!
The obvious reason for a seller to sell privately is to save the cost of real estate commissions that can be as high as 5% of the selling price of a home. Often private sellers (commonly referred to as For Sale By Owner or FSBO) offer commissions to real estate agents working with buyers to encourage these real estate agents to show their homes.

For Sale By Owner properties do not have the benefit of exposure on the local real estate board Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or on the real estate industry internet websites like mls.ca and realtor.com. A private seller can only expose their home for sale to potential buyers by newspaper advertising and marketing efforts which are extremely costly. Hundreds and even thousands of dollars can be expended without ever coming close to the exposure that a home for sale receives when listed on MLS.

Private sellers do not receive any assistance that a real estate agent could provide including coordination of the process and any ongoing advice.

A seller cannot not have their home listed on MLS without engaging the services of a real estate agent. Many potential private sellers end up listing their home with a real estate agent to simply ensure MLS exposure.

The choice is of course, up to you. But consider the commission of your sale price - take your asking price and multiply it by 5%. That is your average commission going to be split by the selling and listing agents and their brokerages. Now start calling to see how much it costs to advertise in local papers, major papers and any other marketing costs. Think about the personal time you’ll need to devote to this if you sell on your own. Consider the fact that most buyers of FSBO homes are in fact “looking for a deal” and investors that usually know what they are doing and are good negotiators. Do you need that headache?

If you choose that you can handle it then, more power to you and I wish you the best of luck. If you realize that this may be too much for you, then please give us a call and we’ll give you a free market evaluation and then we’ll list it on MLS.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

The market ultimately determines the true value of your property.

Before you compare your home to similar properties and establish a competitive list price, the following points should be considered:

1. Location
2. Size
3. Style
4. Condition
5. Community Amenities
6. Buyer Supply
7. Financing Options

Getting to Know Your Market

A comparative market analysis is an indicator of what today’s buyers are willing to pay for a home. It compares the market activity of homes similar to yours in your neighborhood. Those that have recently sold represent what buyers are willing to pay. The homes currently listed for sale represent the price sellers hope to obtain. And those listings that have expired were generally overpriced or poorly marketed.

We, as Right At Home Realty real estate professionals, will prepare a comparative market analysis for your home based on the most current market information. Together we will establish the proper list price for your home.

Reasons for Over Pricing

1. You’ve spent $$$ in extensive renovations.
2. You found that there were hidden costs when you moved in and found that it was too much to carry.
3. You desire to purchase a new home in a higher-priced area.
4. Original cost of home was too high and now you are trying to recoup some of the extra you spend.
5. You are lacking real market information - you need the proper facts.
6. Many sellers build in “bargaining room” for when they actually get the offer.
7. Perceived emotional value - your children were born there, etc - it means so much to you but the problem is that buyers don’t see that. In their eyes it’s a house to buy, without emotional strings - yet.

The Sad Results of Overpricing

Many sellers believe that if they price their home high initially, they can lower it later. But it may be too late at that point. Often, when a home is priced too high, it experiences little activity. Gradually the price will come down to market value, but by that time it’s been for sale too long and some buyers will be wary and reject the property.

On occasion, the price is dropped below the market value because the seller runs out of time. The property sells for less than it’s market worth.

YOU CAN MISS THE RIGHT BUYER!

You may think that interested buyers “can always make an offer,” but if the home is overpriced, potential buyers looking in a lower price range will never see it.

Those who can afford a home at your asking price will soon recognize that they can get a better value elsewhere.

The Importance of Early Activity

As soon as a home comes on the market, there is a flurry of activity surrounding it. This is a crucial time when real estate professionals and potential buyers sit up and take notice.

If the home is overpriced, it doesn’t take long for interested parties to lose interest. By the time the price drops, a majority of buyers are lost.

It’s important to really think it over and be reasonable when you list your home for sale. Of course you want the best price for your house, who doesn’t? The best way to get that is to price your home at market value. Or, another excellent idea is to list just a bit below market value which usually brings in multiple offers and then the final sale price is often over the asking price.

We hope this is a bit of helpful information for you in your expanding knowledge of home selling. Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions or are ready to embark on your home selling journey!

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960