Marketing; you got to let prospective buyers know the best parts about living in this home.  But the real drive to buy comes from lifestyle not the stuff, no one buys hardwood floors, they buy easy clean up, good-looking, nice to brag about floors that happen to be made of hard wood.

I like to start with who is going to buy this home, (probably someone a lot like you were when you bought this home) then tell that person a story about what their lives will look like living in this home.

Eg #1: 3 Bed 1.5bth Town in Morgans Grant, Minto 5th Ave, 1800+ sq ft w/ HrdWd Flr, Upgraded Kit, S/S appl, Granite, custom cabinets, Open Lr/Dr and Fin Basement.

Eg #2: The family is growing, it’s time to live in a community where the park is a street away & schools down the road. Open Concept living space with finished basement. 

You need to speak in your marketing to the people who will buy the home, this is where they want to live and this is why they want to live there.

This room is empty. All the furniture, plants, carpets and rugs were added virtually to showcase what this vacant condo could look like.

Condition; TV has ruined it, selling “As Is” simple tells the buyers you are not serious about selling your home.  In the era of 1 hour redesigned, staging shows galore, and nearby model homes from the builder your home needs to be perfect.

This is not easy, it’s hard work to clean, declutter, paint, ect.  the home, but how much work would you have to do to make a few extra thousand dollars?

Price; is the easiest aspect of the sale to control.  Your price is how the buyers determine value, is your price with your location, and your condition worth what you are asking or is your neighbour a better value for the same price, or a higher price but offering a better value.

The hard part is often determining what is affecting value; one example I often refer to is a property once listed in Riverside South.  It was priced right on, an end unit on a premium lot listed for a few thousand dollars less than the most recent sale and a better price that the only other property on the market…3 weeks later and a dozen showings there was still no offer?

When I was called in to consult on this property I asked the question, what can I buy for the same money?  Nothing, there is only one other property and it’s listed higher than ours, and ours is better….unless you looked in Barrhaven.  When I pulled up a dozen comparable properties, including 3 that had sold in the last 3 weeks, just across the river in Barrhaven, a suburb that had better transit, better shopping, better access to the highways it was clear we had to adjust either the price, to make the property more valuable, or the marketing to target buyers who would not consider Barrhaven over Riverside South.  In the end the seller chose price because it was the easier option and the property sold a week later, before any of the competition in Barrhaven.

Hope this helps you understand real estate a little better.

As always if you have any real estate questions ask them below, or contact us directly at 613-788-2113