Are you selling your house?
WELL, I am! And that comes with a lot of expectations!
I have been there so many times. I have bought and sold so many houses in the past 3 decades.
I love Real Estate and it is one of my passions.
I bought many houses for our family and sold just as many. I was involved in all the decision-making. After the first one, it was a given, I became in charge of all our family’s real estate transactions.
I also flipped 3 houses between 2007-2009. Loved every minute of it, no word of a lie… I also managed a lot of renovation projects in our family homes.
The first big project was in Calgary. And my husband was entirely in charge of this one.
We bought a nice old house (640 sq ft) in the trendy Kensington area NW Calgary. My husband built a full basement. Everyone knows that a home needs a solid foundation. It was an incredible project and our house was actually on stilts for about 4 weeks. I was 7 months pregnant with my 3rd child. What a ride that was!
Sold it 8 years later. By then I had been involved in a few real estate transactions.
Moving years ahead and many projects behind, I am selling another home, a favourite one, for sure.
With my heart and soul into it, I am going to turn a page, and close another door.
So what is my first expectation?
Sell the house as quickly as possible before I change my mind, and I mean, before “we” change our minds!
what does it take?
A good market evaluation is the first step to help you make the right decision and figured out the listing price. DONE!
Get the numbers on the table, decide if you can live with it and take the next step. DONE!
If you decide to go ahead with the sale of your home, I would recommend opening a favourite bottle of wine, but that’s just me. AND that’s exactly what I did, this time around.
Then next day, I had a good look around my home and figure out what can go and what can stay.
I made a list.
Then again, few days later, I went through the house again. This time, had a good look at what should stay and what should go.
HOW DO YOU KNOW what needs to stay and what needs to go?
Well, the best place to start might be to ask your realtor for an honest opinion. Don’t get all worked up if he or she suggests things that you don’t agree with - painting, cleaning, decluttering, whatever. Just take one day at a time, consider what he or she said. You might be wise to follow some of his/her advice.
Having said that, you may need to open another favourite bottle of wine because by now you can probably see the “mountain” of work ahead of you. So wine it is! LOL!
Most realtors have a really good idea what potential buyers are looking for. They know because their business depends on it. Realtors spend most of their days in and out of houses with their clients. That’s how they develop that sense of knowing what usually turns people on or off.
I am not going to tell you that I know for sure where to start and what would be the most important thing on the list. I think it depends on what’s really important to you, in particular.
For me, you might have guessed already, it has to scream CLEAN… the moment I open the front door!
And that’s the first C; the second C is for CLUTTER, and I don’t mean 40 boxes nicely organized in a specific room or lined up on a back wall. That shows organization, nothing wrong with that in my book. Nope!
YOU all know what I mean by “clutter”. We‘ve all been there!
Before or after a move, during a pregnancy, during emotional times, break ups, sickness, working outside the family home, having to look after an extended family member, the list goes on and on, I’ve been there and every year I find myself there again. But that’s for another blog (hehehe)!
Now, after the first 2 minutes walking into a home, (not far from the front door), most people would already be paying attention to the colours, the condition of the walls, the baseboards, the doors, the windows, the trims and let’s hope there is no foul smell.
Smell is a big deal and can be such a turn off for me. Animals can ruin it sometimes (well, mainly their owners). So pay attention to the smell in your home - even plugged in air freshener can be a turn off!
The rest is history. We like it or we don’t, we get nosy, we check everything, opening, closing, pulling, prying and the list goes to what happens next. Everything gets exposed, there are NO secrets anymore!
So, I got my personal stuff out of the way and hidden. It’s the name of the game, I call it “Get Real in my Estate”.
-France, Owner of Domestic Goddess Housekeeping
Comments in French:
J'ai parcouru ton blog#4 sur la vente de ta maison et de tes expériences du domaine. J'ai apprécié te lire cela m'a fait voir que tu as mis par écrit les étapes à suivre afin de bien réussir la vente d'une maison. Pour ma part j'ai aussi vendu plusieurs maisons. En te lissant j'ai compris toutes les étapes à franchir afin de bien réussir la vente de maison que j'avais pour la plupart utiliser sans vraiment le réaliser. Ce qui m'a le plus accroché c'est lorsque tu parles des services de l'agent immobilier. J'ai souvent croisé des gens qui font l'erreur de négliger cet aspect. Tout le temps que cela nous fait économiser en organisons les rencontres avec les clients et faire les visites, répondre aux questions et j'en passe. En plus comme tu as mentionné leur expertisent avec la clientèle n'est pas à négliger.
-Ton amie Angélina
I read your blog # 4 on the sale of your house and your experiences in the field. Reading that made me realize that you have written down the steps to follow in order to successfully sell your house. Something we do without realizing the step to be taken.
For my part I also sold several houses of my own. What hooked me the most is when you talk about real estate agent services. I have often come across people who neglect this aspect. All the time that this saves us by organizing meeting with clients and visits also answer questions and so on. In addition, as you mentioned , their customer expertise should not be neglected.
-Ton amie Angélina
Comments in Filipino:
Mahilig akong magbasa ng mga istoryang naglalahad ng mga impormasyon tungkol sa Negosyo. Ako ay naaliw sa iyong pahayag at matinding sumasang-ayon rito. Mayroon akong napanuod na propesyunal na nagbebenta ng bahay at isiniwalat niya na mas magandang bumili ng lumang bahay dahil ito ay malaki at mas mura. Pagkatapos ay tsaka na lamang ito pagandahin upang matirhan o para ibenta.
Ang pagbebenta ng sariling bahay at lupa ay isa sa mga pinaka mahirap na desisyon para sa akin dahil marami ka ng mga nagawang magagandang memorya dito. Higit pa roon, madami ka na din naipundar na mga bagay upang mapaganda ito. Sa kabilang banda, may mga hindi mo inaasahang pangyayari sa hinaharap na pwedeng maging rason sa pagbenta ng iyong tahanan.
Ang pagbili at pagbenta ng bahay at lupa ay dapat pag isipan ng mabuti dahil kapag ikaw ay nakapag desisyon na ng panghuli, mahirap na itong baguhin. Isa din ito sa magiging mahabang usapan ng iyong pamilya kung dapat ba itong gawin o hindi. Marapat lamang na timbangin lahat ng opinion ng bawat isang miyembro ng pamilya.
-Sheara De La Cruz, Ft McMurray, Originally from the Philippines
I like to read stories that present information about business. I am pleased with your statement and strongly agree with it. I have seen a professional selling a house and he revealed that it is better to buy an old house because it is bigger and cheaper. Then just beautify it to live in or to sell.
Selling your own home and land is one of the most difficult decisions for me because you have a lot of good memories made here. More than that, you have also invested a lot of things to make it better. On the other hand, there are unexpected events in the future that could be the reason for selling your home.
Buying and selling a home and land should be carefully considered because once you have made the final decision, it will be difficult to change it. It will also be one of the longest discussions of your family whether it should be done or not. It is only right to weigh all the opinions of each family member.
-Sheara De La Cruz, Ft McMurray, Originally from the Philippines
Comments in Spanish:
Waaah! France, your house is so beautiful! I love the scenery…on the front the sunrise and in the back the sunset…it is dreamy. How many memories in those walls!!
I love the phrase move on…” give a lovely kiss, thank you and goodbye” and then open the door to new adventures.
Thank you for your “C’s” - Clean & Clutter, that and the smell are most important for me. I am sure your house will be a home for a happy family pretty soon.
France, tu casa es muy bella, me encanta el paisaje amanecer al frente y atardecen en el patio....es un sueño.
Esa etapa de cambio me fascina..." dale un besito tierno, unas gracias sinceras y un adios" y luego abres las puertas a nuevas oportunidades. Gracias por los consejos super-claves: limpio, descongestionado y sin olores.
Estoy segura de que tu casa se va a vender pronto y una familia será muy feliz en ese bello hogar.
-Lily Beltran, Ft. McMurray, Originally from Colombia
More comments in English:
Sounds like you are a pro already. As a realtor who has been in the industry since 2006 I have to say that you made some great points. A market evaluation is critical because the general public does not realize how important it is to look at all the statistics in coming up with the price you should sell your home for.
All a seller sees is how much the guy down the road is asking. They don't take into account that he hasn't sold yet. You can ask whatever you want but if it isn't selling then it isn't doing you much good! You also mentioned getting your home ready for sale. That is so critical.
Declutter, declutter, declutter! Staging and painting are also a great investment because it will make the difference in how fast you sell and help buyers see the value in your home.
But you are absolutely right, even after doing all this, if your house smells it will turn people off! Get rid of the smells, and if you can't then ask your realtor what you should do. There are ways to get rid of all sorts of smells and they will point you in the right direction.
-Krystal Smith, eXP Realty, Edmonton, Alberta