Selling a Condo in London Ontario
How To Sell Your Condo Apartment or Townhouse Condo in London Ontario For More Money.
Every apartment or townhouse owner I have ever met wants their condo to sell for as much as they can. That’s understandable, and it’s not luck that makes that happen; it’s applying proven strategies, marketing and experience that will encourage condo buyers in London to reach for their chequebook!
How to Get More Buyers to See Your Condo in London Ontario
Did You Know?
- 44% of the buyers who walked through a home viewed it online.
- 67% of the buyers who walked through a home viewed it online that had a virtual tour.
- 88.6% of the buyers who walked through a home viewed it online that had floor plans and a virtual tour
- 100% of all sales were between motivated buyers and sellers!
1. Disassociate Yourself.
- Say to yourself, “This is not my home; it is a condo– a product to be sold much like a new home builder will do it. It is bricks and mortar!
- Make the mental decision to “let go” of your emotions and focus on that soon; this condo will no longer be yours.
- Picture yourself handing over the keys and appliance warranties to the new owners!
- Say goodbye to every room.
- Don’t look backwards — look toward the future.
2. De-Personalize.
Pack up those personal photographs. Buyers can’t see past personal artifacts, and you don’t want them to be distracted. You want buyers to imagine their photos on the walls, and they can’t do that if yours are there! You don’t want to make any buyer ask, “I wonder what kind of people live in this home?” You want buyers to say, “I can see myself living here.”
3. De-Clutter!
People collect a tremendous quantity of stuff. Consider this: if you haven’t used it in over a year, you probably don’t need it.
- Why not donate it or throw it away if you don’t need it?
- Pack up those knickknacks.
- Clean off everything on kitchen counters.
- Put essential items used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.
- Think of this process as a head-start on the packing you will eventually need to do anyway.
4. Rearrange Bedroom Closets and Kitchen Cabinets.
Buyers love to snoop and will open closet and cabinet doors. Think of the message it sends if items fall out! Now imagine what a buyer believes about you if she sees everything organized. It says you probably take good care of the rest of the condo. This means:
- Alphabetize spice jars.
- Neatly stack dishes.
- Turn coffee cup handles facing the same way.
- Hang shirts together, buttoned and facing the same direction.
- Line up shoes.
5. Rent a Storage Unit.
Almost every condo shows better with less furniture. Remove pieces of furniture that block or hamper paths and walkways and put them in storage. Remove extra leaves from your dining room table to make the room appear larger. Leave just enough furniture in each room to showcase the room’s purpose and plenty of room to move around. You don’t want buyers scratching their heads and saying, “What is this room used for?”
6. Remove/Replace Favourite Items.
If you want to take window coverings, built-in appliances or fixtures with you, remove them now. If the chandelier in the dining room once belonged to your great-grandmother, take it down. If a buyer never sees it, she won’t want it. Once you tell a buyer she can’t have an item, she will covet it, which could blow your sale. Pack those items and replace them if necessary.
7. Make Minor Repairs.
- Replace cracked floor or counter tiles.
- Patch holes in walls.
- Fix leaky faucets.
- Fix doors that don’t close properly and kitchen drawers that jam.
- Consider painting your walls neutral colours, primarily if you have grown accustomed to purple or pink walls.
- (Don’t give buyers any reason to remember your condo as “the one with the orange bathroom.”)
- Replace burned-out light bulbs.
- If you’ve considered replacing a worn bedspread, do so now!
8. Make the Condo Sparkle!
- Wash windows inside and out. If you live in a high-rise apartment condo building, forget the part about washing the outside windows!
- If a townhouse or townhome condo, rent a pressure washer and spray down sidewalks and exterior.
- Remove cobwebs, even in the furnace or storage rooms.
- Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.
- Polish faucets and mirrors.
- Clean out the refrigerator.
- Vacuum daily.
- Wax floors.
- Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.
- Replace worn rugs.
- Hang up fresh towels.
- Clean and air out any musty-smelling areas. Odours are a no-no.
9. Scrutinize.
- Go outside and open your front door. Stand there. Do you want to go inside? Does the unit welcome you?
- Linger in the doorway of every single room and imagine how your condo will look to a buyer.
- Examine how furniture is arranged carefully and move pieces around until it makes sense.
- Make sure window coverings hang level.
- Tune in to the room’s statement and its emotional pull. Does it have impact and pizzazz?
- Does it look like nobody lives in your place? You’re almost finished.
10 . Understanding Price vs Time
Since the dawn of private property rights, the age-old buyers’ and sellers’ dilemma has been simple: What is the most critical; price or time? Believe it or not, this conundrum underlies and controls every seller’s decision to sell, and every buyer needs to complete a purchase.
For sellers, this boils down to the need to sell within a set time frame or instead to hold out for the best possible price, and as you might guess, for buyers, it’s the need to buy within a set time frame or to purchase a home for the lowest possible price.
So here is the secret to pricing your condo to sell in London Ontario– It’s not what you think the condo is worth; it’s what a reasonable buyer will think your condo is worth and willing to pay.
You may be thinking – Hey, wait, if I left it up to a buyer, they would pay me as little as possible for my condo in London Ontario. True, they would. But in the real world, every buyer knows that you, the seller, have no obligation to sell your condo at any price. To purchase your condo, the buyer will have to make you an offer you can’t or won’t refuse. One that will motivate you to pack, hire a local mover, wave goodbye and say sayonara.
Successful condo sellers understand that a Realtor’s responsibility is to provide marketing, expert advice, and negotiating services. Your Realtor does not own your property or make the final pricing decisions; you do, and ultimately your asking price will determine how quickly it sells and at what price.
Focus on the Major Key Issues & Be Realistic
The most common mistakes sellers (and some Realtors) make when choosing a price:
- Putting the property on the market at an unrealistic price, and the property must be priced on a comparative basis to other similar properties. (I should add that everyone thinks their home is different, but buyers and their agent doesn’t think so.)
- They are not cognizant of a seller’s market or a buyers’ market.
- Thinking that buyers aren’t comparing your place, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, with every other apartment or townhouse condo on the market
Many sellers will argue that their condo has an insurance replacement value, an appraised value, or a tax assessed value, but unless your insurance agent, your banker, or tax assessor is willing to write you a cheque for the condo – guess what? None of that matters. A condo without a buyer has no value in the marketplace. Sure, it might have value to you, the seller, and again, it might have value to your banker, your insurance agent, your Uncle Bob, your hairdresser, your friends at work, your drinking buddies or your bridge club or your appraiser. But none of these are buyers!
How Much Is Your Condo Worth in London, Ontario?
We’ve all seen the boring, plain, everyday marketing that offers free valuations without even seeing your home! Or “Free Home Valuation Reports” cards in our mailboxes or the dreaded cold call “I have a buyer who is interested in buying your condo.” A Comparative Market Analysis is a report supposed to provide an anticipated sales price or price range for the subject property.
Really?
How can anyone value your home accurately without physically seeing your place and doing the necessary two to three hours of research? Have you ever bought anything “at ” ballpark price’? or “general price range?” “The market price?” After advising & guiding hundreds of sellers to sell their homes over the years, every house or condo sold was a price we agreed on. Semantics aside, you deserve a price that many willing, qualified buyers will pay.
A comparative market analysis (CMA) is a process Realtors use to determine the market value by comparing it to similar properties that have recently been sold and those currently listed for sale. A CMA is a crucial tool for listing Realtors as they determine the price that a seller will list their house or condo for sale, and it’s also a tool for buyers agents advising their clients to make competitive offers. Conducting accurate, consistent CMAs isn’t easy. Most Realtors are not taught this skill in their pre-license real estate classes, so many enter the business without this vital skill or lack the patience to dedicate the time to learn how to price a home correctly, especially condos.
Action Gets Results, For The Results, You Need, Contact Ty or Michael Now!
