Choosing a Realtor:

With everyone knowing multiple Vancouver realtors there is no lack of choice when it comes to selecting a real estate agent to represent you.

Things that can set Vancouver real estate agents apart include, experience – particularly in the segment you are selling, education – the real estate licensing exam is not the most rigorous test of someone’s mental aptitude, peer referrals – with so much information available on the web you want to see what other members of the public have to say about the agent you are deciding on, marketing strategy – does the agent have a good plan and broad reach to get your home showing perfectly and in front of as many people as possible?

A good Vancouver Real Estate Agent will be able to help you with every step of the process from the very beginning, so it is good practice to make this selection as early as possible… the more help the better!

Pricing your Property:

Whether you are selling a house, a false creek condo, or a luxury penthouse a qualified Vancouver realtor will be able to provide you with all the information needed to set an appropriate list price.

• What is happening in our Housing Market today?
• Is what I am reading in the paper about the market reflective of my home?
• Is the condo market hot as well as the single-family market?
• What can I sell my home for?
• How fast can you sell my house?
• What if I find something I want to buy before my house is sold?

There are many questions and factors to consider when pricing your home: mls recently sold homes, market trends, home pricing index, inventory levels, time of year, how many MLS active listings are on the market, how much time do you have, and so much more.

With the help of your qualified realtor you can answer all the pertinent questions and review all the relevant information and come up your pricing strategy. There is definitely a science to determining our Real Estate prices.

Getting the Home Ready:

Getting the home ready for sale involves some hard work and some elbow grease. The items that give the largest return on investment when preparing the home include:

• De-Cluttering – Yes. The least favorite activity for Home Sellers. Look at it as a cleansing for your soul as well.
• Deep Cleaning – If you need help, let us know.
• De-Personalizing – Remove personal belongings. As realtors, we know buyers get distracted looking at your personal belongings and don’t focus on your home a hundred percent.
• Fixing anything that’s broken – That dripping faucet, burnt out light bulb etc needs to be fixed
• Staging/setting up the home – Staging for photos and staging for showings should be different (symmetry vs flow)
• Painting/touch-ups if needed – A fresh coat of paint goes a long way and always pays off in terms of your sale.

Showings/Open Houses:

Now that you have thousands of eyes on your Vancouver property’s beautiful photos via the mailouts, the web advertising & websites now you must show it in real life! creating the showing schedule with your realtor it is important as possible to be completely flexible and open especially during the 1^st couple weeks your home is on the market.

A Top  Realtor will be ready to take an incoming showing request at anytime.. being accessible and available should be a top priority when selecting your real estate agent. Have your home available to show on short notice as sometimes the 1^st calls you get from those keen buyers and their agents are the liveliest prospects.

It is good to ask your realtor who will be conducting the showings. If they operate a large team is a junior going to be showing your home?

Will they know how to showcase it properly?

Will they be able to answer specific questions and touch on the details that make your home fantastic?

Open Houses are also a good source of traffic.

Offer Presentation /Negotiations & Acceptance:

The offer presentation can be a very different process depending on what is happening in your specific market at any given time.

A condo or home  listed at a reasonable price is sure to receive multiple offers, and how that is handled is very different from the “more traditional” single offer.

In a multiple offer situation you are reviewing the offers received and comparing them on price, dates, subjects (if any), deposit, included items and a handful of other factors the will help dictate how you will formulate a response… handling this type of situation requires the utmost care and professionalism and you definitely want an experienced Vancouver Realtor in your corner to help.

In a multiple offer situation the seller holds all the cards as all of the potential home Buyers know that they must put their best foot forward if they want an opportunity to buy you home. In a single offer situation it generally involves more negotiating as the Buyer will not come to the table with their best offer (even if they say they are).

Negotiating the term of the offer is a skillful art.

Once the offer has been negotiated and all parties have agreed and signed off you now have an accepted offer!

Subject Condition Period /Subject Removal:

Once the offer has been accepted the Buyer will have a set amount of time (as negotiated in the offer) to work through their subject conditions. Depending on the type of property & the current market the subject conditions could include, the buyer receiving financing approval, the buyer obtaining a home inspection report, the buyer reviewing strata documents, the buyer scanning for an underground oil storage tank, subject to the buyer selling their current home etc… in some cases their may even be clauses to the sellers benefit for example subject to the seller clearing probate (when dealing with an estate sale).

It is important to fully understand what all these subjects mean to you and the possible sale of your property before you agree to them in the previous step of negotiating the offer.

If all goes well the Buyer will remove their subject conditions and it most instances this is when the deposit (roughly 5% of the purchase price in most cases) becomes due and is paid to the Buyers agent’s trust account (in most cases).

You now have a firm and binding offer and can tell the world your home is sold!