Matt and I wanted you to know how pleased we were with the services you provided us relating to our home sale on Lancaster Drive in Red Deer. 

We found you to be both professional and knowledgeable.  You took the time to sit down with us and discuss our goals in terms of timing and finances.  Since we wanted to relocate out of the country quickly, our primary goal was to sell our house quickly for the highest price possible.  You prepared fantastic marketing materials which included photos of the house that really highlighted some of it's desireable features.  You showed us data about recent home sales and listings in our area that helped us decide on an asking price that would attract buyers.

After only two showings, we received an attractive offer which we accepted and the sale was completed 3 weeks later.  We really appreciated you staying involved throughout the entire process and making sure we were always updated with each step along the way.

We would definitely recommend you and your services to anyone in the Central Alberta area who is thinking of buying or selling a home.

Sincerely,

Everyone knows they have to de-clutter when selling their home. But has anyone defined what declutter means? Or how much it’s worth?

Honestly, when I look at some people’s houses, I think their main motivation is to buy another home is to get out of the mess they’re in – literally! Keep this in mind!

When buyers are looking at property, you need to show them as much space as you possibly can. That means lots of walking space as well as lots of storage space, and you need visual space most of all.

Solid, smooth services show best. Table tops, counter tops, stove tops, fridge tops, dressers, trunks, etc, all need to be as free of things sitting on top of them as possible. The cute little teddy bear sitting on the trunk at the end of your son’s bed visually gets in the way of what else might go there that belongs to the prospective Buyer. The smooth, uncluttered trunk top can actually portray the space far better than it does if something is sitting on top of it. Better still - if the room is not generously large, pack away the trunk and leave room for someone to walk past the bed without altering their path or stubbing a toe. It makes the room feel much larger.

The same goes with your coffee table in the family room. Make the top of it void of everything – don’t even place the nice tidy stack of magazines on top to show this is a comfortable place to sit and read. Prospective Buyers may simply see another pile of magazines that need to be recycled, or something that will land on the floor when her cat leaps on the table. Better to keep the table top smooth and void of props.

Forget the myth that empty houses don’t sell. They sure do. Often more readily than furnished houses. People actually tell me they prefer to look at empty houses because they can see where their furniture can be placed.

In storage closets, it’s much better to see smooth, solid sides of organized boxes than a lot of individual items ready to be packed away. It’s a visual thing. Remember – smooth solid surfaces are best.

Ok – so you’ve most often heard that Open Houses don’t work to sell a home, they only help the realtor find other contacts.

Well, I beg to differ. I, myself, have found buyers at Open Houses to buy the property at which I was hosting the Open house. So have other sales people I know.

The fact is, I haven’t met one person who walked into an Open House and said “ Hi. I’m wondering if there’s a realtor around here somewhere. I need to find one.” Joke? OK, so they really wouldn’t say that, BUT – they’ve come into the house to see if it is of interest for themselves or for someone they know. People have far too much going on to spend time browsing Open Houses aimlessly. Just like showing your home by appointment, the prospective buyer is going to be interested or not, but they won’t know that without having a look. Most people go through Open Houses because they truly are looking for property and an Open House offers them a “spur of the moment” opportunity with no scheduling necessary. It’s convenient. It’s just that simple.

And the proverbial nosey neighbour? Well – haven’t seen too much of him either. Trust me. People just don’t find each other all that intriguing that they can’t wait for an opportunity to get into your personal space without you knowing it. Besides, anyone who is motivated thus would probably rather keep his know-it-all opinion intact by not witnessing anything to the contrary, so he doesn’t show up.

Got a Realtor telling you Open Houses don’t work? That’s because they don’t want to do one.

So here’s the scoop – living in your home is personal.  Selling your home is a business.

Summed up – prepare your home for sale. This doesn’t mean remove your family photos.  People know people live in your house.  In fact, if a home looks impersonal it doesn’t feel as good as one that has obvious proof that real people live there now.

What the business of selling your home does mean is to understand what your market is looking for. Update colours and flooring if you want a quick sale.  Investigate cost and you can pretty much count on regaining that in price.  You might get the same price for your house that you thought you would, but this will reduce the chance of low-ball offers and will make others think the house is going to sell before they get a chance to buy it – because it’s already been updated.

Colours – these will follow trends and are easy to ascertain which ones work.  It really doesn’t matter if they are your favourites -  just follow the trends and you won’t go wrong.  Builders put a lot of money into professional counsel.  You can capitalize on this same advice by visiting Open Houses of new homes.

Floors – the same can be said for flooring, but another good thing to keep in mind is why different types of flooring is preferable. I hear clients comment all the time on liking laminate flooring over carpeting for allergy avoidance.  Laminate is also more environmentally friendly.  Cork and bamboo are also very popular today.  Cork can be harvested from trees without killing the tree and bamboo replaces itself faster than any other trees.

So, when you’re ready to sell, keep the business aspect of doing so in mind.  Don’t try to sell people on your style of decorating. Decorate to what trends are dictating they want.