Selling Your Home

Decide when to sell:

In real estate, timing can influence your home’s selling price. Factors like how quickly you need to sell, whether it’s a buyers or sellers market and seasonality all play a role in your home’s final selling price.

Determine your home’s asking price:

The right asking price will attract buyers and pay you a maximum return. Setting too low a price means you could miss out on thousands of dollars. Setting too high a price will scare away buyers. Your goal is to find fair market value.

The importance of working with a REALTOR®:

• Consult with you to clarify your needs, expectations and priorities.
• Advise you and suggest any changes you might wish to make in your home is in order to ensure it is even more appealing to the Buyer and also how to prepare your home for showings.
• Negotiate on your behalf for top dollar
• Assist in all aspects of the sale including offering information on home inspections, mortgage contacts and lawyer closing procedures.
• Access to important documents sometimes difficult to retrieve without a licence.

Preparing your home for sale:

General Maintenance Curb Appeal

• Oil squeaky doors Cut lawns
• Tighten doorknobs Trim shrubs and lawns
• Replace burned out lights Weed and edge gardens
• Clean and repair windows Pick up any litter
• Tough up chipped paint Clear walk and driveway of leaves
• Repair cracked plaster Repair gutters and eaves
• Repair leaking taps and toilets Touch up exterior paint

Spic and Span The Buying Atmosphere

• Shampoo carpets Be absent during showings
• Clean washer and dryer and tubs Turn on all the lights
• Clean furnace Light fireplace
• Clean fridge and stove Open drapes in the day time
• Clean and freshen bathrooms Play quiet background music
• Keep pets outside

The First Impression

• Clean and tidy entrance The Spacious Look
• Functional doorbell Clear stairs and halls
• Polish door hardware Store excess furniture
• Clear counters and stove
• Make closets neat and tidy

Set the Stage:

Appointments and Open Houses

BE NEAT – If you desire the optimum dollar for your home then your home must sparkle. Have you ever entered into a home where the beds were unmade, toys and clothes were strewn about, the garbage was overflowing on to the floor, and last night’s fish dinner was still evident in the air? Did you feel that this home was neglected? Probably. Would you be prepared to write a full price offer on this home? Not likely. The old axiom, “cleanliness is next to Godliness” couldn’t apply more.

BE OBLIGING – Once you have listed your home, keep it readied as best as you can. Make the beds and d the dishes before you go out. Realtors do try to give homeowners a reasonable period of time to prepare their home for viewings but sometimes this is not always possible. There will always be someone that will want to view it on the spur of the moment. It is best to try to accommodate clients because you do want as many buyers to view your home as possible. More buyers equate to more offers and higher prices. If you make your home difficult to show, especially in a Buyer’s market, some Realtors will not bother showing it. After all, you have lots of competition. Out-of-town buyers are sometimes unable to come back at a different time. Where at all possible, try to be obliging.

ODORS – Use air fresheners or potpourri in closets, bathrooms and the kitchen or where needed to remove cooking, musty or pet smells. Strong offensive odors in a home dissuade many a buyer from purchasing. Coffee brewing or cinnamon sticks on the stove are delightful camouflage.

MUSIC – Very soft background music can be pleasing. Be careful that you do not drown out the Realtors and the buyer’s conversation. Even Beethoven can be annoying if played too loudly.

LIT FIREPLACES – provide for a warm and friendly atmosphere in any home. If the weather is cold, snowy or wet, this extra touch is most pleasurable.

HEAT – Keep your home at a comfortable temperature even when you are at work. Buyers do not wish to linger in a frigid house. If you have air conditioning and the weather is warm and sultry, have it operating.

Lara Regan
Prudential Sussex Realty
My experience in real estate, combined with my outstanding negotiation skills and a thorough knowledge of the local Vancouver real estate market, enables me to offer you the highest caliber of advocacy, guidance and assistance.
www.lararegan.ca

 

Generating a List of Assets for the Estate

When someone dies they are deemed to have sold all of their assets at fair market value immediately before death. So, the big question is, what did they own, and what are the values? Answering this question is one of the first big tasks in settling an estate… generating a list of assets and liabilities, as of the date of death (ie. Balance Sheet). The contents of the balance sheet will be used by the person preparing the probate forms, either the executor or their lawyer.

Generating a list of assets can be very easy in many estates, but very complex and frustrating in other estates. Firstly, is there a will? If there is, then the bank will likely share information with you, such as account numbers and balances. But if there’s no will then most companies will refuse to provide any information due to privacy concerns. Write letters to any banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, service providers, pension offices… everyone who the deceased did business with. Ask them for account numbers, values and any other details you can think of, with respect to the assets (possibly) owned and debts owing.

Most people are helpful, but sometimes you’ll hit a dead end, in which case you’ll have to dig deeper. Search through the deceased’s home. Look in filing cabinets, desks, closets, boxes, drawers. Speak with their lawyer, accountant, financial planner, relatives, friends. Contact any and all companies whose documents you find. And if you ask yourself, “Should I bother contacting this company?”, my answer would be, “For the price of a stamp, why wouldn’t you”.

Seek whatever help you may need to establish market values, such as professional appraisals for jewellery, antiques, real estate and companies. Calculate interest earned up to the date of death on financial investments such as bonds and GIC’s. Research those stock certificates you found in the safety deposit box. The company may have changed its name or been sold.

The CPP Death Benefit as well as the final pension cheques need to be shown as assets, even if they haven’t arrived yet. And then there’s the assets that can easily get overlooked, such as the damage deposit from the apartment rental, or the trust/comfort account at the care home. The condo or timeshare in Florida needs to be shown. Insurance policies where there is no named beneficiary must also be included, because the estate will be the beneficiary.

You do not need to include joint bank accounts where there’s a right of survivorship, or real estate owned in joint tenancy, because the surviving owner simply continues to own them.

Now that you have your list of assets & liabilities, what’s next? In most cases, filing for probate.

Gregg Medwid is the owner and president of Executor Support, a firm based in Coquitlam, British Columbia, with expertise assisting executors and administrators in settling estates. The project management expertise and customer service focus Medwid brings to Executor Support ensures questions are answered and help is given when it is most needed.

This article is in no way intended to substitute for competent legal advice.

Gregg Medwid, Owner
Executor Support
gregg@executorsupport.ca
604-999-2106
http://www.ExecutorSupport.ca

Selling the Family Home

So many emotions can occur when deciding to sell the family home. Folks, this is not your typical “real estate transaction”. Having to consider all the things that a family has gone through over the years from learning to talk and walk, to their first dance and job in high school to watching your children go off to university or move into their first apartment. So, where do you start when it’s time to downsize?

First consider what’s coming with you? How much of your history and household furniture do you really need? It’s important to retain items that are close to your heart but be excited about your next stage in your new environment. Is it a piece of furniture or possibly just the family albums that need to come with you?

Think about whether you will be participating in community activities or possibly travelling more in this next stage of life. This will directly affect the decision to either purchase a smaller house or is best to look at a strata situation so you can feel safe to leave your place unattended while away.

These decisions should not be rushed. Time spent going through items and searching for your next home is very important and exciting.

That’s why working with people that can offer assistance in the process, gauge that all is on track and emotions are intact, is so important.  If you have experience dealing with selling your family home or perhaps starting the process of buying one, share with us your experience and questions.  Simply drop a comment in the box below.

Lara Regan
www.lararegan.ca

My experience in real estate, combined with my outstanding negotiation skills and a thorough knowledge of the local Vancouver real estate market, enables me to offer you the highest caliber of advocacy, guidance and assistance.

I listen closely to my Buyers and Sellers and translate their needs and desires into an effective, practical system designed to achieve these unique goals. My sharp analytical ability is balanced with a warm sense of humour and a down-to-earth approach.

My clients get the best of both worlds – I am pleasant and accommodating, while remaining results-oriented and thorough.