Sell your home fast

By Gail Vaz-Oxlade on April 30, 2013
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Avoid these seller mistakes to ensure your property is sold as quickly as possible.

While homes in big cities may sell quickly, outside major centres homes can sit on the market for months and months. Sometimes it’s a slow market. Sometimes it’s silly mistakes made by sellers. Whether you are selling in the city or hoping to move your rural property into new hands, don’t make these mistakes: Overpricing You may have put a lot of love and a lot of money, into your home, but buyers don’t care. They aren’t comparing the home before you loved it with the one you’re selling now; they’re comparing your home to all the other options on the market. If you start off too high, you’ll stop all the people who might be interested from even looking at what you’ve got. Limiting showings Really? You’re trying to sell your home but you’re not making it available when buyers want to see it? While it might be a major pain in the ass being on call for showings at the drop of a text, if you want that puppy gone, you’ll have to make it easy for buyers to see it. Failing to prepare Would you want to buy a home that was full of clutter, needed repairs or had a front yard that had run to weeds? The guy who you’re trying to convince doesn’t either. Rumour has it that it takes only about 60 seconds for a prospective buyer to form an opinion about a home. I know that of the four homes I’ve bought, I knew it was “the one” within minutes of walking in the door. Clean out the crap, tidy up the cupboards and the garage, stash your excess stuff in a friend’s basement until the home sells. And make sure the place smells wonderful. (You’ll benefit from that too.) Becoming offended A low-ball offer hasn’t been made to offend you, it’s the buyer’s signal that the negotiation is going to be a rollercoaster ride. Buckle up, but keep smiling. Letting your emotions get in the way of a deal is immature. This is a business deal, treat it as such. Thwarting inspections If you’re afraid of what an inspection might turn up, rather than get in the way of the inspection process, hire your own inspector to highlight what you need to fix. If you aren’t prepared to replace the 34-year-old furnace or 15-year-old roof, be prepared for the buyer to negotiate the cost of a new one off your sales price.