Remember ~ It’s all about ‘First Impressions’!
Selling your Muskoka cottage or home is an involved process that can affect your family and your future. Before you begin this process, you’ll want to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information. When should you sell? How do you get the best price? What do you need to do the make the property more marketable prior to it being listed?
First impressions are everything when it comes to selling a property. Some times it is difficult for a Realtor to even get their client out of the car to go inside and look if the first impressions is not a good one. Always remember that your if your property doesn’t have that curb appeal, it could lose you the sale. Paint the front door, put out a few nice flowers, rake the leaves, paint the trim…..it all makes a huge difference and at a nominal cost.
Pricing Your Property Too High
Don’t fall into the trap where you think that your property is worth more than your realtor has shown you through their market analysis of properties that have sold and are currently listed in the area similar to yours.
Some sellers believe that if the property is listed high, that it gives them the room to reduce it and still get what they are hoping for in a sale. That on many occasions works out negatively for the seller. Buyers and their realtors will view the property and then decide that it is priced too high which brings either no offers or low ones. If the property sits for sale too long and is reduced then the savvy buyer assumes that there is something wrong with the property and that’s why it isn’t selling so they take it off their list. There are even times that the seller winds up selling for less than market value because they have run out of time and are forced to sell.
Pricing a property well will initially bring a flurry of activity from both Realtors and Buyers and if the property is overpriced and then reduced you may have already lost those perspective buyers.
REMEMBER: Your neighbours cottage/home or one in your area will sell before yours if theirs is priced well and yours is overpriced.
Property Value
The value of your property is ultimately determined by the market. Before your property is listed there are some things to be considered; is the location desirable; how large is your lot and how much waterfront do you have; is the waterfront desirable; is the cottage or home in good condition; does the property have good access and is it year round or seasonal; how many properties similar to yours are currently listed for sale. These are all things that need to be taken into consideration.
A Few Tips
- Clean up the lot of litter and debris
- If there is a garage make sure it is clean and the garage door in good condition (i.e. clean and no peeling paint)
- Make sure the door to enter the cottage or home is in good condition and painted if necessary
- Touch up interior walls with paint if chipped and fill holes
- Make sure that the cottage has no stale odors
- Declutter so that countertops are neat and knickknacks have been removed from windows sills etc
- Tidy the closets and cupboards so that they look neat and spacious
- Replace all burnt out light bulbs
- Make sure that any faucets that leak are repaired
- Have carpets vacuumed and floors clean
- Put toilet seats down
- Put away personal effects so that buyers will come in and visualize themselves there and not you
- Keep the lawns mowed and whipper snipped if necessary
- If there is a basement, have a dehumidifier going, especially in the spring and summer months
- Paint those bedrooms that are reds, deep purples and pinks…you may love those colors but many buyers may not. Calm, earth or neutral colors are always best. Buyers can visualize themselves living there easier.
