SELLERS INFORMATION

Homes are quite often the largest investment a person will make in their lifetime. So when it comes time to sell a property, homeowners often face a multitude of challenging and time-consuming tasks that are inherent in the home selling process.

For instance, homeowners may ask themselves: "How do I determine how much my home is worth?"; "How do I make potential buyers aware of my property?"; "How do I negotiate the Offer to Purchase?" For these reasons and more, many homeowners choose to engage the services of a real estate agent to assist in the sale of their home. While every real estate agent brings their own unique style of marketing to the table, here are some of the basic services you can expect from your realtor®.

Determining Purchase Price

As a professional home seller, your real estate agent has access to up-to-the-minute data on average house prices for homes on your street, in your town and in Ontario as a whole. This includes details on the amenities of various properties as well as the list price and actual sale price of each. This property information is vital, especially in today’s busy market when posting an appropriate list price will help ensure your home is sold at a fair price and in a timely manner. Together, you and your agent can determine the value of your home based on current market conditions.

Marketing Your Property

Your realtor® will develop a marketing plan to promote your property to other realtor®s and to the public. Unless your home is an exclusive listing, he or she may list your home on the Multiple Listing System (MLS). The MLS is a computer catalogue of available homes, which is accessed by realtor®s in your region who represent potential home buyers. The MLS offers a standardized list of your home’s features, including the number of rooms, room dimensions, type of heating etc. Often, a photograph of your home accompanies the listing.

In today’s fast-paced real estate environment, your sales representative should be comfortable utilizing a variety of real estate tools when planning your marketing strategy. Your realtor® may recommend more traditional routes such as weekend open houses for realtor®s or the public and advertising in the newspaper, television or through direct mail campaigns. However, just as many leading-edge businesses today use technology to market their products, many realtor®s are using the Internet to promote properties and are doing so with tremendous success. Many potential home buyers enjoy visiting real estate web pages in the comfort and convenience of their home, and as a result this type of marketing tool is gaining widespread popularity with the public. Regardless of the technique proposed, be sure you understand the impact of each approach when promoting your home.

Negotiating the Offer

Your agent should maintain regular contact with you throughout the home selling process. Your realtor® should keep you apprised of the many different details involved in selling your home through the lifetime of the house sale or the course of the listing. For example, he or she can inform you of the number of potential home buyers or other realtor®s who have viewed your home and be able to supply you with feedback from each of them. This information is useful should you decide to amend your list price or marketing strategy.

And when the time eventually comes, your realtor® should assist you in negotiating the Offer to Purchase at the end of the sale process.

Remember, your home is one of your most important possessions, so be sure that the individual you choose to represent you can offer the time, enthusiasm, and professionalism to market your home to your satisfaction.