The Toronto spring market is known to be a wonderful time for sellers to put their house for sale, with a large number of buyers but also heavy competition with other home sellers. Homebuyers will have more options and can likely afford to be picky. They will notice if the home is not in pristine condition. With the spring market fast approaching, it’s smart to begin your preparations ahead of time.
Starting these little preparations early allows for a less stressful process when the snow starts to melt and the flowers start blooming. Please enjoy our tips and tricks to help you through this process.
Organizing your personal belongings and start decluttering
This is the hardest part for some homeowners; having to sort through their belongings and see what to keep and what can be thrown out. Starting this process now allows you to go through these items at your own pace and make wise decisions what to throw out.
Making repairs around the home
Fix anything in the home that is broken! Ensure all the lights fixtures and appliances are in working order.
Painting your home
Freshening up the paint can make a big difference, especially when using neutral colors, such as white. It may even be a good idea to spruce up your front door since this is the first thing a buyer will see when they walk in.
Making home improvements
This is of course optional; however, the smallest changes can make a big difference in the value of your home. Focus on making improvements on the bathrooms and the kitchen, consider changing the faucets, countertops, cabinet knobs or anything else you see fit. Additionally, improve your landscaping. Mow the lawn, prune the bushes, weed the garden and plant flowers.
Depersonalize your home
One of the last final stages of the home prepping process is to depersonalize, which means storing away all the family photos and other personal belongings. The buyer needs to imagine themselves living in your home and it will be harder to do that if they see your amazing family pictures!
Furthermore, when staging your home, it’s possible that some of your furniture needs to be moved out temporarily as well. Consider renting a storage unit in the city, there are many affordable units available and will allow buyers to see more of your home.
Clean, clean, clean!
The final step is to ensure your home shines. From the ceiling fan to the countertops and floors, clean your home thoroughly. Ensure to have your carpet professionally cleaned as it can hold odors (e.g. from your pet). This can be done during the final steps of your sale preparations and will definitely help during the staging process and the photography session.
Setting expectations
We can’t stress enough how important it is to know your expectations during the sale process. Please note that you want to accommodate as many buyers as possible with showings usually between 9-9pm, seven days a week. Ensure that your home is always in presentable and clean condition. The more showings you allow, the more likely it is to receive an offer.
One Group offers complimentary seller (and buyer) consultations along with professional staging and photography. We take calculated steps to make your experience as stress-free as possible.
Written by Fleur Boomsma