​In a sellers’ market, there is always the temptation to push the envelope on pricing; to price slightly above the market and set a record price for your home and the neighbourhood. 

However, pricing your home above market value will decrease the number of showings your home gets when it hits the market—and the key to getting multiple offers on your home is having multiple showings.

When you price your home slightly lower, it can often create a frenzy among buyers and drive up the price. 

Have you ever watched an auction? It's like that, where everyone wants to acquire the home for a bargain, but the demand and attention it gets from other buyers increases the resulting sale price and maybe sets a record price for your neighbourhood. 

This doesn't mean you have to give away the farm. When looking at recent solds for your neighbourhood, it’s best to list your home as a slight discount—not at a slight premium—to attract the most buyers' attention.

In Real Estate, they say Location! Location! Location! But as a seller looking to maximize your sale price, the phrase should be Preparation! Preparation! Preparation!

You're not trying to create a situation in which your home barely edges out the listing down the street in the hearts and minds of your target buyer. If you want multiple offers, you need multiple buyers to fall deeply in love with your home—enough to bid above the list price and enough to compete with others for it.  

And this work starts weeks before you hit the market.

To generate multiple offers, prepare your home by ensuring it is: 

• Cleaned (inside and out): closets, basements, garages and crawl spaces.
• Landscaped: buyers can rule out properties in less than 8 seconds, highlighting why curb appeal is so important.
• Decluttered: reduce closets and cupboards by 50%
• Staged: this includes fresh paint, carpet, countertops and other things that need replacing. 
• In perfect working order: pre-list is the time to take care of all those general maintenance items you have been putting off for years

​And get ready to sing your homes’ praises. If you've done any major home improvements or replaced any appliances or systems lately, market that! Show off how immaculate, adorable and move-in ready your home is now—and tout its great working condition for the long run.

Have a plan to maximize your property’s exposure on the market. The first step is sharing your property BEFORE you list.

‘Coming Soon’ messaging can double your marketing exposure and have buyers lining up the day it lists.

Coming soon or pre-list marketing could include a “for sale sign” with a coming soon rider, a social media teaser campaign or direct mail to your neighbours since they already know how great it is to live on your street.  

With effective pre-list marketing, you can start racking up the showing requests even before you hit the MLS.

Pro tip: Host an agent pre-view the day before you hit the market. Agents love the opportunity to share off-market properties with their clients so an agent pre-view can help generate that buzz you’re looking for. 

If you’re thinking of listing your property and you aren’t sure if right now is the best time, I’d love to chat about some things you can do to prepare your home for listing.

I’ve talked about how to take advantage of the seller’s market to get the best price for your home, but what if you’re on the other side of the equation? Navigating a home purchase can be stressful on its own—but in a hot seller’s market, there’s even more to consider.

In a seller’s market, there are more people shopping for homes than there are listings for sale giving sellers the upper hand. A seller’s market is characterized by:

• Multiple offers, 
• Bidding wars, 
• Fewer days on market, 
• Increasing home prices. 

As a buyer, you need to be ready to move fast, negotiate generously, and prepare for rejection. Maybe more than once.

Having an agent working to support you makes the process easier, so here are my top tips for buyers looking to stay competitive in a seller’s market.
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In competitive offer situations, the first thing the listing agent wants to know is if the buyer is pre-approved.

​Being able to send in a pre-approval letter with your offer proves that you are serious and gives the sellers confidence that the deal won’t fall apart on financing down the road. 

While you’re at it, be sure to gather the income documents your lender requires (proof of income, proof of assets, and employment verification) in advance of submitting an offer.

In order to make your offer more competitive, you will want to shorten the condition deadlines as much as possible, which doesn’t leave much time to track down these documents after your offer is accepted.

I’ve talked about lending questions with Alex Lavender, Mortgage Broker previously and you can find out more about getting pre-approved here. 
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