Top Tips For Listing This Spring

Spring Showers may bring May flowers, but they also bring an influx of new listings to the market. Thinking of listing this spring? I've gathered some of my top tips from local experts to maximize your sale price when the time comes. 

1. Getting a pre-inspection

Whether you’re selling or simply looking to maintain your purchase, Ed Pottie of Greener Inspections recommends doing a pre-inspection before you list so you can be aware of any issues that may pop up before a potential buyer does their own inspection. 

When I asked Ed what some common things that are found during pre-inspections, he told us:

1. Most people don't go into their attic so things like mould growth, minor water intrusion, etc. can go unnoticed until they become bigger issues. Issues like these can spook potential buyers, so make sure to pop your head up there a couple of times a year with a flashlight to make sure there aren’t any issues hiding up there. 
2. Another common thing would be general maintenance; whether it's annual maintenance on your furnace/boiler or cleaning your mini-split heat pumps, etc. These things often get pushed down our to-do lists, which will usually end up shortening the life span of these large items. Getting them checked out during a pre-inspection mean your buyer will know they’re coming to the end of their life during the showing and can factor that into their offer.

2. Invest in photograph

The influx of out-of-province buyers has changed the way Realtors list and show homes and tech tools have evolved to handle these changes. Tim Robichaud of Harbourtown Photography recommends incorporating Matterport video and drone photography into your listing marketing to assist in marketing to buyers who won’t be able to view your home in person. 

Matterport 3D Video home tours help potential buyers understand the layout of the home, better grasp the room sizes and even allow for buyers to take measurements. For buyers who are doing FaceTime/Zoom showings with their agents, this gives them a firm grasp on the size of the rooms and the layout of the home during the showing and offers the ability to revisit the layout after the showing has been completed.  

Drone photography offers potential buyers an understanding of your property and neighbourhood. When dealing with sprawling oceanfront properties or country lots, it's impossible to get a true sense of a property from the ground. Nothing gives you a truer picture of a property than a birds-eye view.

3. Stage your home for sale

In this hot seller’s market, home staging is one service that sometimes gets overlooked. Staging is about making your home visually appealing and welcoming to prospective buyers and in many homes, only minor tweaks or temporary adjustments are needed to make your home more presentable. Maureen Kennedy of Stage Right Design, for her top tips about preparing your home for sale: 

1. Clean up your home. Ideally, you should clean every part of the house, from the floors to the ceilings—and everything in between. 
2. Depersonalize. Remove personal items such as family photos, trophies, and sentimental items.
3. Declutter. Simply pack away items that you don’t need until after the move, to make more space in the house. 

4. Improve your curb appeal

The first thing buyers see when they pull up to your home is your yard. This gives the buyer their first impression of whether the home has been taken care of, or not. Rob Corey, owner of The Gardener Halifax, works with homeowners to do a full clean-up service to prepare your home for listing, and this is what he recommends to DIY your yard before listing: 

1. Prepare your yard a couple of weeks before showings. You’ll start with a deep rake of your lawn, removing any debris and removing the dead layer of thatch around the roots of your grass. As well, rake out any old/discoloured mulch from your garden beds. 
   
2. Turn over the soil in your garden beds with a cultivator and plant some annuals if the season allows so your garden beds are brightly coloured and in full bloom by the time your home showings are scheduled. Apply a 2-3” layer of fresh black mulch to make your yard look crisp and clean. 
   
3. For an extra special touch, adding potted planters to the front of your home can accent the entrances of your home. As well, they can be added to hide away anything you don’t want focused on during the showings.
   

If you’re ready to get started and want to book a home seller’s consultation, hit reply to book a quick chat about your home.