In a hot and speedy Toronto seller’s market, we often hear the term – “Homes in Toronto sell themselves.” While supply and demand for homes in Toronto will forever be an issue, it’s not just about selling a house. It’s about squeezing every dollar you can out of your sale and knowing that no money was left behind. Preparation is key to reducing stress and not letting the house sale take over your life.

Today’s home buyers are expecting more. They want a showroom experience that will wow them online and in person. They are savvy and ready to spend money, but want information and details that are often missed by realtors. Buyers who are confident in the house they want, are prepared to pay top dollar. It’s crucial to understand that most realtors can sell your house, but if you don’t take full advantage of all selling tools available, are you leaving money on the table? The simple answer is YES!

At Nested, we’ve mastered the art of selling homes in Toronto and have record breaking results to prove it.

If you want to sell your Toronto home for the absolute most money possible, follow these steps in order:

1) Interview local realtors and get a home valuation

The very first thing you want to do is interview a couple of local realtors. Before you contact them, visit their website and get to know them a little online. Skip anyone you’re not intrigued by. Chances are if they haven’t impressed you online, they won’t wow potential buyers with their marketing tactics either. Ask them to give you a home valuation and find out important information about what they include in their listing package, such as full home staging, cleaning, online marketing strategy as well as how experienced they are in offering meaningful intel on valuable home improvements.

The biggest mistake we see sellers make is hiring a realtor based on the highest valuation price. We all know the market will ultimately decide on the selling price and understanding listing price strategies will be the driving factor. Another common mistake is hiring a realtor based on the lowest commission versus the end result of the actual sale. A quality full service realtor will charge a higher commission rate based on the services they offer that will ultimately make you significantly more money in the end, save you time, and lessen the stress.

To learn more about our bespoke marketing approach click here.

2) Hire your realtor early

Don’t wait until a few weeks before you are planning to list your house to hire a realtor. You will miss out on valuable time and assistance. As stated above, a good realtor is one who can offer important suggestions for prepping your house to sell, is knowledgeable in the timing of the sale and likely has very useful contacts that will come in handy during the pre-listing process. Selling a home is a partnership and the more time you have to get to know your realtor, the more successful the sale will be.

3) Decide on a listing timeline

If your sale is within 1-2 months, pick a listing date and stick to it. Your realtor should provide you with a detailed listing calendar of all important tasks and help you stay on track to ensure nothing is missed. If the sale is 3-6 months away, you can always start preparing by decluttering and donating items you no longer need.  This kind of lead time allows for home improvements that can add significant value to your sale.  With longer timeframes, Nested also always suggests hiring a home inspector to ensure any issues can be fixed before the house hits the market. In our earlier days, we saw scenarios where home inspections revealed unfavourable issues home owners didn’t have time to fix, this ultimately cost them money.

For more information on home inspections read: How To Read A Home Inspection Report

4) Decide on a listing strategy and list price

In today’s hot seller’s market, the typical strategy will be pricing strategically low to drum up multiple offers and ultimately have buyers bid on a scheduled offer date. In some neighbourhoods in Toronto, this strategy doesn’t apply and your realtor needs to be in tune with what is happening in your market. You want to ensure you are following the lead of the other listings so as not to confuse active buyers who are most likely viewing multiple homes per week. Having a clear and defined listing strategy will ensure you are staying informed and in the loop.

For more pricing information read: How To Successfully Sell Your House

5) Move out for the listing period

One important piece to the home selling puzzle, especially during Covid-19, is ensuring the home is vacant during the listing process. This includes the staging period when the house will be professionally staged, cleaned and photographed. Once your prep work is done, you should be able to hand it over to your realtor and not worry about a thing. Typically a seller will need to vacate their home for a minimum of 14 days to ensure there is enough time for staging and a successful sale. Once your house sells and all staging pieces are removed, you are free to move back in until the closing period.

Check out this related post on: Top 5 Staging Tips To Help Sell Your Home For More Money.

6) Review and accept an offer

If you are selling a house in a prime Toronto neighbourhood you will most likely be using the offer day strategy where you will review all offers on the same day. Alternatively, in some pockets of Toronto, during market lows or potentially a condo, you might be reviewing offers as they come, this is referred to as offers anytime. Your pricing strategy will be dependent on the listing strategy.

When reviewing offers, you always have the option to accept one offer, reject all offers, or counter with a different price or offer elements such as closing and conditions. Make sure you fully understand what you are signing and review all documents with your realtor in detail. Important considerations are price, deposit amount, closing date and any conditions to be fulfilled before the agreement is final and binding. Once you are happy with the price and details of the offer, you will accept it.

For more information on offer strategies, check out: How To Successfully Price and Sell Your Home

7) Take great care of your home

The new buyers of your home will be allowed to visit the home during the closing period. These are called buyer visits and take place at a mutually agreeable time. Typically you can expect 2-3 buyer visits that are 1-2 hours long. The amount and length of the visits is negotiated before the final agreement is signed.

To read more about buyer visits click here Why You Should Always Take Advantage Of Your Buyer Visits

Make sure the house and exterior are well taken care of so there are no major changes on closing. This also means keeping up with watering the gardens and lawns in the summer months. Ensure to check your Agreement Of Purchase And Sale and review all items you agreed to in the Schedule A ie. what needs to stay with the home, what needs to be removed.

On closing day, both the seller’s and buyer’s lawyers will facilitate the transfer of funds and title. The home should be cleaned and well presented for the new buyers by noon on closing.

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