It’s Time to Reduce Your Price

Pricing your home accurately is one of the many critical components to a successful transaction when selling your house. Similarly, recognizing when it’s time to adjust the price is equally important. Selling your house, or even listing a property for rent, may put you on an emotional roller coaster. From the financial implications of not selling or renting quickly to market changes or the stress of coordinating the closing with a house you bought, and just the idea of leaving your family home, are all likely to cause some degree of emotional havoc. It’s important to control your emotions when listing your house for sale or rent and rely on your real estate agent to advise you. From our experience, this isn’t typically what happens. As real estate agents in Milton, Oakville and the surrounding Halton and Peel regions, we often experience two types of situations when it comes to price adjustments in this market. The first is when our clients are concerned about a lack of activity on their property, they get scared and want to reduce the price prematurely and; second is when they arbitrarily hold firm to an unrealistic number while properties around them are selling. Consider this when deciding if it’s time to reduce the list price of your home when selling, or renting: Pricing Real Estate Using Facts When deciding on the initial selling price of your home, or an adjusted price, get rid of personal bias, sentimental value and a personal goal that may exist and look at the facts: Select comparable and recent sales that exist close to your home Adjust the selling price of those properties for differences that exist in your home vs. their home Realize that your basement that cost $50,000 to finish probably won’t add $50,000 in value as compared to the exact same house that doesn’t have a finished basement You can’t recoup the money you put into your house just because you want to – the market will tell you how much something is worth What’s going on in the Real Estate Market? When deciding if it’s time to reduce the listed price of your house that’s for sale, you’ll want to pay attention to what is going on in the market.  Consider these things: Have similar homes been selling nearby? If not, this could be a sign that the market as a whole is down and you may want to sit tight. If other homes are selling, there’s likely a reason, be it a feature of your home (or lack thereof) or the price. There are many things that can cause intermittent blips in the market such as holidays, political events and weather –good and bad. Are buyers visiting but no offers coming in? If people are visiting your house, that’s a sure sign that buyers exist. Perhaps there’s something about the house that needs attention, not necessarily the price. Have your Realtor call other Realtors for feedback on their experience at the house and be open-minded to suggestions. What is the average amount of time that it takes to sell a house like yours right now? Three weeks on the market may seem like a long time but if the average is six, you may need to be patient Has the market changed since you listed your house for sale? Are there comparable homes now for sale that weren’t available before? It’s imperative that your Real Estate Agent is aware of what’s happening in the neighbourhood. If a neighbour goes to the market a week after you and strategically prices their home to compete against you, making a quick price adjustment to yours could make or break your sale. Stay Ahead of the Real Estate Market It’s important to stay ahead of the competition.  Recognize trends and see where the market is going.  If you wait too long to reduce your price, you may find yourself adjusting again in a week to keep up.  You may be better to price slightly more aggressive in a downward market to stand out against your competition. Be Aggressive with Price Adjustments We often see people do multiple, incremental decreases of small amounts of money on their home over an extended period of time.  Had they of done a more significant decrease the first time, they likely would have caught the attention of somebody and probably sold for more than the end result of doing it the other way. That pretty well sums it up! There are a lot of things to take into consideration when pricing and doing price reductions. Interview multiple agents and find somebody that you trust and one who will provide guidance –good luck with the sale! ************************ The Kormendy Trott Team was founded in 2011 by Ariel Kormendy and Adrian Trott.  The team of two quickly became the 17th highest producing team for Century 21 in all of Canada and have since grown the sales team, added a media department and expanded their service from being real estate agents in Milton to now servicing all of Halton, Peel, Wellington, Hamilton and surrounding areas. Follow the team behind the scenes as they prepare and sell houses, learn great real estate tips and more. Check ’em out here: INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | PODCAST  

Insider Tips for First Time Home Buyers – Part 5|5

We’re in the home stretch guys – This is it ….. Part 5! What are the upfront costs when buying a house? Congratulations! You’ve saved up your down payment to buy a house! Don’t forget, there are a lot of other expenses that come with purchasing a home too. Land transfer tax …  Lawyer’s Fees … Title Insurance … Disbursements … Appraisal Costs … Home Inspection etc… not to mention any work the house may require or, if you’re a first time buyer, plates, forks, knives, furniture, the list goes on! These are all costs that are associated with buying your home and you’ll also have a lot of expenses when it comes to actual home ownership. Let’s go over them together. UTILITIES For first-time home buyers, when you’re setting up your account with your local utility companies, most of them will require a deposit. This is usually in the range of a few hundred dollars that they hold it for the first year as you prove yourself and your ability to pay your bills.  If all goes well in year one, they use those funds to pay for year two until the money is depleted. MOVING COSTS If you’re unable to pay your friends with beer and pizza, you may have to hire a moving company. This additional cost can add up but if you’re a busy person and don’t feel like breaking your back, it’s worth every penny. THE FIRST TIME BUYER BUDGET First-time buyers, beware! Budgeting is so important, especially for first-time buyers.  Buying your first home is exciting and you can easily get caught up in the moment as you shop for literally everything you need to live on your own.  From can openers and utensils to linens and furniture, the list is long and the price adds up.  Make a detailed list and get resourceful to find deals on things. You’ll also want to have a reserve fund for emergency money when the unexpected happens such as a busted Air Conditioner, leaking water heater or broken window. PRE-CONSTRUCTION EXTRAS If you’re buying a pre-construction home, there are a lot of additional expenses many people don’t take into consideration. Fences, appliances, window coverings, air conditioner – It all adds up to be tens of thousands of dollars. Do your math and budget accordingly. Also, in addition to the advertised price tag of the pre-construction home, the builder will slap on a number of additional fees from municipal levy deposits, which often cost thousands, driveway paving fees, tree planting fees and hydro energization fees, to name a few.  Ask your Realtor or Builder representative about these before signing on the dotted line. You made it! That’s Part 5/5 on our Insider Tips for First-Time Home Buyers and hope you found it helpful. If you did, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram!

Insider Tips for First Time Home Buyers – Part 4|5

Alright, we’re almost there!  This is part four of five of Insider Tips for First Time Home Buyers.  Let’s talk MORTGAGES! Have you ever heard of the term “Don’t put the cart before the horse”? Well, a ton of people tend to do this when looking for homes. But what does it mean? It means, they don’t get their pre-approval first, which is a MUST.  How much YOU think you can afford compared to how much the BANK thinks … may be very different. Get out and talk to a mortgage broker or a bank and figure out exactly what you’re approved for and get that pre-approval. It’ll help you in your budgeting and in your search for that new home, not to mention negotiations as well. It gives peace of mind to sellers that your pre-approved and can afford the house. It may even mean making that difference about whether or not they accept your offer. It makes the process a lot smoother, quicker, and it also means you’re buying a house that you can actually afford. Now, between buying the house and closing on the house, maintain the status quo … keep your credit in check and don’t change your job. Anything that happens during that time may prevent the bank from giving you the mortgage at closing. We’ve seen it happen! Keep your job and credit the same way, at least until you close. After that, do what you want. Now, onto the LAST step in buying your first home.  Check out the conclusion to this series in part five.