Watching your neighbours proudly putting up a “Sold” sign while your house sits on the market can be frustrating. You’re ready for a change in your life, and your plans hinge upon a successful sale. But while all the houses in your neighbourhood sell all around you, potential buyers keep passing you by. 

Is the universe unfair, or could something else be at play? In this post, we’ll examine a few of the minor details that can make all the difference in the world when selling your home.

What Impacts Housing Sales?

Many homeowners are shocked at how quickly the market can change and by how much. If you haven’t bought or sold a house for a long time, you may not pay that much attention to real estate. If you’ve moved recently, you know how exactly far and how fast the pendulum can swing.

The market was on fire from 2020 to early 2022. Buyers lined up for every listing, and houses often sold for over-asking within days after receiving multiple offers.

The Bank of Canada began raising interest rates in mid-2022. Housing sales stalled, and it didn’t take long before we went from a fiercely competitive seller’s market to balanced conditions before shifting all the way to a buyer’s market.

Ever since then, conditions have gone back and forth between favouring sellers to buyers and back again. Potential buyers would finally adjust to higher borrowing costs. Houses would begin to sell. Then the Bank of Canada would announce another rate hike that pushed buyers to the sidelines. 

Knowing all of these factors that happen behind the scenes is critical when formulating a strategy for selling your house. Most importantly, you’ll want to be able to pivot on a dime when things change, as they can quickly. 

Some selling scenarios are more challenging than others. The resources below can help:

• Can You Successfully Sell a House With a Stigma?
• How to Sell Your Home After a Divorce
• Can You Sell a House When You Have Tenants?

When Was Your Last Home Evaluation?

The good news for homeowners is that many real estate teams offer free home evaluations to estimate the value of a house before putting it on the market. The bad news is that these estimates are valid only for a short period of time. 

With the market moving so quickly, a house sold two months before your listing may have taken place in different conditions altogether. For example, let’s take another look at when the madness began back in 2022. 

The housing market was at its peak in late February. Low interest rates fueled buyer competition and prices soared. Barely two months later, that hectic seller’s market had balanced out. If you tried to list your home in May using a home evaluation you got in February, your house would have been overpriced for the market. This scenario happens time and time again, and it only highlights the importance of up-to-date, accurate information. 

Do you need an up-to-date home evaluation? Book yours today for free right here.

Are You Priced to Sell?

In real estate, we have a saying: “If it’s not the price, it’s the price.” Though this may be an exaggeration, pricing errors are the most common culprit when a house doesn’t sell. 

It can feel painful to miss a market peak where you must price well below what your house was worth only a few months ago. However, no buyer or seller can work with the way they wish the market was. We can only work with it the way it is. A solid strategy based on realistic expectations is a critical component of earning the highest amount that the market allows.

If your home has been listed for a while but is not generating enough interest, it may be time for a reassessment. Ideally, you want to ensure you have an optimal listing price right out of the gate before your listing goes live on the MLS®. A local real estate team can help you determine the value in the current market by assessing your home’s size, location and recent updates and comparing it with similar listings that have recently sold.

What Are the Trends in Your Neighbourhood?

Not that the real estate market has ever been predictable, but the last few years have been particularly chaotic for both buyers and sellers. The market can and does turn, but these shifts have been more noticeable and happening faster than we’ve seen for a long time.

With high inflation and the rising price of everything, many plans for a new home got put on an indefinite hold. And yet, the need for housing has never been stronger. We see evidence of that pent-up demand with consistent bursts of sales activity, especially in highly desirable areas.

Understanding what is happening is critical to your selling strategy. It’s not just the market as a whole you need to be aware of but the up-to-the minute trends right in your own neighbourhood. You will also want to look past the surface to see what is really attracting interest from potential buyers. 

For example, a home in your neighbourhood might be listed at $1.5 million. But what it actually sells for is a far more valuable metric when creating your strategy.

Knowing how to prepare and price your home for the market will help you stand out from competing sellers. The posts below will give you some ideas:

• What’s Your House Really Worth?
• A Back to Basics Guide to Maximizing Your Sale
• Worth It or Not? What Renovations Really Help When Selling Your Home

Is Your Realtor® Up to the Challenge?

The fast-paced changes and complexity of the market mean that the advice and guidance of an experienced real estate agent is more important than ever. No longer can you rely on a relative or a friend of a friend who just got their license. 

Instead, you’ll want to work with an expert who has thrived in challenging conditions before. With so many real estate agents out there, finding the right one to represent you will require a little research. Here are a few considerations before signing a listing agreement.

• How long has the real estate agent been in business?
• Are they up to date with the current market?
• How many listings do they have, and how many have they successfully sold in the last 12 months?
• Do they have a website that ranks highly?
• What is their plan to market your listing?
• Do they have many reviews from previous clients, and are they mostly positive?
• How quickly do they respond to your emails and phone messages?

Keep in mind that the best real estate team is the one with a high level of expertise combined with a fierce dedication to exemplary service. One without the other will not do! Calling the office with your questions is an excellent way to see how responsive they will be to your needs.

Is Your Home Show Ready?

In a market where sales are on the slower side, you must do all you can to ensure your listing stands out. Think of it this way. You are not selling a house; you’re selling a home. 

The idea is to make a potential buyer fall in love at first sight. When they see themselves laughing at the kitchen table with family over breakfast and entertaining their friends in the elegant-yet-cozy living room, the transaction is halfway there.

Your job is to prepare your home in a way that enables buyers to see this potential. You don’t typically have to go all out and renovate every room from top to bottom. Like many things in life, the simple details are what matters.

• Start by cleaning and decluttering your home so it is free of distractions. It sounds simple, but so many homeowners skip even this step!
• Patch up any nail holes and invest in some white or neutral-coloured paint. It’s a minor investment that makes your home appear brighter, well-maintained and more spacious.
• Capture the attention of potential buyers with stunning curb appeal. A meticulously well-kept yard and tasteful decor can help you create that all-important first impression.
• Consider professional staging, which has been proven to help sell homes faster and for more money. This might be the added edge you need in a challenging market!

Did you know that Woolcott Real Estate offers complimentary staging services for all clients? Learn more in The Power of Staging When Selling Your Home.

Are You Getting in Your Own Way?

A successful sale isn’t the result of one key strategy. Instead, it’s what happens when all of the pieces come together: a compelling price point, beautiful staging, extensive promotion and expert negotiating. When the market begins to slow down, you must ensure that everything that can be done to find a buyer gets done. Here are a few do’s and don’ts that make it easier for buyers to find your listing and fall in love with your home.

• Don’t rely on smartphone photos to promote your listing. Since most potential buyers begin their search online, professional quality photos and videos are essential.
• Don’t be in the house when a potential buyer walks through. They may feel uncomfortable and avoid asking as many questions as they would if it was just them and the real estate agent.
• Do make your home available for showings as much as possible. Life gets busy, but it is imperative that potential buyers can see your home in-person.
• Do be flexible and willing to negotiate when realistic offers come in. Knowing what you’re willing to compromise on and where you won’t budge will help you when interacting with serious buyers.

Professional guidance and a comprehensive strategy can help you sell your home even in a tough market. Here are a few resources to light the way:

• Our Full-Service Real Estate Team’s Guide to Marketing Your Home
• FSBO vs Real Estate Agent Assisted Sales: What’s Better?
• Fact Vs Fiction About Working With A Real Estate Agent

Where Are the Buyers?

Once your strategy is in place and your home is ready to welcome prospective buyers, it is time to bring your listing to the world’s attention. An extensive marketing campaign to reach the most qualified and interested buyers is essential, particularly in a softening market.

Posting your listing on the MLS® and Realtor.com is only part of a thorough strategy. Your Realtor® will put together a comprehensive campaign that includes online and offline materials to reach potential buyers wherever they are searching. 

If your real estate team is established, they will also have a vast network of other agents and brokerages where a buyer may be found, ready and waiting. Selling a house successfully never happens by accident. It’s the result of careful planning, a little patience and a lot of expertise. With the right guidance and support, you can plan your next steps with confidence and excitement.

Whether you’re ready to list your home or just have questions about the process, our experts are happy to help you. Reach out today or call (905) 332-9223 for more information.