I just sold my townhouse 2 weeks ago and here is my experience to share with you.
(1) sell by owner
I had a house in another city before and it was sold through an agent. Besides I paid a huge agent fee, the trouble with agents was that (a) I need to leave my house every client visit, 2 hours/ visit, so sometimes I had to stay outside for a whole day, (b) the agent may/may not promote my house but I had no control over it, (c) less people to consider my house because the agent fee was added on top of my expected price (e) I need to pay tax (7%) for the agent fee, so it was another $1500 off my selling price. Therefore this time I definitely decided to sell by myself.
There are many tracks that agents may play with you. One of them is that they may price your house higher but then 2 weeks or 1 month after putting in MLS, they will push you to reduce the price -- to make a quick sale ( they don't care too much because they only get 5%). So if you had to go with agents, then before signing the contract, ask them (a) how they'll promote your house, (b) can you be free to go if they are unable to sell your house at the asking price within a period of time (for example, 3 months), without penalty or locking for a few months. (c)can they pay the tax themselves.
(2) price it right.
Before putting my house in the market, I investigated the price range in my neighborhood, considering things like the lot size, age, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, finished/unfinished basement, hardwood floor, fireplace, AC, fence, etc. There is a free estimate site at www.houseValues.com. I also had 3 agents to come and estimate the value. I chose the lower end among the 3 estimates as my asking price. This askng price is also included $1000 negotiation buffer.
NEVER SET THE PRICE TOO HIGH, because most of canadian will only visit the houses at their price range, given $2000 variance. However, some indian and chinese may be an exception, they will ask for 10K reduction -- in this case, just ignore them.
(3) decorating the house
After decided to sell my house, I started decorating the house -- remove unused furniture and store them at friend's place, paint the cabinetry with linseed oil, clean-up the bathroom, paint the bathroom ceramic with "tile works", fill up any cracks and paint them, remove everything in the kitchen/bathroom counter top, and wash all curtains -- make my house presentable.
Keep in mind, the first impression is very important and you have a limited potential buyer group. If they don't like your house at the first glance, then even you improve it later on, they may not come back. The house must be ready to show prior to putting it on sale.
Never just open the door and let your potential buyers to see your messy / smelling home.
(4) time to sell
Now it is time to sell the house. Based on the real-estate statistic, spring is the best season to sell houses, summer is the next. After the house was nicely decorated, I took a few pictures and submitted a house-for-sale request to grapevine.com, including my cell phone number (no email) and indicating "No Agent please". In the same time, I also posted my AD in various places: residential buildings, walmat, shopperMart, my company, NRC, newsgroups, government employee for-sale sites, etc. I found posting in residential buildings seems to be very efficient and high feedback, besides posting in grapevine.
After posted my AD, I got a lot of phone calls and a lot of visit. In fact, I received a conditional offer the second day (I will talk about it in the next section). By looking at the visitors, I can tell who were just shopping around, who were bargain hunters and who were seriously considered. I carefully kept their names, phone numbers, and followed up with those people who were seriously interested.
I also had a few open houses. However, the final buyer was not from the open-house.
(5) conditional offer
I received the first offer which was a conditional offer -- upon the selling of their existing house. In the contract, I also add my condition that I reserved the right to sell it to another buyer, either conditionally or firmly, with a 24 hour written notice to the purchaser to either waive the conditions or cancel the contract. My house was eventually sold to another family, because the previous buyer was unable to sell their house at a time and unwilling to waive the condition.
(6) negotiation
Most buyers will negotiate with you for $1000- $2000, depending on your asking price and your house value. Every offer must be written carefully and clearly. Unlike shopping in China, you do not leave a big room for negotiation. Keep in mind, the lower asking price the more people will come. For those bargain hunters, you just ignore them.
(7) deposit
Last but not lest, the deposit of the sale should be high enough so that the buyer won't break the contract easily. My deposit was $6000, with 1 current dated cheque and 1 post dated cheque.
I hope it helps.
(1) sell by owner
I had a house in another city before and it was sold through an agent. Besides I paid a huge agent fee, the trouble with agents was that (a) I need to leave my house every client visit, 2 hours/ visit, so sometimes I had to stay outside for a whole day, (b) the agent may/may not promote my house but I had no control over it, (c) less people to consider my house because the agent fee was added on top of my expected price (e) I need to pay tax (7%) for the agent fee, so it was another $1500 off my selling price. Therefore this time I definitely decided to sell by myself.
There are many tracks that agents may play with you. One of them is that they may price your house higher but then 2 weeks or 1 month after putting in MLS, they will push you to reduce the price -- to make a quick sale ( they don't care too much because they only get 5%). So if you had to go with agents, then before signing the contract, ask them (a) how they'll promote your house, (b) can you be free to go if they are unable to sell your house at the asking price within a period of time (for example, 3 months), without penalty or locking for a few months. (c)can they pay the tax themselves.
(2) price it right.
Before putting my house in the market, I investigated the price range in my neighborhood, considering things like the lot size, age, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, finished/unfinished basement, hardwood floor, fireplace, AC, fence, etc. There is a free estimate site at www.houseValues.com. I also had 3 agents to come and estimate the value. I chose the lower end among the 3 estimates as my asking price. This askng price is also included $1000 negotiation buffer.
NEVER SET THE PRICE TOO HIGH, because most of canadian will only visit the houses at their price range, given $2000 variance. However, some indian and chinese may be an exception, they will ask for 10K reduction -- in this case, just ignore them.
(3) decorating the house
After decided to sell my house, I started decorating the house -- remove unused furniture and store them at friend's place, paint the cabinetry with linseed oil, clean-up the bathroom, paint the bathroom ceramic with "tile works", fill up any cracks and paint them, remove everything in the kitchen/bathroom counter top, and wash all curtains -- make my house presentable.
Keep in mind, the first impression is very important and you have a limited potential buyer group. If they don't like your house at the first glance, then even you improve it later on, they may not come back. The house must be ready to show prior to putting it on sale.
Never just open the door and let your potential buyers to see your messy / smelling home.
(4) time to sell
Now it is time to sell the house. Based on the real-estate statistic, spring is the best season to sell houses, summer is the next. After the house was nicely decorated, I took a few pictures and submitted a house-for-sale request to grapevine.com, including my cell phone number (no email) and indicating "No Agent please". In the same time, I also posted my AD in various places: residential buildings, walmat, shopperMart, my company, NRC, newsgroups, government employee for-sale sites, etc. I found posting in residential buildings seems to be very efficient and high feedback, besides posting in grapevine.
After posted my AD, I got a lot of phone calls and a lot of visit. In fact, I received a conditional offer the second day (I will talk about it in the next section). By looking at the visitors, I can tell who were just shopping around, who were bargain hunters and who were seriously considered. I carefully kept their names, phone numbers, and followed up with those people who were seriously interested.
I also had a few open houses. However, the final buyer was not from the open-house.
(5) conditional offer
I received the first offer which was a conditional offer -- upon the selling of their existing house. In the contract, I also add my condition that I reserved the right to sell it to another buyer, either conditionally or firmly, with a 24 hour written notice to the purchaser to either waive the conditions or cancel the contract. My house was eventually sold to another family, because the previous buyer was unable to sell their house at a time and unwilling to waive the condition.
(6) negotiation
Most buyers will negotiate with you for $1000- $2000, depending on your asking price and your house value. Every offer must be written carefully and clearly. Unlike shopping in China, you do not leave a big room for negotiation. Keep in mind, the lower asking price the more people will come. For those bargain hunters, you just ignore them.
(7) deposit
Last but not lest, the deposit of the sale should be high enough so that the buyer won't break the contract easily. My deposit was $6000, with 1 current dated cheque and 1 post dated cheque.
I hope it helps.
